On the side
EL PAPATURRO ★★★1/2
6601 Fourth NW, 505-503-1575
Albuquerque is in the midst of a boom in Central and South American restaurants.
Like New Mexican food, Central and South American cuisine developed from a mix of Spanish and indigenous ingredients and traditions. The names on the menu are familiar; the preparation and presentation less so.
At El Papaturro, a 5-year-old Salvadoran restaurant in the North Valley, a tamale arrives not in a corn husk but a banana leaf. Unwrapping it reveals a light, almost fluffy sleeve of steamed masa, a far cry from the crumbly, lardy filling typically found in New Mexican tamales.
Appetizers offer some of the greatest hits of Salvadoran cuisine, such as tamales, fried yucca and empanadas, all costing around $5 or less. The Salvadoran Tamal ($3) is filled with shredded white chicken meat and potatoes. It’s redolent of chicken flavor and picks up some zing and color from the two accompanying bottles of salsa: a mild, vinegary tomato-based one and a blazing green chile sauce.
Salvadorans have been making pupusas — corn cakes filled with cheese and beans and whatever else is available — for more than a millennium. El Papaturro’s versions are terrific, crisp and heavy with ingredients. At $2.75 each, they’re an excellent value. My favorite was the mixed version, with an optimal balance of pork, beans and cheese.
A separate menu lists traditional Salvadoran meals, mostly in the $10$15 range and based on steak, chicken wings, salmon and shrimp. Two of the plates offer samplers of menu items. The first, the El Papaturro Dish ($12.50), with a pupusa, beans, eggs
and sliced plantains, is more fitting for breakfast. The Platillo Feliz, or Happy Plate ($14.99), comes with a pupusa, an empanada filled with green beans, yuca fries, two pieces of plantains and a plantain empanada. It’s an appetizer, meal and dessert in one plate.
Both the empanada and the yucca fries were nicely done, the latter cut into thick blocks that fried up a little sweeter and denser than potato fries. Plantains are prepared Salvadoran style, sliced down the middle and fried in a skillet with vanilla and cinnamon. El Papaturro’s version was well-caramelized over a buttery core. The plantain empanada is made with mashed plantains filled with a creamy paste of milk, sugar, vanilla and cornstarch. The whole thing gets fried until it comes out looking like a doughnut. It was very good, although when served in combination with the plantains, it makes for a lot of starch.
Most of the menu is gluten-free, including the pupusas, and there are several vegetarian options. El Salvador has established a remarkable culinary reputation, especially for such a small country. El Papaturro upholds that reputation with its welcoming vibe and accessible menu. Like its namesake tree, it’s built to last.