Pupusas

Pupusas are a medium choking risk. Masa is dense and sticky, the outside can turn crisp on the pan, and fillings can hold chunks of meat or whole beans. The CDC advises avoiding small, sticky or hard foods that are difficult to chew and swallow, and lists tough or large chunks of meat and whole beans among choking hazards. Cut pupusas into soft strips for babies and pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) for toddlers, trim crisp edges, mince meat finely and mash beans. Stay with your child during meals.

Many pupusas contain milk, because cheese is a common filling, on its own or with beans or pork. Cows' milk can trigger allergic reactions, so offer cheese pupusas once your baby has had dairy on its own. Most reactions start within a few minutes to 2 hours, but cows' milk allergy can take up to 3 days to show. The masa is made from corn, which isn't a common allergen and is naturally gluten-free. Bean-only pupusas may be milk-free, but ask or check the label, since shop-bought and restaurant pupusas can contain other ingredients.

A restaurant cheese pupusa has about 11.7 g of protein and 325 mg of calcium per 100 g, and about 400 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 1 g of salt), under the NHS 'high salt' level of 1.5 g. One pupusa weighs about 117 g, so it has about 1.2 g of salt. The NHS says babies under 1 should have less than 1 g of salt a day, and children aged 1 to 3 no more than 2 g. Homemade pupusas with unsalted masa and a lower-salt cheese have much less.

Yes, from around 6 months. Make your baby's with unsalted masa and a soft filling such as mashed beans, finely minced well-cooked pork or pasteurized cheese (once dairy has been introduced). Cook them through, let them cool and cut them into soft strips.

Pupusas made with corn masa are naturally gluten-free. Corn flour can pick up gluten through cross-contact, so if your child has celiac disease, choose masa labeled gluten-free: in the US, these foods must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten. Ask how restaurant pupusas are made.

Keep them for the adults for now. Curtido is cabbage, often with carrot and chili, pickled in vinegar and salt. It's salty: the NHS says babies should not eat much salt, and it lists pickles among the salty foods to eat less often. It also stays crunchy, and the CDC lists pieces of hard raw vegetables as a choking hazard, so for babies and toddlers, offer plain soft-cooked cabbage, with no salt, on the side instead. Salsa is often spicy and salty: take your child's portion out before it goes on, or use a small spoonful of a mild one (see our salsa page). For the family, serve curtido and salsa at the table so everyone adds their own.