Honduran Baleadas

One of the most common questions I get when it comes to food and Honduras is: What is the traditional authentic Honduran dish? I hate being put on the spot so of course, I blank. But somehow, my brain squeezes out the only answer I can think of: “plato típico“, which literally translates into typical or traditional dish. The Honduran plato típico is an assorted dish with the most common products from Honduras such as grilled meat, refried red beans, queso duro (a hard and salty cheese), avocado, plantains with corn tortillas. Thinking about my answer, I asked myself if “plato típico” is really a representative food that is unique of Honduras. When I came to the US and wandered through the streets of Barrios Latinos, I found myself wanting to eat “baleadas”, a very common and popular food in Honduras but not known to other Latin-American cultures. This is when I realized, that baleadas is the answer to my traditional dish question. I knew I should have Tangy taste a baleada when he visited me in Honduras.

What is a Baleada?

A baleada is usually an oversized flour tortilla (about 8 to 12 inches in diameter) filled with mashed refried red bean, sprinkled with queso duro (a hard salty cheese) and queso crema (a type of cheese that can be described as a blend of heavy cream, cream cheese and sour cream). This is what we call the basic baleada. But my favorite part of a baleada is that you can customize it with whatever you want. You can add scrambled eggs, chorizo (sausage), shredded chicken, pickled onions, encurtido (pickled vegetables), avocados, and anything else that comes to mind. This delicious Honduran necessity borders on the concept of burrito, but is folded in half instead of rolled. This technical detail allows you to visually flirt with your  baleada’s customized ingredients and savor the thought of having it in your mouth. The baleada is its own magical thing and should be appreciated in its own Honduran way.

Even though, baleadas are considered fast food, I can’t live without them because they’ve been with me throughout my life. I grew up eating these at the school cafeteria with my friends. I ate them after a night of partying when I got the munchies. Baleadas are a comfort food close to my heart and sharing this with Tangy made it a foodtacular dish.

Tangy: The first time I had a baleada, I was in Honduras visiting Hunnie. Honduras is known for it’s pristine beaches, guacamayas (Toucan Sam’s larger more colorful rival) and enigmatic ruins.

Tangy: We stopped at a gas station where they had a baleadas station in it (normally you’d see hotdogs or oversized taquitos rolling on a heating rack or something in the US.) There were several ingredients we could choose from, beans, cheese, purple pickled onions and eggs. The tortillas were made fresh right in front of us. I didn’t really know what to do when I was handed this steaming hot vessel of flavors. It was a bit overwhelming because my first thought was that this “taco” was too big and filled with eggs. My baleada was inviting me with its savory aromas, white cheese speckling the inside. The flavor profile was different to what I was used to. The savory warm beans and sausage was interspersed with sour purple pickled onions and salty pungent cheese. Interesting. Not like any other burrito, taco, quesadilla, chimichanga, taquito or {insert sterotypical latin american food name here} I’ve ever tasted. I was now ready to get my tourist on.

Hunnie: You might wonder why I would take Tangy to taste his first baleada at a gas station instead of a restaurant that specializes in baleadas. And the answer is that this gas stations has the best and freshest ingredients for a baleada. Pretty ironic.

Hunnie: I think the queso crema was a challenge for Tangy because he wasn’t used to it. But I’m glad we got the opportunity to eat one my favorites together.

These are some of the ingredients you might need if you want to create a quick fix of a baleada at home, without making your own tortilla.

• Flour tortillas

• Mashed refried red beans

• Queso crema

• Eggs

• Sausage

• Encurtidos

• Avocados

• Whatever else you want in your baleada… (use your imagination people)

An aside from Hunnie: When I was writing this article, I had to look for a few pictures of baleadas. Excited as I was to drool over delicious photos of my favorite fast food, my appitite was cut short with pictures of people fatally wounded with firearms. In spanish, “baleada” means, “shot”. If you don’t believe me, to go http://translate.google.com and see what you get. If you’re new to baleadas, why should I ruin this experience for you? Just think of Honduran baleadas as getting shot in the mouth with savory chorizo sausage, crisp pickled onions and the aroma of adventurous cheeze.

The fact that Tangy was able to visit a very unique part of central america and share with me my favorite  food is what makes the Honduran baleada Foodtacular.