MOFGA is cosponsoring a pupusa making event on April 13, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at MOFGA’s education center in Unity. Participants will help to raise funds for the MOFGA-El Salvador Sistering Committee, and learn how to make pupusas from scratch. Pupusas — corn-based flatbreads stuffed with cheese, beans, meat or other ingredients — are a traditional and much-loved food in El Salvador. The workshop will be led by Dusty Dowse and cosponsored by the MOFGA-El Salvador Sistering Committee and the Maine Grain Alliance. Participants will get to enjoy a delicious lunch, too.
This workshop takes place in MOFGA’s ADA-accessible kitchen and will begin with a welcome and brief introduction to the MOFGA-El Salvador Sistering Committee followed by a talk about the origins and history of corn by Dowse. Richard Roberts of the Maine Grain Alliance will give a presentation about heirloom corn, including how to save its seed. Participants will learn how to make pupusas with both heirloom masa and commercial masa harina; and will have the opportunity to try curtido, a fermented cabbage-based dish traditionally served with pupusas.
“Whenever we have a delegation to El Salvador, savoring pupusas is a high point of our trip,” says Jean English, a member of MOFGA’s El Salvador Sistering Committee. “We are excited about holding this workshop with the Maine Grain Alliance so that participants can learn about the history of a native crop and so that they can learn to make (and taste!) this delicious food.”
MOFGA’s El Salvador Sistering Committee maintains a relationship between MOFGA and two Salvadoran grassroots organizations working towards sustainable agriculture. The committee explores issues such as organic certification, free trade, marketing, mining, and climate change that affect farmers in both countries. Learn more about the El Salvador Sistering Committee.
