Cuisine of Puerto Rico

The cuisine of Puerto Rico has its roots in the cuisines of Spain and the Amerindian Taínos. The cuisine is also influenced by the cuisines of the United States, Mexico, and African countries like Ethiopia.

History

The cuisines of Spain, Taíno and Arawaks Amerindians] , and parts of the African continent like Ethiopia, all have had an impact on how food is prepared in Puerto Rico. Although Puerto Rican cooking is somewhat similar to both Spanish and Mexican cuisine, it is a unique tasty blend of influences, using indigenous seasonings and ingredients. Locals call their cuisine "cocina criolla [http://www.topuertorico.org/ Welcome to Puerto Rico! ] ]

Taino Amerindian influences

From the diet of the Taíno (culturally related with the Mayas of México and Guatemala / Mesoamérica) [ [http://hometown.aol.com/sobaokokoromo1/TainoMaya.html Taino and Mayas ] ] , and Arawak people come many tropical roots and tubers like "yautía" (taro) and especially "Yuca" (cassava), from which thin cracker-like "casabe" bread is made. Ajicito or cachucha pepper, a slightly hot habanero pepper, orégano brujo, "recao/culantro" (spiny leaf), "achiote" (annatto), "peppers", "ají caballero" (the hottest pepper native to Puerto Rico), peanuts, guavas, pineapples, "jicacos" (cocoplum), "quenepas" (mamincillo), "lerenes" (Guinea arrowroot), "calabazas" (tropical pumpkins), and "guanabanas" (soursops) are all Taíno foods. The Taínos also grew varieties of beans and some "maíz" (corn/maize), but "maíz" was not as dominant in their cooking as it was for the peoples living on the mainland of Mesoamerica. This is due to the frequent hurricanes that Puerto Rico experiences, which destroy crops of "maíz", leaving more safeguarded plants like "conucos" (hills of "yuca" grown together). [http://welcome.topuertorico.org/culture/foodrink.shtml Puerto Rico Culture: Food and Drinks ] ]

panish / European influence

"See: Spanish Cuisine"

Spanish / European influence is also seen in Puerto Rican cuisine. Wheat, garbanzos, olives, olive oil, black pepper, onions, garlic, cilantrillo (or cilantro), oregano, basil, sugarcane, orange, grapefruit, eggplant, ham, lard, chicken, beef, pork, and cheese all came to Borikén (Puerto Rico's Amerindian name) from Spain. The tradition of cooking complex stews and rice dishes in pots such as rice and beans are also thought to be originally European (much like Italians, Spaniards, and the British). [http://welcome.topuertorico.org/index.shtml]

Afro influence through Spain

Coconuts, coffee (brought by the Arabs and Corsos to Yauco from Kafa, Ethiopia), okra, yams, sesame seeds, "gandules" (pigeon peas in English) sweet bananas, plantains, malanga, and Guinea hen, all come to Puerto Rico from Africa. African slaves introduced the deep frying food. [Puerto Rico: Grand Cuisine of the Caribbean by Jose Luis Diaz de Villegas]

United States influence

The last century as a territory of the United States has also impacted Puerto Rican cooking traditions and favorite foods. The most significant has to do with how people fry food. The early Spaniards brought olive oil for cooking and frying, but importing it from Spain made it very expensive, and cooks on the Island shifted over to lard which could be produced locally. For 50-60 years, corn oil produced in the United States took the place of lard for making "cuchifritos" and "alcapurrias".

Note: Olive oil (especially "virgin") has been replacing the corn oil for the last three decades.

Some other products and dishes by USA influence

"Panapén" (breadfruit) was first imported into the British Caribbean colonies from the South Pacific as cheap slave food in the late 18th century. After spreading throughout the Antilles, "panapén" has also become an indispensable part of the Puerto Rican repertoire, both in puddings and crunchy, deep-fried "tostones".

"Canned Corned Beef stew"

"Galletas de soda" (soda crackers in tins) are an American product of the 19th and early 20th centuries that reproduce the crunchy texture of the earlier "casabe" bread and can be kept crunchy (in the tins) in high tropical humidity.

"Pasta" - Using Puerto Rican seasonings and meats.

"Salchichas" (canned Vienna sausages) - They were introduced in 1898. Today, they are scrambled with eggs and cooked in other dishes.

Basic Ingredients

Grains and Legumes

*Black beans
*Corn
*Gandules - Pigeon peas
*Garbanzo beans
*Green beans
*Green peas
*Kidney Beans (red and white)
*Lentils
*Pink beans
*Pinto beans
*Rice

Herbs

*Basil
*Bay leaves - Laurel
*Cilantro
*Marjoram
*Mint
* Oregano
* Orégano brujo - Puerto Rican wild oregano. This oregano, with its distinctive pungent aroma, grows wild on the island.
*Parsley - but rarely used
*Culantro/Recao - (Mexican coriander)" - 10 times the flavor of Cilantro
*Sage
*Tarragon
*Thyme

tarchy tropical tubers

*Apio - Root vegetable (from the legume Apios tuberosa / Apios americana), eaten like potatoes. Not to be confused with celery.
*Batata - (Sweet Potato) - "Camote"
*Malanga
*Ñame
*Potatoes
*Yam - "Batata Blanca"
*Yautía - Taro
*Yuca - Similar to a potato but more starchy. Usually boiled or Fried.

Vegetables

*"Ajicitos" - "Capsicum chinense" - Habanero Pepper's cousin.
*"Ají caballero" - A very hot pepper native to Puerto Rico. Also known by Puerto Rican Jelly Bean Hot Chili Pepper.
*"Asparagus"
* "Bell Peppers
*"Cabbage"
*"Carrot"
*"Cauliflower"
*"Cubanelle peppers"
*"Chayote"
*"Cucumber"
*"Eggplant"
*"Green onions"
*"Lettuce"
*Onion
*"West Indian pumpkin"

Meats and Poultry

*Beef
*Butifarra - Puerto Rican grill sausage.
*Chicken
*Chorizo
*Corned beef
*Goat
*Guinea hen
*Ham
*Lamb
*Longaniza
*Morcilla - Moronga
*Pork
*Rabit
*Turkey

eafood and shellfish

*"Chapín" (Trunkfish)
*Chillo (Pargo) - Puerto Rican Red Snapper
*Clams
*Cod
*Conch
*Mussel
*Octopus
*Oysters
*Salmon
*Salt codfish
*Shrimp
*Spiny lobster
*Squid
*Tuna fish
*West Indian Great Land Crab

Fruits

Fresh tropical fruit is important in the traditional daily diet in Puerto Rico
*Acerola cherry
*Avocado
*Bananas
*Caimito - Chrysophyllum cainito
*Chironja - The Chironja (Orangelo) is a combination of orange and pomelo, the original name for the grapefruit, and is a native fruit of Puerto Rico.
*Chrysophyllum cainito
*Coconut
*Cucumber
*Frambuesas - Puerto Rican raspberries (Rubus rosifolius)
*Grapefruit
*Guanábana
*Guava
*"Guineos niños" - Lady - Finger bananas
*Jobo - A refreshing orangy yellow fruit
*Key lime
*Lemons
*lime
*"Mamey"
*"Quenepa"
*Mandarin Orange
*Mango
*Nance
*Okra
*Orange
*Papaya
*Passion fruit
*Pineapple
*Pomarosa - Appelroo (Tropical apple / Syzygium malaccense)
*Pomegrante
*Sea Grape
*Soursop
*Starfruit - Carambola
*Tamarind
*Tomatoes
*Watermelon

tarchy Fruits

*Plantains
*Breadfruit
*Green bananas They are occasional fare, whether deep-fried and mashed as tostones, or boiled and seasoned with escabeche.

pices and Seasonings

* "Adobo mojado" - A mix of fresh garlic, salt, black pepper, olive oil, whole dried organo, white wine vinegar or citrus juice and sometimes fresh thyme leaves.
* "AdoboSeco" - A mix of garlic powder, onion powder, ground oregano, salt, black pepper, and sometimes cumin and dried citrus zest
* Ajilimójili sauce - a very garlicky hot & spicy salsa
* "Alcaparrado" - A mix of green olives, peppers, and capers
* Allspice - seen in more new Puerto Rican cuisine
*Anise seeds
* "Achiote" or "Bija" - "annatto" ("Bixa orellana")
*Annatto Oil - is Spanish olive oil or lard infused with annatto pods. It is used to and flavor many dishes and color food. Sometimes a whole chili pepper is add.
* Black pepper
*White pepper - but rarely used
*Dried Cayenne pepper
* Cloves
* Cinnamon
* Cumin
* Garlic
*Ginger
* "Mojito isleño"
* Onions
* Nutmeg
*Paprika
* "Pique verde boricua" - Green hot sauce
* Picadillo a la puertorriqueña
* "Pique criollo" - Puerto Rican hot condiment
*Recaíto - A green cooking base mix of cilantro, yellow Spanish onion, recao / culantro, garlic, greene bell pepper and green Ajicitos (Cachucha peppers). Some people add jalapeño or green habanero peppers.
* Sazón - a seasoning mix consisting of Dried cilantro, garlic powder, ground cumin, salt and paprika or achiote powder or saffron.
* Sofrito - A mixture of Ajicitos (Cachucha peppers), green Cubanelle peppers, Plum tomato, Roasted Red Cubanelle Pepper, cilantro, yellow Spanish onion, recao / culantro and garlic.
*Star anise
*Vanilla

Puerto Rican Dishes

Puerto Rican dishes are well seasoned with combinations of flavorful spices. The base of many Puerto Rican main dishes involves "sofrito", similar to the "mirepoix" of French cooking, or the "trinity" of Creole cooking. A proper "sofrito" is a sauté of chopped garlic, cilantro, orégano brujo, onions, "recao/culantro" (not cilantro but a similarly flavored green leaf), cachucha peppers, Cubanelle peppers, capers, Spanish manzanilla olives, tomatoes, and small chunks of fatback bacon. [Cocina Criolla / Puerto Rican CookeryValldejuli, Carmen - 1984 ]

Staples

There are plenty of them. Here are just a few: [Cocina Criolla / Puerto Rican CookeryValldejuli, Carmen - 1984 ]

*"Albondigón" - Puerto Rican meat loaf.
*"Alcapurrias" - In Puerto Rico this food consists of a seasoned meat or crab filling wrapped in a seasoned dough of mashed yuca (Cassaba) which is then deep fried.
*"Arañitas" - Fried shredded green plantain, seasoned with salt and garlic.
*"Arepas / Domplines" - These are fried rounds of flour-based dough. Sometimes they can contain coconut (known as "arepas de coco"). They are sometimes stuffed with seafood. This dish is particular to the Eastern and Southern parts of Puerto Rico.
*"Arroz con gandules" -it is a rice-and-pigeon-pea dish seasoned with sofrito, smoked ham, pork meat, chorizo, olives, and red peppers.
*"Arroz con habichuelas" - Literally "rice and beans", this dish is so common that the phrase "rice and beans" means essentially the same as "our daily bread" in northern countries. Dried pink beans are slowly stewed with chunks of ham, potatoes and "calabaza" (tropical pumpkin) flavored with spices and "Recaito" base, and then ladled over a mound of rice. Sticky medium-grained rice is more popular in Puerto Rico than long grain rice.
*"Arroz con pollo" - Chicken with yellow rice. Chicken and rice are cooked in one pot. Basic "Arroz con pollo" in Puerto Rico is seasoned with sofrito, adobo, olives, capers, paprika, spanish chorizo and topped with beer, white wine, stock or water and garnish with sweet peas and carrots
*"Bacalaítos" - These are fritters made from a pancake-like batter containing codfish, flour, and seasoning.
*"Canoas" - Ripe plantain "canoes" stuffed with ground meat and covered with melted cheese.
*"Carne Guisada" - Puerto Rican beef stew
*"Cuajitos en salsa" (Buche) - Puerto Rican dish made with pork belly in a red hot sauce
*"Empanadas" - Breaded steak (beef / turkey / chicken / veal)
*"Empanadillas de carne / mariscos / queso / guava" - Meat, seafood, cheese, or fruit turnovers usually called "empanadas" in other Spanish-speaking countries. On the eastern side of the island "empanadillas" are known as "pastelillos", although "pastelillo" also refers to a pastry turnover.
*"Escabeche"
*"Fricasé" - Hearty and spicy (chicken / turkey / rabbit or goat) stew with potatoes, beer / white dry wine or red wine, olives, capers, peas & carrots.
*"Guanimes" - Semi-sweet tamales, wrapped in banana leaves.
*"Mofongo" - "Mofongo" is a popular dish, made from fried green plantains or fried yuca, seasoned with garlic, olive oil and pork cracklings, then mashed. "Mofongo" is usually served with a fried meat and a chicken broth soup.
*"Mondongo" (Menudo) - Beef tripe stew.
*"Morcilla" - A type of spicy and hot blood sausage.
*"Piononos" - Fried filled ripe plantain rolls.
*Plaintains - Not as popular as "arroz y habichuelas" are "plátanos" (plantains, or cooking bananas. They are occasional fare, whether cooked green, deep-fried and mashed as "tostones", or boiled and seasoned. They can be let to mature until they are spotted outside and golden inside, and then deep-fried as "maduros" or "amarillos". Sometimes they are baked instead of deep-fried.
*"Pollo frito" - Puerto Rican style fried chicken
*"Rabo encendido" - Spicy and hot oxtail stew.
*"Sancocho de patitas" - Hearty pork feet stew with starchy vegetables, plantains, and Garbanzo beans.
*"Sorullos" - Fried corn meal logs (much like little tamales), sometimes stuffed with cheese.
*"Taquitos" - Puerto Rican "Chimichanga".
*Seafood - On certain coastal towns of the island, such as Luquillo, Fajardo, and Cabo Rojo, seafood is quite popular, although much of it is imported. Only a tiny number of fishermen ply the waters off Puerto Rico today, and their catch never leaves their seacoast towns. The fact that the island sits next to the deepest part of the Atlantic means there is no wide continental shelf to foster a rich offshore fishery; neither are there any large rivers to dump extra nutrients into the sea that could build up a fish population. Popular seafood include "bacalao" (codfish), "chapín" (tropical fish), "pulpo" (octopus, not always canned), "carrucho" (conch), "camarones" (shrimp), "langosta" (lobster) (most commonly caught in the surrounding waters), and "jueyes" (crabs).
*Tostones - twice fried plantains. Where first made in the south coast of Puerto Rico. They are now a popular dish all over Latin America and Caribbean.

Holiday dishes

*"Arroz con Dulce" - Puerto Rican rice pudding. It is notable that in Puerto Rico rice pudding is made with coconut milk and coconut cream as apposed to only bovine milk or cream used elsewhere. Other flavors in to Arroz con Dulce include cloves, ginger, raisins soaked in rum, vanilla, cinnamon, brown or white sugar, heavy cream or milk and sometimes lemon zest.
*"Arroz con Gandules" - it is a rice-and-pigeon-pea dish. Flavored with annatto oil, olives, capers, smocked ham, sofrito, cumin, bay leaves, stock or broth and slowy cooked with a plantain or banana leaf on top.
*"Coquito" - A popular Christmastime drink is "coquito", an eggnog-like rum and coconut milk-based homemade beverage. The holiday season is also a time that many "piñas coladas" are prepared, underscoring the combination of pineapples and coconuts seen in Puerto Rican cuisine. [Puerto Rico: Grand Cuisine of the Caribbean by Jose Luis Diaz de Villegas]
*"Ensalada de pulpo" - Octupus salad is on some Puerto Rican Christmas tables. The octupus is boiled then cut and toasted in a bowl with black olvies, orégano brujo, garlic, olive oil, cilantro, peppers, red onion and lime jucie or red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
*"Pasteles" - For many Puerto Rican families, the quintessential holiday season dish is "pasteles", which English-speakers often literally translate to "cakes"."Pasteles" are not a sweet pastry or cake, but a soft dough-like mass wrapped in a banana or plantain leaf and boiled. In the center of the dough are choice pieces of chopped meat, shellfish, chicken, raisins, spices, capers, olives, sofrito and often "garbanzo" beans. Puerto Rican "pasteles" are similar in shape, size, and cooking technique to Mexican "tamales". The dough in a Mexican "tamal" is made from corn meal; while in a Puerto Rican "pastel" it is made from either green bananas and/or starchy tropical roots. The wrapper in a Mexican "tamal" is a corn shuck or a banana leaf; the wrapper in a Puerto Rican "pastel" is a banana leaf. "Pasteles" also use different spices than "tamales". The making of "pasteles" is a labor-intensive social activity. Many family members will get together for hours or days to make dozens to hundreds of "pasteles" to share with friends and loved ones. "Pasteles" from the Island are often shipped overseas packed in dry ice during the long Christmas season. They are received as a nostalgic, much treasured gift.
*Roasted Pork - Pork is central to Puerto Rican holiday cooking, especially the "lechón" (spit-roasted piglet). Holiday feasts might include several pork dishes, such as "pernil" (a baked fresh pork shoulder seasoned in adobo mojado), "morcilla" (a black blood sausage), "tripa" (tripe), "jamón con piña" (ham and pineapple), "gandinga" (stewed pork innards) and "chuletas ahumadas" (smoked cutlets).
*Stuffed Turkey - From November to January Puerto Ricans enjoy holiday parties and large family dinners almost daily, starting with the Thanksgiving turkey which is seasoned with adobo mojado and stuffed with mofongo or ground beef and/or pork mixture containing almonds, raisins, olives, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, and garlic. Instead of the thin slices seen in the North, a baked turkey in Puerto Rico is often cut into large blocks or chunks to be served on a plate. Rice is a mandatory course in dishes such as "Arroz con Gandules" (rice with pigeon peas), "Arroz con Tocino" (rice with bacon), "Arroz Mampostea'o", and the sweet dessert "Arroz con Dulce" (rice pudding).
*Sweets - Sweets are common in Puerto Rican cuisine. During the holidays, the most popular are desserts such as "Arroz con Dulce" (sweet rice pudding), "Budín de Pan" (bread pudding) - Capirotada in Mexico, "Bienmesabe" (little yellow cakes soaked in coconut cream), "Brazo Gitano" - Puerto Rican style sponge cake with cream and / or fruit filling), "Buñuelos de viento" - Puerto Rican wind puffs soaked in a vanilla, lemon and sugar syrup), "Barriguitas de Vieja" (deep-fried sweet pumpkin fritters), "Natilla" - Atole in Mexico (corn starch cream), "Tembleque" (coconut pudding), "Flan" (egg custard), "Bizcocho de Ron" (rum cake), "Mantecaditos" (Puerto Rican shortbread cookies), "Polvorones" (a crunchy cookie with a dusty sweet cinnamon exterior), "Turrón de Ajónjolí" (a toasted sesame seed bar bound together by caramelized brown sugar), "Mampostiales" (a very thick, gooey candy bar of caramelized brown sugar and coconut chips, challenging to chew and with a strong, almost molasses-like flavor), "Dulce de Leche" (milk and key lime peelings' caramel pudding), "Pastelillos de Guayaba" (guava pastries), "Besitos de Coco" (coconut kisses), "Tarta de Guayaba" (guava tarts), and "Tortitas de Calabaza" (pumpkin tarts).

Puerto Rican food in the United States

*Cuchifritos - In New York, "cuchifritos" are quite popular. "Cuchifritos", often known as "Puerto Rican soul food" includes a variety of dishes including but not limited to morcilla (blood sausage), chicharron (fried pork skin), patitas (pork feet), masitas (fried porkmeat), and various other parts of the pig prepared in different ways.

*Jibarito (Plaintain Sandwich) - In Chicago, "El Jibarito" is a popular dish. The word "jíbaro" in Puerto Rico means a caucasian man from the countryside, especially a small landowner or humble farmer from far up in the mountains. "Jíbaro" is a term strongly associated with preserving the traditional values and the culture of the Island. Typically served with Spanish rice, "Jibaritos" consist of a meat along with mayonnaise, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and onions, all sandwiched between a fried plantain, known as a "canoa" (canoe). In the early 20th century, bread made from wheat (which would have to be imported) was expensive out in the mountain towns of the Cordillera Central, and "jíbaros" were made from plantains which are still grown there on the steep hillsides.

ee also

*Caribbean cuisine
*Cuisine of the United States

Cook Books in English

Cocina Criolla / Puerto Rican Cookery - written in 1984 by Valldejuli, Carmen

Puerto Rico: Grand Cuisine of the Caribbean - written in 2004 by Jose Luis Diaz de Villegas

Puerto Rican Dishes - written in 1993 by Berta Canabillas

Daisy Cooks: Latin Flavors That Will Rock Your World - written in 2005 by Daisy Martinez

Puerto Rican Cuisine in America: Nuyorican and Bodega Recipes - written in 2002 by Oswald Rivera

A Taste of Puerto Rico: Traditional and New Dishes from the Puerto Rican Community - written in 1997 by Yvonne Ortiz

Tropical Cooking Made Easy - written in 2007 by Maria Perez

Recipes from La Isla: New & Traditional Puerto Rican Cuisine - written in 1995 by Robert Rosado & Judith Healey Rosado

The spirit of Puerto Rican rum - written in 1992 by Blanche Gelabert

Puerto Rican Cook Book - written in 1948 by Elizabeth B. K. Dooley

Homestyle Puerto Rican Cooking, Traditional Recipes with a Modern Touch, 2004, by Dr. Erisbelia Garriga

Puerto Rico True Flavors - written in 2007 by Chef Wilo Benet

References

External links

* [http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/puertorico.html Puerto Rican Recipes]
* [http://www.elboricua.com/recipes.html The Rican Chef] - Recipes from the cultural magazine "El Boricua", Puerto Rico
*http://welcome.topuertorico.org/culture/foodrink.shtml