La Plaza Central

I link to this article in Time magazine today for three reasons. One, it involves Nicaragua. B, it mentions Kiva.org which is one of my favorite organizations. And three, as any of my Peace Corps brethren will tell you, pastries in Central America are a tricky game of roulette. So many times did we step into a panadería looking for a dessert to satisfy the post-beans and rice sweet tooth, but rarely if ever did we select the slices of cake or cupcakes. That was because cake there is nothing like cake here. Here there is flour, there they have some grainy corn powder-like substance or Maseca, neither of which ever seemed to taste very good in cake. I’m sure that better ingredients are cost prohibitive for most places, but that doesn’t change the fact that when in doubt in Central America you should probably opt for donuts and bananas, and wash it all down with a fresco from a bag. Unless, I guess, you’re at the Little Mango Bakery in Managua.