I admit, I have been looking forward to doing a Central American county since we started this. As I love me some fried plantains and homemade tortillas, and have a special place in my heart for Latin music.

So our first destinations in North American  – much like it was for Christopher Columbus – is Honduras.

Honduras is home to one of the greatest civilizations, the Mayans, and one of their best preserved cities, Copan. But even after the area broke free from the Spanish, it still ended up in being controlled by the U.S. Banana companies, earning its name as a Banana Republic. And since then Honduras has a troubled history of both political unrest and more recently the drug trade.

But it does have some interesting culture, and three very distinct regions – including the amusingly named Mosquito Coast and people that make Honduras unique.

Here is the link for more info on Honduras: Honduras_info . And here is the crossword if you you want to test your knowledge: HONDURAS_CW

And here are some interesting facts we learned about Honduras:

• The Bay Island of Honduras sit on the second largest coral reef is off its northern shores
• The Honduran currency, the lempira, is named after an Indian chief that fought to death against the Spanish conquerors. But it is not his face on the bill, but instead is the image of an American Red Indian.
• Honduras and El Salvador fought a war in the early 1970s call the “Football War” because the first outbreak of violence happened at a soccer game between the two teams
• While not typically prone to hurricanes, Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998, killing 5,600 people.

FOOD

As I said, I love the Central American Food – as do all three kids. And Honduras did not disappoint.  Honduras its own twist on beans and rice, tortilla, grilled meats. And in fact, we have already eaten baleadas two more for breakfast times since first making them. Isaac declared that Honduras was his second favorite food country (after Albania)!

Breakfast

Baleadas – Its just a flour tortilla filled will refried beans (we used mushed up black
beans) and queso fresco (or  shredded mozzarella, if your in a pinch) and typically eggs and well. And the warmed up in a pan to make it a little crisp. Delicious!! Isaac and Eve were especially big fans.

Fried Sweet Plantains – Just slice them and cook them up in oil until they are nice and brown and soft. Yum! As I said, a favorite of mine!

Guava Nectar

Dinner

Carne Asada – This marinated grilled meat did not disappoint!

Sopa de Frijoles (bean soup) – A combination of whole black beans and pureed black beans with a few additions to make this thick bean stew. Make sure to soak beans overnight!

Chopped Avocados (with lime juice and salt)

Shredded Cabbage

Homemade  corn tortillas – Unlike the thinner corn tortillas they sell in stores in the US, Hondurans like a thicker more pancake looking tortilla. Just get Maseca (Corn Masa Harina) and add water per the instructions and fry them up in a pan on each side for a minute or so.

Dessert: Arroz Con Leche – Another household favorite. It didn’t last two days!

CULTURE

While I do love Latin music, it seems we have been doing quite a bit of dancing lately. So we decided to turn our cultural activities to a more sedentary activity: Painting.

We looked at the art work of José Antonio Velasquez, Honduras’ most famous painter, who lived in the mid-1900s (died in 1983). His main painting focus was Primitivism, where one borrows techniques and forms from pre-historic art and cave drawings. Much of his work almost looks like it could be molded out of clay. He is touted as the first Primitivism artist in the Americas.

So we tried our hand at painting like Velasquez! Not quite succeeding but we had fun! Though, Andrew did get frustrated and quit (Eve was exempt from this, as we used oil paints!)

Hope you learned a little more about Honduras. Next week we travel to Iceland!