When visiting the city of Santa Ana, you can’t miss out on its tasty Pan Chuco, an iconic dish of the city, also known as “mataniños”; it resembles the endemic hot dog sold on the streets of New York.
The origin of the name
The origin of the name mataniños dates back to a time when El Salvador experienced a cholera epidemic among children. During this time, children would buy treats at the start of school, such as mangos, churros, fried yuca, and the popular bread rolls filled with mortadella, which were nicknamed “mataniños”.
Many children died due to this epidemic, and it was believed that the spread was caused by contaminated food prepared by vendors who ignored basic hygiene practices—using dirty hands and touching money while serving the bread rolls.
What it is about
Pan Chuco is a typical sandwich of Salvadoran artisan cuisine. It’s made with a baguette; some are filled with sausages or slices of mortadella, while others contain marinated meat that is sautéed with onions at the time of serving. As a complement, it is accompanied by chimol—a mixture of finely chopped radishes, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, seasoned with lime juice and chili de árbol.
On the streets, Pan Chuco is sold at various stands, where there is no strict rule: in some cases, the filling is topped with a cabbage escabeche, blanched in hot water, with grated carrot, chopped onions, and seasoned with mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper to taste.
