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Town fairs, colorful dances, processions,
markets, crafts, food, agriculture
and holidays form a part of El Salvador's
rich legacy of indigenous and Spanish traditions. |
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Arts & Crafts |
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El Salvador is renowned for its colorful, innovative crafts,
produced by artisans in picturesque towns around the country. Replicas of
pre-Hispanic ceramics are produced in the town of San Juan El Espino, not
far from the Tazumal ruins. These beautiful ceramics, decorated with natural
pigments and baked in grass-fired kilns, appear in crafts markets throughout
Central America. Not far away, in the town of Nahuizalco, artisans produce
useful items from rattan, including chairs, picnic baskets, cribs and even
reindeer for the Christmas season. |
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For ceramic replicas of fruits and vegetables, as well as
ceramic nativity scenes, figurines and other collectables, visitors head to
the town of Ilobasco, where the streets are lined with crafts shops full of
lovely ceramic wares. In nearby San Sebastian, weavers have preserved the
art of producing textiles on foot-looms. Weavers can be seen working in the
courtyard of the town's community center. Further east, near San Miguel,
craftsmen spin fibers from locally-grown maguey to be woven into hammocks
and rope.
Another famed crafts community is La Palma, found high in El Salvador's
mountains. Distinctive, geometric designs are painted on wood, ceramics and
leather in more than 100 small workshops around town, where visitors are
welcome to watch artisans at work. Crafts from La Palma, and all of El
Salvador's other crafts communities, make perfect souvenirs and gifts for
family and friends back home. |
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Agrotourism |
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There is no better way to learn about tropical agriculture
and rural traditions than to take a tour of a local farm. Farms in El
Salvador produce a wide variety of produce, including sugar cane, coffee,
ornamental flowers and plants, pineapples, oranges, and even balsam and
indigo. A few highlands coffee farms offer tours of their plantations and
processing facilities, and local tour guides are often knowledgeable about
other produce. Farm workers and staff are usually very willing to explain
their operation, so if you spot an interesting farm as you're driving
through El Salvador, don't hesitate to stop and ask for a tour. |
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Traditional Foods |
| El Salvador offers a number of tasty
traditional dishes, beginning with the ever-popular pupusa - corn or rice
tortillas stuffed with cheese, refried beans and other ingredients. Pupusas
are sold throughout the country in pupuserķas, and usually served with a
zesty relish, or curtido. Not surprisingly, El Salvador's local cuisine also
features lots of seafood, or mariscos, such as oysters on the half-shell; a
rich, seafood chowder called mariscada; and punches rellenos, red crabs
stuffed with ground pork, beef and vegetables. Other local specialties
include fresh sausages, or chorizos, cheesy quesadillas, tamales, fried
yucca, and traditional candies such as melcochas, or molasses toffee, all
best eaten while savoring a hot cup of fragrant, locally-grown coffee. |
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