The Vigoron

Other Types:
Culinary traditions

By Alvaro Vergara

Vigorón could be described as the fast food of colonial Nicaraguas. Over the years, this quick dish meat and vegetables, all rolled into a banana leaf, has developed into a local favorite. If you arrive unexpectedly at someone´s home, vigorón is the dish you´re likely to be served. 

Vegetarians beware: although vigorón contains boiled yucca and a pickled cabbage salad, it can also contain either fried pork or pork rinds toasted until they´re crunchy.

Each region has it´s own version of vigorón: in Bluefields´Barrio Central the dish is made with salad that has been pickled with chile de cabro and mustard; in Chinandega it includes chile congo and plenty of pickled onions and carrots; a famous Granada version of vigorón uses mimbros, a tiny, crunchy and extremely sour tropical fruit that gives the salad a unique tang.

To make vigorón yourself, first select fresh yucca (if it has blue tips, it´s not fresh), peel it and cut it into 3- to 5-inch pieces. Boil the yucca until it bursts. Add finely diced cabbage, tomatoes and onions. Mix the vegetables up with vinegar, oil, lime and chile peppers (such as chile congo from the Pacific coast). Finally, season with rosemary or cilantro and wrap in a clean banana leaf.