Before the arrival of the Spaniards, indigenous civilizations mastered culinary techniques and methods that are still in use in current Salvadoran cuisine.
Preservation methods
To refer to the culinary roots of El Salvador, it is necessary to go back to the beginnings of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican civilizations and their development in history, as their roots are what we eat today, allowing us to discover the vast richness of ingredients, methods, and techniques that we have inherited.
Air drying: this technique, practiced since ancient times, is based on drying foods by sunlight and wind, which helps prevent their deterioration. The water in the food is usually removed through evaporation, that is, air drying, sun drying, smoking, or wind drying.
Salting: this method has been used over time, and its main function is to dehydrate food, also serving to enhance its flavor and eliminate bacteria. This method consists of completely covering the foods with salt so that they dehydrate and last longer.
Cooking techniques
Pre-Hispanic gastronomy in El Salvador combines a set of processes and techniques that enrich its diet. The most important and significant ones will be presented below:
Nixtamalization: it is the process of cooking corn grains with water and lime, which facilitates the removal of the pericarp (skin that envelops and protects the seed), also controlling bacteria and microbial activity, improving water absorption, increasing starch consistency, and enhancing maize nutrients.
Direct or indirect grilling: consists of placing the food directly or indirectly on fire to achieve the desired cooking, a method widely used in pre-Columbian times and still used today.
Steam cooking: this technique has been used since ancient times to make tamales wrapped in corn or banana leaves, placing them inside clay pots with water to produce steam.
Ember cooking: this method involves cooking the food on a bed of embers inside a hole in the ground.
Molcajete: a grinding technique, carried out with an instrument bearing the same name or now known as a mortar.
Barbecue: the technique of underground oven cooking, also known as pibil.
Just as many gastronomic techniques have survived over time, it is also worth mentioning the most important pre-Hispanic utensils such as molcajete, grinding stones, griddles, jars, pots, baskets, clay dishes, obsidian knives, vessels, hollow pumpkins, hunting instruments.
In this era, hemispherical polychrome dishes start to be made, usually painted red, green, yellow, and other colors, undoubtedly used for food preparation and serving.
