If it doesn't look like a rose and doesn't smell like a rose, it's a rose

My days are starting to fill up with activities now, and by "fill up" I mean a combined total of 3 hours of activity out of a possible 16 hours a day. I'm getting there, from Cuerpo de Paseo to Cuerpo de Paz.

With my free morning I went over to my ageless host grandmother's, La Niña* Lucia, house to retrieve my clothing( yes, I pay other people to do my clothing for reasons I will not go into here, don't judge). I walked in through the open door and saw she was in the add-on kitchen in the way back, a kitchen made of sheet metal and logs. With the think smell of burning wood coursing through the house, I knew something was cooking. She always gives me a big smile when she sees me, and her metal teeth never cease to sparkle.

What cooking looks like here (and not what tortillas look like)

I asked her what she was up to. She replied, "Just toasting some coffee!". I look at the comal, the metal disk that serves as a cooking surface and I see some very yellow coffee beans. "¿Corn Coffee?" I asked, only to receive another warm smile and a resounding "¡Sí!".

It took me awhile to figure out that people call a whole bunch of different things coffee here. It seems like it should be straight forward. There is a plant that is called the coffee plant, hence the beans that come off this plant should be called coffee as well. However, according to Salvadorans, the culinary alchemists of Central America, corn makes reference to the cob harvested from corn stalks, but once said corn is kerneled and roasted it miraculously converts itself into coffee.

You might be asking, "Maybe they call it coffee because it has a similar taste after the whole process is done?"

No.

The only thing the two liquids, roasted corn liquid and coffee have in common is their color.

As if that is not appetising enough, they introduce a colorful crowd of additives, trying to add flavor this molten maize. Clove, cinnamon, and quite literally tablespoons upon tablespoons of sugar are added until the point of saturation. Ready to serve!

Alas, there is "real" coffee to be had, real meaning coffee that is made out of coffee. Just good luck finding it anywhere already prepared to serve.

*Women are referred to as "girl" instead of "Miss" or "Mrs" here as a form of respect. Who knows why.