Chilateada in Izalco - Easter Monday

Is Easter Monday a thing? I don't think it is but I'm making it into a thing. It's certainly treated as one here in Izalco, El Salvador where the Monday of the Easter week is the last day during the whole Easter festivities extravaganza when chilate is made and served to the hungry pilgrims traveling long distances to pay their respects to Christ. If you don't know what chilate is see previous posts. Today, a pick-up load of SS city dwellers, aka myself and some others including my abuela, made the journey to Izalco to observe our pious duties. And there we were, inside this little white and purple church listening to a wailing rendition of Ave María being blasted from some old speakers, stomachs rumbling, mouths watering and eyes burning from the combination of pine incense for the deities and wood fires used to prepare the chilate for us mortals. I think we got the better end of the deal.

It is customary to pay your respects to Christ i.e. make a donation to the church, before approaching the food area. Once this is done and you have received proof of payment in the form of a sticky coconut palm flower, you can casually make your way over to the kitchen area and observe, maybe even participate in, the cooking process. I had never seen this being done so I was intrigued to see the whole process of grinding, pounding, soaking, straining, flavoring and finally cooking. It was impressive to see the sheer quantity of maize flour that was being moved from one station to the next. Once the maize has been ground and pounded, it is soaked in water to produce a milk-like liquid. This is then strained using cheese cloth or muslin and the liquid is cooked in large pots over an open fire. When the liquid is finally of cooked and thick enough, you can exchange your stick coconut palm flower for a portion of delicious goodness. Chilate is served hot in little bowls with a serving of local sweets. You can get an idea of what the preparation process looks like below:

Straining the 'corn milk'

Heating and stirring. These are not a tiny women.

Unfortunately for us the chilate was not ready when we arrived and even after walking around Izalco, we were not patient enough to wait another hour. Attempts at chasing the Easter processions were unsuccessful and a Salvadoran democratic decision was made (interpret this as you like). We made our way to Sonsonate wanderlusting after food and more adventure. It's always nice to visit the little towns and view the sites. It is sometimes very easy to forget the beauty of the changing landscapes, lava fields, sprouting sugar cane, volcanoes and colonial churches given the current social situation, and it is nice to be reminded.

Main Izalco church and the Volcan de Izalco in the background.

Puerta del Diablo and Panchimalco

Tourist day!

And what a day it was. Starting first with a productive culinary morning of homemade coconut milk, green mango chutney and a risotto-ish experiment (which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself), a couple hours later Abuela, Henry and I were off for a new Salvadoran adventure. First stop, Panchimalco.

Panchimalco is one of El Salvador's few historic towns, popular with gringo tourists such as myself for the visible Pipil and colonial influences. You've entered Panchimalco once you reach the cobbled streets and white washed houses with colourful doors. If you visit the town on a weekend, and head over to the church, you will meet Don _ the local Pipil expert who will greet you in the Panchimalco variant of Nahuat. He's a nice enough guy and since it's a tiny town he'll show you around the place and recommend sites like Miguel-Angel Ramirez' art studio and the Panchimalco Cultural Centre. I did not visit either of these, but Miguel Angel Ramirez for example is one of El Salvador's most famous artists known for his children's portraits. So if you're into art, his studio is definitely worth a visit.

The Panchimalco church is one of my favorite churches ever. And I swear I'm not really into churches at all. This one however, is made almost entirely out of wood, with the exception of the front façade which is made out of clay or brick(?). That last part needs to be confirmed. The inner floor is made out of clay and the interior structure is decorated with beautifully crafted wooden beams and altars. The front altar is another elaborate wooden structure which houses various figures of the Virgin Mary, Christ and other saintly figures. It reaches up to the domed wooden ceiling of the altar room. This church is the oldest surviving colonial structure of El Salvador having been built around 1725.

Panchimalco church and Puerta del Diablo

Facing the church, camera poised to take a picture, you will notice prominent cliffs to the left of the church. This natural formation is known as the Puerta del Diablo, the devil's door, and is also well worth a visit if you're up for a short climb that will provide you a full circle view of El Salvador and its major landmarks such as the San Salvador Cathedral, San Vicente (otherwise known as Chichontepec - the big breasted volcano), San Miguel volcano, and Ilopango - El Salvador's biggest volcanic lake. There are many myths and legends surrounding the devil's doorway, the most obvious one being that here lies the devil's entrance to the underworld. But as the entrance to the underworld is yet to be found, plenty of locals and gringo tourists make their way over for a spectacular view. You'll also get a taste for Salvadoran culture from the rastafarian moteros selling hemp products nestled on the side of the cliff, to the reggaetoneros blasting 70s rock at the foot of the cliffs. If you're extra adventurous be sure to wear stilettos for the steep upward climb.

Photies - click to enlarge

Panchimalco church details

A tiny doorway

San Salvador and Quetzaltepec volcano

El Salvador del Mundo - The Saviour of the World, famous monument

Sonsonate and San Antonio del Monte

Sonsonate is a great little city. It's like any other typical Central American town, with its bustling street markets where you can buy anything imaginable under the sun from fresh fish brought in from La Libertad to machetes, electronics and other necessary household utensils. Saturday is market day pretty much wherever you go and this is no exception.  The open air bit offers a wide and varied selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, and this time of year mobile vendors walk around with dried and fresh beans on offer. A pound (450g) of dried red beans for 60 centavos - local currency is USD - a bushel (as much as you can carry on your head) of fresh unshelled beans for 2 dollars. Although who would want to pay such exorbitant prices when you could just as easily pick them yourself for free from the fields? Further along, the open air market gives way to covered stores and fast food joints like La Bomba! and Pollo Campero, who in the spirit of market day plug their best salesmen into a set of speakers and have them rattle away their deals of the day.

Despite it's vibrant market scene which I obviously loved, (who doesn't love the smell of chicalín* and the distorted sound of a clipped sales pitch at full volume?) most people travel to Sonsonate for religious purposes. A short walk over the hill away from the market will lead you to a colorful but quiet square, one of the few places in El Salvador where you can still find adobe houses. They are old and discolored, but still standing after countless storms and earthquakes. As you walk down the hill you will see the white arches of the iglesia San Antonio del Monte, host to a tiny sliver of bone which is said to have belonged to the late saint. We arrived in time to see a procession of nuns reverently filing out of the chapel, a great contrast to my grandmother who went to give the good saint a piece of her mind.

The church itself is a large white structure with heavy wooden doors. The decor is simple but nice with but one mural of St. Anthony himself and his followers dressed in green. Women sell artesanias all along the left-hand wall of the church, but on a quiet day like Saturday when everyone is living the life at the market, there is not much business to be had. Despite the deceptive calm of the day, I am told that people travel far and wide to visit this site to thank San Antonio for his miraculous deeds. 

After paying homage to the saint our little troupe of non-believers shuffled back to our pick-up truck and headed back through the market crowds, Caluco, fields of sugar-cane in flower, and fields of molten lava and headed back to San Salvador, following the 205 bus and chasing coconuts and bundles of fresh red beans along the way.

*Chicalín is sun-dried shrimp often used to add flavor to soups and rice. It is not particularly appetizing but there are worse smelling things in the world. In El Salvador, nearly all markets smell of chicalín.