1. Coffee!
Central America is worldwide renowned for
its coffee production, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can get a decent
cup for breakfast. The Honduran style of drinking coffee, at least in the
mountain villages around Copán, is to boil a pot full of water and adding a
little coffee and tons of sugar that is then strained to a cheesecloth filter. It’s
sweet and weak and doesn’t do a thing to get me going in the morning. Guatemala is
even worse: coffee = Nescafé. Only in places frequented by tourists can you get
a real espresso, cappuccino or just a regular that actually tastes like coffee.
And luckily enough there are plenty of these places in Copán! You can get
delicious locally grown and freshly ground coffee at La Casa de Todo, Café San
Rafael, Café Ixchel, Macaw
Mountain and Café Welchez.
Don’t forget to bring a few pounds of coffee home with you!
2.
Cheese!
My
life took a humungous turn for the better when Carlos René Guerra started
making cheese a couple of years ago at Café San Rafael. Not even in Antigua Guatemala
will you find such an incredible and delicious variety of cheeses, from spiced cream
cheese to mozzarella, edam, brie, camembert, pepper jack and a whole bunch of
other cheeses that Carlos invented himself. All cheeses are made of milk coming
from the family farm. You should not visit Copán without dropping by at Café
San Rafael. If you’re not into cheese, then at least try their coffee (also
from their own family run farm) or any item on the menu of their lovely open-door
café. Oh, did I mention the yoghurt? The fresh milk? Their homemade chili
sauce? Total delight!
3.
Bread!
The
time that you could only get Bimbo bread in Copán is long gone and that’s a
good thing. Bimbo bread -what else could you expect with such a name- is soggy,
tasteless and gross. It actually does live up to one half of its publicity slogan
(Siempre rico, siempre fresco –Always
delicious, always fresh) because it never gets hard or green or moldy. Thanks
to huge amount of ingredients that have nothing to do with bread.
But
you can now forget about Bimbo and go to La Casa de Todo for freshly baked
garlic bread or baguettes. The Via Via sells a great whole wheat bread as well
as regular loaves. And if you like really dark bread, contact Muriel through La
Casa del Café. Healthy and delicious!
4.
Booze!
When
I first came to Copán there were only three kinds of nationally brewed beers
and that was about it. We would get overexcited if one of the stores would
accidentally have a bottle of wine in stock, usually overpriced and pure
vinegar, but nonetheless wine. At least according to the label. Now there’s
plenty of variety of wine in the liquor stores for reasonable prices. Café Via
Via sells Belgium beers that
are actually cheaper than in a bar in Belgium, as well as local beers and
a Happy Hour for rum drinks (2 for 1 for $1,50!!). Beer lovers must visit Sol de Copán, a small German
owned beer brewery. Great drafts!
5.
Local veggies you’ve never seen in your life before!
The
market in the centre of town sells a great variety of the regular fruit and
vegetables, but when in Copán, and in the right season, make sure you don’t
miss out on lorroco, a small
green/white flower with a delicious nutty taste; or chufles, something best described as a crossover between asparagus
and artichoke. Ayote (squash) flowers
are delicious as well as very decorative as you will experience if you book a
romantic dinner at Hacienda San Lucas. Flor
de izote has a somewhat bitter taste and surprising texture. Berro can be compared to watercress and
in order to be big and strong when I grow up, I eat tons of mostaza or mustard leaf, something I had
never tasted before coming to Copán. Raw or cooked, it tastes amazing and is full
of the good stuff.
And
those are just five reasons why to come and stay in Copán Ruinas. There are
plenty more!
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