Legendary Nicaraguan Food Tour in Masaya, Nicaragua!!

Good morning everyone. I hope you're all doing amazing. This is David Hoffman from David's Bin here, coming at you from Masaya, Nicaragua. Today I'm going to take you to see one of the most traditional dishes that you have to try when you come to Nicaragua. It's called pao. It's beef, yuca, sweet plantain, green plantain, onions, tomatoes, green pepper, and it's all steamed. Oh my gosh, this is going to be amazing, super unique experience. Exactly. Go my friend to taste pao. Okay. How are you? All good? All good. Welcome to Pao Vilma. Thank you. Welcome to Pao Vilma. Thank you, friend. The whole staff here welcoming me. This is amazing. Ready. How are you? Friend. Hello. How are you? Hello. Okay. I haven't had breakfast yet. Only coffee. A lot of coffee this morning. A lot of coffee? Yes, a lot of coffee. And here we go. All the ingredients to make the pao. First, over here we have marinated cow, right? So they marinate it with a few different ingredients. They also throw some onions, tomatoes, green pepper, and that's basically it, right? Over here we have some plantains. We have oranges. We have peppers, tomatoes, cassava or yuca, yuca en espanol, right? We have onions. We have spring onions. Estamos listos. So the way to start the pao is you got to peel the yuca or the cassava. So she peels one entire one, right? And you can see the inside is beautiful white. Then after that she grabs two plantains, a sweet one and the green one. The green one is a little more bitter. The sweet one is super sweet, right? She peels all of it, puts it into this bowl. Y ahora, ¿cómo hacemos? Ahora prepararlo. Ahora esto se prepara aquí, aquí, y allí. ¿Así? Ahora sí, ahora. Echa el balde de agua. Echa hacemelo, por favor. ¿Agua? Y todo, ¿no? Pásame la hoja. ¿Y eso es para qué? ¿Para darle más sabor? Para el vapor. Para el vapor, para que no se le valla el agua. The first thing they did is they put the guayaba stems in and they made like a little, almost like a barbecue setting, right? In terms of how it's laid out. And then they fill it up with water. Obviously this is a vapor, so vapor, steamed, steamed plate. Now she's adding banana leaves, right? Wow, esto va a ser riquísimo. Y esto se echa todo abajo para que ella agarre sabor. Sí, ¿no? Pero ¿toda la yuca estaba sentado en agua por cuánto tiempo? En cuanto se pela, se lava. So now she's adding all the yuca. So it's like, I'd say a hundred pieces of yuca. Look at that. Literally filled to the rim. Está rico esto. Está durísimo, ¿no? Durísimo. Yeah, yuca casaba is super hard. After the yuca comes the maduro and the green plantain. So sweet plantain and green plantain. She just fills it up, right? So it's another like 20 pieces. So a lot of yuca, then you have like 20 pieces of plantain, and now they're going to add all the meat. Comienzas. Esta es la carne. Carne de pecho. ¿De pecho? Sí. ¿De res? De res. This is the calf chest. Se ve delicioso. So you have a lot of fat areas, but then it's very, very meaty. So you have a mix, right? Fat and meat. Oh, it's going to be so good. This dish is going to be phenomenal. Oh, now she's going to add tomatoes, peppers, onions. Of course, this is Doña Vilma. So she's been making this dish since she was 16 years old, since she got married. Before that, her grandmother would send her out to sell it. So she's like, it's a multi-generational dish, right? She's making it with love for... ¿Cuántos años tienes tú? Perdón si te pregunto. 52 años. So like over 40 years she's been making it. I've never seen something like this in my life. This is amazing. Estoy listo para comer esto. Sí, está bien. Una más grande, pero va bien. Sí, ¿está bien así? Esa era, esa era. Ah, no, no. So in an hour and a half to check this water. So because it's vapor, you don't have to add water. But if they see it's too low, they'll add a little bit more. Straight up steamed dish. Wow. Me encanta esto. El proceso, todo. And I love the grill. I mean, the fire under it. Eso es una llanta. So not a tire. It's the rim of the tire. Okay, now that we saw the whole process, we're going to the restaurant to eat. We're going to try a few other things as well. Not just the bao. But I can't wait for this one. It's going to be so good. So if you try the vigorón in Granada, similar, but obviously different because this is beef, not pork, and it's steamed. But yeah, always yuca based. ¿A comer? ¿Vamos a comer? ¿Tú? ¡Claro! ¿Dónde están? Yeah. I love masaya. Mira, tienen puñuelos ahí. It's like macaroons. Sugar. The puñuelos, that's actually yuca. The sign right there. That's what we had yesterday. It's like a yuca dumpling fried with honey. One straight away and here we have it. And they spell it differently. It's B-A-H-O or V, Victor. A-H-O. Right when you enter the restaurant, here they have the bao. Look at this. Beautiful. It's still steaming. ¡Ay! Caliente, ¿no? Caliente. Wow, it's like bubbling at the very bottom. You have the yuca. You have all the layers, right? So think of like a mixed layered yuca plantain beef dish. That's what this is. Mira, agarra algo. ¿Puedo? Sí, claro. Un pedazo de carne. It's like yuca in that. ¿La yuca también? Sin gordura no hay sabor. Así. Yo siempre lo hago así, ¿no? Wow. This dish is blowing my mind. So she served me a mix, right? Yuca plantain beef and now she's going to add repollo right there. Nice repollo on top. So cabbage salad. Sí, sí, un chilito. Y ahí tenemos el plato. David, vamos a comer. Vamos, vamos. This is her restaurant. Love this. Oh, careful with the head. Cualquiera. Mira, vamos a la luz. I love this restaurant. Very rustic. Beautiful. Look at this. Está servido ya. Está servido. Estamos listos. Tengo hambre. A desayunar. Okay, estoy listo. Al fin. El bao. Bao. Bao, bao, bao. Finally. Bao, bao, bao. Hey, so ¿cómo empezamos aquí? Okay. ¿La yuca y la carne? So, cortamos un poco de aquí. Love it. It's a huge mix of flavors here. The chest of the cow. The chest. Not even of the cow, of the calf. So, the reason why the calf is so good is because it's only had milk in its lifetime. That is the difference, right? Cheers. That meat is so tender. The yuca. It like falls apart. It falls apart. Oh, my gosh. Gotta get in here. Get more, right? No, ¿esto es? Another incredible dish in Nicaragua. My friend put chile. Chile. Just drip it everywhere. Get this piece of beautiful beef. Gotta cut in here, right? Nice fat. And we also have the yuca. Now, you should get some of the maduro, right? So, mix everything. A big bite, right? Dale, you can. It's amazing. How do you feel? I mean, the contrast with the sweet plantain So, I had sweet plantain, I had yuca, and the beef. The beef is unreal. I mean, that process just is so cool. You know, the steamed beef, you know? Not boiled, not fried, not grilled. Exactly. For three hours. Oh, my gosh. Y ahora mezclo todo. That's allowed, right? Just to mix it all. This beef. It's so just incredible, man. Flavors. And if you want, get some of the tomato. Yeah. So, when do you usually eat bao? Whatever you want. All the time you have bao in Masaya or one of the favorite Nicaraguan dishes. Yes, all day if you want, you can eat bao. Like, right now we're having breakfast, right? Yeah. 10 in the morning. If you want breakfast, you want dinner, you want lunch. Hey, let me ask you. So, is it mainly in Masaya or this is a regional dish or the whole country? The whole country. But bao Vilma is one of the best in Nicaragua. You feel it. This is one of the best dishes I've had on this trip. Wow. I mean, the flavors, right? I personally love yuca. To be honest, my favorite yuca is fried yuca, but now steamed is amazing. Steamed is amazing. Yeah, because I don't love boiled too much. Tiste. Love tiste. If you guys haven't seen any of my other content, tiste is a cow and corn. That's it. So, imagine a chocolate corn drink. Always served in the calabash seed, right? They do this traditional style, right? So, they carve it. This is another cool souvenir you can take. So, I bought it in León. In León. Yeah, but here in the market. Every market has it. Every market. Masaya especially. It is amazing. I'm so happy to be here, man. So happy. I'm happy you enjoyed it. Dude, I'll tell you. Nicaragua is completely different than what I thought. It is so much more. The people is warm. They don't just do bao here at Bao Vilma. They also have a few different plates. Traditional plates. Plates you can eat gallo pinto, at night carne asada, fritanga. Or you can eat indio viejo. Like this, right? Yeah, like this. Oh my goodness. I know, right? You're a magician. We have gallo pinto. We have the tortilla. You can actually hear them in the back making it right now. And over here we have yogurt. Lechagria. Just yogurt. No. It's like a yogurt. But it's traditional yogurt. Nicaraguan yogurt. Okay. Yeah, it's more like a watered down yogurt. It's not that thick. It's milk. And it's not sweet, right? No, it's not sweet. It's not sweet. It's like a cream, but it's lechagria. Lechagria. It's like a yogurt, but natural. Don't have anything. And if you can't fight the heat, drink this. Okay, so here we go. Yeah, here we go. The best way that Nicaraguan eat this is if you put lechagria. On top of the gallo pinto. Okay. And after, eat it. Just like that? Mm-hmm. Wow. Do it. Never tried gallo pinto like that. Mm-hmm. Just got to add this on top, right? Do I put salt? Yes, yes. Put salt. We're going to mix in some salt in here. Like this. Mix it in. Eat. Oh my God. The best gallo pinto of all time. The milk runs right through it. Mm-hmm. It's a creamy gallo pinto. Yeah, creamy gallo pinto with lechagria. And we have the lettuce. Mm-hmm. What do we do? Cut it. Like this? Mm-hmm. And make it like a taco. Make it like a taco or eat it. Eat it separately like this. A little? Yeah. I'm going to do it like this. It's good. It's very good. Incredible, Val. Best gallo pinto ever. No, like this. In Nicaragua, this breakfast is popular. All Nicaraguan people eat gallo pinto at morning, gallo pinto at night. But the plus, the plus perfect is lechagria. Mm-hmm. Mm. I just can't finish it. Nica breakfast. What are you going to do when you come back home? No, there's Nica places in Miami. And, you know, I really haven't done it mainly because I want to go to Nica first, you know? Mm. This is the spot, guys. Mm. You know, I have a few rice dishes I love. Gallo pinto is up there, top three. Top three. What is, what is? I want to know. Oh, man. Briyani, risotto, risotto and paella and gallo pinto. Okay, perfect. Top five. Mm-hmm. But Nica style. No costa, no cuba. No, please. No cuba, no costa. Come on. Nica style is better. You know why I like this one more? Mm-hmm. Because of the red beans. Red beans. And gallo pinto is Nica. Don't tell anybody else that. Meringue. And then next to it, we have cajeta de coco. Cajeta de coco. Black and pink. So it's basically like a cookie made of coconut and sugar. Pero rompo. Dale, dale, mordela. Mm. Coño. It pops open. Eat it. It falls apart, like chalk. The inside is like creamy inside. Yes. A little bit. It's so soft. Mm-hmm. Mira eso. Voy a meter un pedacito. A ver, un pedacito. Un pedacito. Inside. Oh, I just go in here. Look at this. Saca todo esto. Mm-hmm. La parte de adentro está buenísimo. Mm. It crumbles. Mm-hmm. So airy. Buñuelas. Why would they do this to me? I have to try this one first. Pruebalo. So I'm going to try. This is brown sugar, no? Si. I believe it. Yes. Mm-hmm. It's amazing. Pink. Ready, Corona? Condensed with sugar. Packing. Wow. Oh, no. Demasiado bueno. Todo. No puedo más con eso. Okay. Buñuelos. So this is yuca dumplings. Dumplings. Inside super soft, outside golden brown. And then they add honey on top. Oh, they're hot. No, it reminds me of like, that has cheese. Yeah, cheese. Tiene queso. Some people put inside cheese and other people only yuca. Okay, porque ayer en mi viejo ranchito they didn't add cheese. No tuvieron queso. Solo casaba. I love it. Love it? I love it. With cheese. With cheese, even better, guys. It literally just oozes out. And then you just dunk it down here into the honey. Let it suck up that honey. Muy bueno. Buenísimo. This is a must try when you come to Nicaragua. They're so good, I'm having a second. Oh, my gosh. You can't stop. I can't stop. I mean, when you drown it, it absorbs all that honey. Look at this. Last bite. Sugar rush. Salud. That's good. Ice cold. All right, guys, we're going to go into the kitchen and see them making the tortillas. And here we're making the corn tortillas. As you can see, huge block of dough here. Every few minutes, she'll grab a piece. She'll put it on. She'll put it onto this, the flattener, right? She has like two pieces of plastic. She rolls it out. She flattens it. She just keeps pressing it down. Makes it super, super paper thin. And from here, they're going to go onto this little griddle, right? So the flat top. Super hot. Casi, casi. Casi. Look at all the plantain. Look how many tortillas. These are for tacos. But obviously, you can use it for gallo pinto. You can do whatever you want with it. Just use it to eat, no? Amigas, gracias, gracias. Right when you walk into the restaurant, you have to get some of these sweets. This is what we just tried at the table. You can take it home, right? So you have like the merengue. You have the, you know, those coconut cookies. You have a few other ones as well. You have these huge like lollipops. Look at this. Beautiful lollipops. Nicaraguan style. They're very nice. Oh, it smells great. Candy. Spirit of candy. Hermana, gracias por todo. Gracias, gracias. She's the owner as well. That's the daughter of La Doña. La Doña. Gracias. Gracias por todo. Gracias. Doña. Gracias por todo. Encantado. Bueno, bueno. Demasiado. Where are we going next? We're going to see the mask maker, man. Vamos. Yeah? Yes. Come on. Mask makers. So again, this is the town that makes the masks. If you see the mask anywhere else in the country, they come from right here. Let's do it. This town is a town of textiles, arts and crafts. Look at this. Hammocks. This whole neighborhood is just hammocks. Hammock people, right? So they create hammocks. Yes. I don't know what you would call a hammock maker, but this is awesome. So you have red, green. Jamaquero. Look at this. Amazing. I'm not buying a hammock on this trip. Maybe next one. Next time I come, straight into Managua, drive over here, 35 minute drive, buy my hammocks, and then go back to Miami. And here we are at the handcraft house. So that's the house right there, right? Look at that, guys. This is a school for people that want to make handcraft. This is amazing. Guys, I bought some masks yesterday, but look at this wall. So this is an exhibition hall, and it's also a gift shop. So if you want, you can take any of these home. I bought some yesterday. I bought five, and it was like $10 each. Obviously, that's inside the market, but this is where they make them. So here you get a better deal. I like some of these scary ones, like these. Too many. Which one do you think I should take? I don't know. I like the toucan. The toucan, you have a few scary skulls. The monkey. Tiger mask. I mean, they're all awesome, and they're real masks. You can actually put it on. Guys, let me show you. Let me put one on. Try it. All right, let me show you this. Let me drop the hat. Ooh, scary. Sort of. Scary, scary. Don't go to the market. Come here. Buy them here. It's so cool. So we're going to the workshop area to see them making the masks. So those are made out of paper mache. The ones I bought yesterday are all wood. That's the difference, right? Here? Hello. How are you? Good, and you? Oh, that's made of wood? Yes, it's made of wood. Look, wood. I'm carving an old man. An old man? Yes. Like me? I'm 36 years old. For me, that's old. I'm going to buy an extra suitcase. So here he's making an old man. So it's a wood carving. How long does it take to do all of this? One day. One day? All of it, yes. There's a horse. One day. It takes an entire day for him to carve one. So the wood ones are way more expensive. Obviously, it's an entire day of work for him. And over here, he literally has the instructions of how he does it, right? Bendito Dios. So you have the face and you have the horse. The horse is the one you have to buy, which is right here. Is this one ready? Yes, it's ready. So I already bought one. We're going to the other mask maker, but with paper. Make the mask with paper, yes. So he was making a mask out of wood. She's making a mask out of paper mache. Paper mache. I personally like the wood one more. Just because it's heavier. It's better. It's dirtier. They just finished making the paper mache mask. As you can see, the process is very, very complex. So they use paper mache. They mold it and they bring it out here and they let it sit in the sun for three days. Yes, 72 hours. Once that's done, then they start painting. And that's what we have in the showroom, right? Vamos a comprar. Vamos, vamos, vamos, vamos. Painting. Oh, they're painting here. I'm messing with them. I mean, it's a great deal. You know, $10 for each paper mache mask. In Africa, it'll cost you $100. Just the way it is. Super affordable here in Nicaragua. Highly recommend coming out here and getting yourself a gift for you, for your family, for friends, for fans. Now the problem is, which one do I take? I might have to take like five or ten. Let's see, let's see. I'm thinking maybe the toucan. I feel like the toucan is a must. Como este. Estoy pensando en mis hijas. I'm going to take this for my daughter. She wanted a toucan. I think I'm going to take this one for my other daughter. The toucan. And then, this one's cool. For the girls, these two. I want to take maybe one of these skulls. Okay. Es que hay muchos. Hay demasiados. Eso es difícil. Es muy difícil. I mean, these are cool. Some of these are very scary. Like, this is like, I don't know. For Halloween, I'd probably wear one of those. But I might just take this guy because he's like awesome. No? Okay, I'm going to take this one too. Okay. So, it's going to be like a... La muerte. La muerte kirina es esa. La muerte kirina es esta. La muerte kirina. So, you got two birds. When it's October in Nicaragua. In the United States, you celebrate Halloween. We celebrate aguisotes and the people dancing on the street with this mask. It's scary at night. So good, man. You have to come. I will come back for that. Okay, I'm going to take these three. How much is it in total? $800. So, $800 roughly right now. It's like 36 exchange. So, talking about right under $25, $26. Something like that. Not too bad. Si. Es que es para ellos. Para ahí. En sus cuartos. Y yo me voy a disfrazar así. Amigo, gracias. Gracias. Gracias, amiga. Muy amable. Dale, dale. Gracias. In tour. Nos vemos. Tuchenlo en YouTube. We did it. Masaya. We did the bao. Bao Vilma. Bao Vilma, yes. Incredible. Mask. I mean, this is an amazing experience. We did this in the morning. We got here like at nine in the morning when we had the bao and we came here. It's only 11.15 in the morning. A must do if you're ever headed from either Managua to Granada or opposite. Stop here and do that. But there's so much more to see. You can also do the market. I mean, this is a place that doesn't end. Masaya. Masaya, Nicaragua. Guys, if you love this video, please give me a thumbs up. Leave me a comment below. Subscribe to my channel for more awesome travel content. We'll see you in the next travel food adventure somewhere here in Nicaragua. Let's go!