FOOD | puertorico2013

PUERTO RICAN FOOD

Thanks to their tropical climate, and the water surrounding them, it's easy to find good tasting, fresh dishes from even the most humble of food vendors in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans have easy access to native fruits, vegetables, and roots as well as fish and chickens, and though there are surprisingly few mammals that are native to the island, pork and lamb are commonly available.

Traditional Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

by boricua_nena

A note from the chef:
This is my family's recipe straight from Aguada, Puerto Rico. In PR we make it from scratch (all the seasoning, but this recipe tastes the same, just easier than the all home-made version. This recipe is easy and serves 4, or 2 if you eat alot!! Muy rico, come lo

Click here for the full recipe, user submitted and hosted on Food.com.

Nothing in Puerto Rico is made as often or in as many varieties as rice and beans, so I was compelled to order a dish heavy with it in my second day in San Juan. Though it isn't pretty to photograph, rice and beans is a cheap, filling dish that can be easily manipulated using herbs and spices to taste as unique as you want it to.

In this restaurant, rice and beans was served with a small side of meat—I chose pork ribs—and some iceberg lettuce and a tomato slice that tried to pose as a salad. Most likely due to how often they are cooked in Puerto Rico, the beans were by far the best part of the dish.

ARROZ CON HABICHUELAS

Salsa Rosa

Ingredients

1 part ketchup

3 parts mayonnaise

Procedure

1. Blend ingredients all mayonnaise lumps are gone. For a little more flavor, or to tailor to a specific dish, add mashed garlic and finely chopped fresh culantro, which is not the same as cilantro, or for a little kick, add pique, hot sauce.
Refrigerate leftovers.

On our trip to Caguas, Jose recommended eating at this slightly out of the way diner. With all the walking we'd done that day, we were all starving. I was excited to try the fish, since we were constantly near a beach and everything available should be far fresher than anything we had in Oklahoma. I was not let down. Their fish was soft, almost buttery, and fell apart as soon as my fork touched it. This tasty, oily fish will probably haunt my dreams.

Most of the dishes here offered Tostones, fried plantains, on the side as well as a sweet, pink dipping sauce, which is not so creatively named salsa rosa or pink sauce. Salsa rosa is extremely addicting and seems to go well with anything fried. Thankfully, it's also ridiculously easy to make at home.

FISH AND TOSTONES with salsa rosa

BACARDI

There are drinks aplenty on the island as well, especially those made with Bacardí rum, whose largest factory is located Cataño, just outside San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Bacardí story is an interesting one, more so for what you are not told on the tour of the facility than for what you are. Bacardí’s origins in Santigo de Cuba are engagingly told, including the colony of fruit bats roosting in the rafters of the first rum facility. Because fruit bats are considered good luck in Cuba, Bacardí decided to let the bats stay and took the fruit bat as the company logo. If you are interested, you can follow the Bacardí bat on Twitter.

Following the Cultural Revolution, the Bacardí family (who declined to have their property nationalized by Fidel Castro) promptly relocated operations to Puerto Rico. (This information is not available on the tour, but can be viewed here.) The business has thrived ever since and is today one of, if not the, largest family-owned distillery in the world.

Some of the restaurants we visited include the two below, both well known and highly respected by locals and tourists alike.

El Maunabeño – Tammy had Pechuga de pollo encebollada (chicken breast with onions)

El Jíbarito – Tammy had Pollo al ajillo (chicken in garlic sauce)

Restaurants

POLLO GUISADO

Returning to Oklahoma didn't mean we had to leave the food behind. This fix-it-and-forget-it chicken stew is easy to make with a crock pot or on the stove.

Click here for the recipe!