Comida de Puerto Rico

This weeks assignment is about food from our places of choice. It's a lot like my last post so I'll try my best to not be repetitive.

Puerto Rican food is completely reflective of Puerto Rican culture. Like the culture, aspects of Puerto Rican food come from all over the world. In a single dish, you'l be able to see influences from Europe, South America, Europe, West Africa, and Taino culture. This is because so many cultures have migrated through Puerto Rico and left aspects of their food and food preparation.

Like I said in my last post, rice and beans are a stable in Puerto Rico. Also, what I love about Puerto Rican food is their ability in incorporate fruit into so many of their dishes. For example, a popular food in Puerto Rico is an empanada or pastellito. Empanadas are flaky pastries usually filled with some type meat and spices. It's pretty unhealthy and extremely tasty. The way Puerto Ricans incorporate food is through the dipping sauce made. Guava is used a lot in Puerto Rican food and that's what the sauce is made from. It's blended with a bit of Puerto Rican rum and serves with empanadas.

Food Network actually has a perfect recipe here.

Some people put the guava inside of the empanada and serve it as a dessert. My favorite restaurant in Los Angeles does just that. Here's what it looks like:

The African influence in Puerto Rican food is vast and that shows just how tied Puerto Rico is to the African Diaspora. Foods and food preparations both came from countries all over Africa.

People from different countries in Africa brought over foods such as coconuts, coffee, okra, yams, sesame seeds, gandules (pigeon peas), plantains, and more. These people included people of Arab descent to people of Ethiopian descent. Enslaved Africans also introduced deep-frying to the island. 

Plantains are used a lot in Puerto Rican food. Because the plant grows all over the island, plantains are easily accessible and therefore incorporated in most dishes. They are fried and serves as sides, as well as used in main dishes. One main dish made primarily of plantains is called mofongo. Mofongo is a bowl made of plantains and other ingredients, mashed up and molded into a bowl, then filled with meat most of the time. People fill them with different types of chicken, beef, seafood, and more.

Here are some pictures:

Mofongo with shredded beef and maduros (sweet plantains)

Mofongo with shrimp.

Sources:

Villegas, José L.. Puerto Rico: Grand Cuisine of the Caribbean. San Juan, P.R.: University of Puerto Rico Press, 2004.

Pictures from: "Menu - Mofongos Restaurant - Comida Caribeña." Mofongos Restaurant - Comida Caribeña. http://www.mofongosrestaurant.com/menu.html (accessed April 7, 2012).