El Salvador is the smallest, yet most densely populated country in Central America. Affectionately known as the Tom Thumb of the Americas, it is also a country with a history of destructive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Andrew told us last night that there are no fewer than 20 active volcanos, with glowing lava and brilliant luminous cores, shooting flares visible for great distances at sea - hence the nickname The Lighthouse of the Pacific. And Finn noted that it is the only Central American country that does not border the Caribbean Sea, but has amazing surfing beaches on the Pacific side of the landmass.
El Salvador further suffers from a fragile and unstable political climate - coup d'état, guerrilla warfare, rural revolt - these terms are all part of the national lexicon, together with drug cartels, human trafficking, extortion and coercion....another country where the good news story is hard to find.
For this reason, Luz de Maria Bara (an economist) and her husband (a vet) left El Salvador and moved to Australia in 1989. The largest group of Salvadorians migrated to Australia during the political unrest in the 80's. Today there are about 17,000 Salvadorians who created a new life in Australia, of whom 1,233 chose Brisbane...primarily for the weather. About 8 years ago Maria opened Villa Maria in Camp Hill, a suburb 5 km south-east of the Brisbane CBD. Mostly residential, and (as the name suggests), quite elevated, this suburb used to be a stop-over destination for people travelling to Brisbane's coastline. It also played an important role during the Second World War, when the US army built a hospital for over 3,000 patients next to the Camp Hill Hotel, which had a significant impact on the area (the hospital no longer exists).
Villa Maria, along Bennetts Rd, is where Maria combines the richness of flavours inherited from the Aztecs and Mayans from the Mesoamerican region with those introduced by the Spanish during colonisation. The menu showcases a variety of Latin-American and Mexican dishes, with Maria adding her native cooking secrets to the traditional fare: we started with authentic El Salvadorian Pupusas ( handmade corn tortillas stuffed with pork belly, beans and cheese, served with crudito/ pickled vegetables). Then there were Empanadas, Guarachaz, Arepas, Albondigas, Mole Poblana, Costilla Salvadorian, Pienas de Carnero, Bandeja Paisa and Lomo Saltodo...to name but a few. We were a party of ten last night , filling a long table in a quiet side room off the main restaurant. Couple of newcomers from out-of-town (attending a conference in Brisbane) joined us - Michael from Melbourne (a friend of the Grevilles) and James and Belinda from New Zealand (friends of Keith, originally from Zimbabwe) . Not fully informed on "our culinary mission", they must have wondered why on earth we travel such a long way to such a, well, unusual choice of restaurant on a Friday night. All they knew was that they had to arrive armed with facts (see Friday Night Out Rules week 1 blog) on El Salvador....and they did not disappoint!
As per usual, Boetie kicked off proceedings with an analysis of the flag. They actually have two - both blue and white stripes in a 3.5 aspect ratio: one containing the coat of arms - used by government at official gatherings, and the other displaying the words Dios Union Libertad / God Unity Liberty in amber, and used for civil purposes. The actual colour blue is based on the importance of the anil plant, which gave Louise a segue to introduce her fact: the anil plant is the source of indigo dye, and during the Spanish colonial period, it was the nations biggest export. This cobalt blue dye was in high demand by every country that had a textile industry. Keith's fact followed chronologically: blue dye was soon chemically manufactured, so the El Salvadorians ripped up all their indigo bushes, and planted coffee. During the 19th century, El Salvador was known as The Coffee Republic, which was responsible for 90% of its export revenue. El Salvador is also the only country that has cloned it's own coffee bean - Pacamara . James gave us an exact geographical positioning of the country, and Belinda related the tragic Soccer War of 1969 between El Salvador and neighbouring Honduras. The war erupted after rioting during the qualification round for the FIFA World Cup of 1970.....2,000 civilians died during this 100 hour /4 day battle. Which allowed Andrew to interject with his fact: El Salvador has only made two FIFA World Cup finals ( the fated 1970 and 1982) but has never progressed beyond the first stage.
Nielen reminded us how privileged we are, as 20% of their population survives on less than $1.25 per day. Another interesting fact is that the nation's biggest source of income ( far more than revenue from exports), is the money sent home by family members working overseas (remittances). There was lively discussion and enthusiastic contribution...all to the catchy beat of I will survive sung in Spanish coming from the wall mounted speakers in the corner. And indeed we did survive week 38 in El Salvador. Next week......Mongolia.
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