Even the sandwiches were heavy with curtido.
That slightly spicy slaw is a much more familiar sight atop pupusas, after which this event was named. Since no less-common varieties were on hand, however — at this festival, "pupusa" could better be understood as shorthand for "Salvadoran" — I had my fill of curtido in pan relleno, a sandwich also replete with roast chicken and hardboiled egg. Tonged from a large tub, this particular slaw was on the mild side; sliced peppers and various salsas allowed customers to tweak their own spice levels.
Also shown: a pre-made hash brown, dressed with sliced, chilled salad fixings and the omnipresent curtido, whose name I didn't catch; the Salvadoran snow cone called a minuta, topped with a chunky tamarind slurry; two Salvadoran singers, one traditional, with quite a set of lungs, one a rapper; the steamy festival grounds. Though not readable in this photo, "Got pupusas?" is the legend on the T-shirt of the fellow at right.
Festival de la Pupusa de New Jersey
Parking lot adjoining Madison St. between 57th and 59th Sts., West New York, New Jersey
www.Facebook.com/FestivaldelaPupusaNJ
(The 2013 festival was held on July 7)
