Nicaragua

Ask what Nicaragua eats and the answer starts with this: corn-based criollo cooking: gallo pinto, banana-leaf nacatamales, street-side vigorón, and gritty pinolillo. Look for Gallo pinto (red beans and rice fried together, the daily staple), Nacatamal (large banana-leaf tamale with pork, rice, potato; Sunday breakfast) and Vigorón (boiled yuca, chicharrón, and cabbage salad on banana leaf). Rice fried with red beans and onion; Nicaragua and Costa Rica both claim it, and the name means spotted rooster for its speckled look. This atlas has 35 Nicaragua dishes catalogued below, from everyday cooking to food kept for festivals and special occasions.