Puerto Rican cuisine


Puerto Rican cuisine has its roots in the cooking traditions and practices of Europe, Africa and the native Taínos. Starting from the latter part of the 19th century. Puerto Rican cuisine can be found in several other countries.

History

Puerto Rican cuisine has been influenced by an array of cultures including Taino Arawak, Spanish, and African. Although Puerto Rican cooking is somewhat similar to both Spanish and other Latin American cuisine, it is a unique tasty blend of influences, using indigenous seasonings and ingredients. Locals call their cuisine cocina criolla. By the end of the nineteenth century, the traditional Puerto Rican cuisine was well established. By 1848 the first restaurant, La Mallorquina, opened in Old San Juan. El Cocinero Puertorriqueño, the island's first cookbook, was published in 1849. On November 1, 2004 a book titled Puerto Rico: Grand Cuisine of the Caribbean, was released in Spanish and English. The cookbook is a dedication to Puerto Rico's rich gastronomic and chefs sharing old and new recipes. The book features not only native Puerto Rican chefs but chefs from all over who have been influenced by Puerto Rico's cuisine calling it "the gastronomic capital of the Caribbean".

Taino influences in Puerto Rican cuisine

See: Native American cuisine
From the diet of the Taíno and Arawak people come many tropical roots and tubers like yuatía and especially Yuca, from which thin cracker-like casabe bread is made and pasteles Puerto Rico's version of tamale. Ajicito or cachucha pepper, a very mild chili known for it smokeyness, recao/culantro, sarsaparilla, avocado, pimienta, achiote, peppers, ají caballero, peanuts, guavas, pineapples, jicacos, quenepas, lerenes, calabazas, and guanabanas are all Taíno foods. The Taínos also grew varieties of beans and some maíz, but maíz was not as dominant in their cooking as it was for the peoples on the mainland of Mesoamerica. This is due to the frequent hurricanes that Puerto Rico experiences, which destroy crops of maíz, allowing more safeguarded plants like yuca conucos to flourish. Maíz when used was frequently made into cornmeal and then into guanime, cornmeal mixed with mashed yautía and yuca and wrapped in corn husk or large leaves. Food was cooked on a barbecue grill made of logs over a pit of flame. To the Taínos this was known as barbacoa.
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Spanish/European influence

See: Spanish cuisine
Spanish/European influence is also prominent in Puerto Rican cuisine. Wheat, chickpeas, black pepper, onions, garlic, cilantro, basil, sugarcane, citrus fruit, grapes, eggplant, lard, chicken, beef, pork, lamb, goat and dairy all came to Borikén from Spain. Olives, capers, and olive oil play a big part in Puerto Rican cooking, but cannot be grown under the tropical climate of the island. The island imported most of these foods from Spain along with some herbs. Early Dutch, French, Italian, and Chinese immigrants influenced not only the culture but Puerto Rican cooking as well. This great variety of traditions came together to form La Cocina Criolla.

African influence

See: African cuisine
Coconuts, coffee, orégano brujo, okra, tamarind, yams, sesame seeds, gandules, many varieties of banana fruit, other root vegetables and Guinea hen, all came to Puerto Rico from, or at least through, Africa. African slaves also introduced the deep-frying of food, such as cuchifritos.

United States influence

See: Cuisine of the United States
The US influence on the way Puerto Ricans cook their meals came about after Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States as a result of the Treaty of Paris of 1898. The most significant influence 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 to 60 years, corn oil produced in the United States took the place of lard for making cuchifritos.
Galletas de soda are a U.S. 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.
American / streaky bacon has also played a big part in Puerto Rican cuisine. It is used in rice, stewed beans, and to stuff mofongo and meats such as whole chicken and the breast. Bacon in Puerto Rico has found its way into traditional foods such as arroz con gandules and potato salad. Another meat that has found its way onto the Puerto Rican table from the U.S. is turkey, which is not native to the island but a common holiday meal next to the older lechón, roasted whole and seasoned using either sazón or adobo'', often served with a side of blood sausage and ripe plantains.

Latin American influence

See: Latin American cuisine
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Other foods native to Latin America were brought to the island with the Spanish trade, such as cocoa, tomatoes, chayote, papaya, bell peppers and vanilla from Mexico and Central America. Potatoes and passion fruit were also brought over by the Spanish or Portuguese from Peru and Brazil.

Other influence

Panapén 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, in puddings, deep-fried tostones and making mofongo.

Regional

The topography of the main island is divided into three major regions: the mountainous region, which includes the Cordillera Central, Sierra de Luquillo, Sierra de Cayey and Sierra Bermeja, the coastal plains and the northern karst region. Every regional and municipality has its unique gastronomic traditions.

Arecibo

is the biggest municipality in Puerto Rico by area and is located on the northern coast. Arecibo is known for its heavy use of cumin and coriander seeds making dishes smokey and flavorful. In the river of Río Grande de Arecibo whitebait called cetí is caught. These small fish are used in mofongo, alcapurrias, empanadas, but more famously battered and deep fried. One restaurant in Arecibo is known for a pastele filled with cetí. These pasteles are made of yuca, yautía, squash and coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaf and grilled.

Hatillo

The town of Hatillo is located on the north coast, about an hour west of San Juan. It is called the Dairy Capital of Puerto Rico, with almost as many cows as people. The town produces about one third of the milk consumed in Puerto Rico. Hatillo is the only place in the Caribbean to produce cheese equivalent to European cheese. Every cheese is name after a part in Puerto Rico or honor a destination in Puerto Rico. These cheeses are unique to Puerto Rico and can only be made in Hatillo, Puerto Rico.

Loíza

is a town and municipality on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico. The town is known for its African traditions and was the center for African slave trade in Puerto Rico. Its Afro-Puerto Rican cuisine has a unique Taíno touch and technique. The use of coconut is heavily used in sweet and savory dishes: empanadas made from yuca dough, coconut milk and filled with seafood; yellow rice with coconut and seafood; green papaya salad a rare find and a tradition that is dying out. The papaya is picked green and boiled. Whatever greens are available are tossed with the papaya, lemon or lime. Sweet plantains and the some of the papaya seeds are sometimes incorporated. There are also sweets such as dulce de coco, cazuela, and dulce de ajonjoli. Pasteles, rice and coconut arepas, toasted cornmeal arepas, yuca bread with garlic and coconut or cheese, mofongo and guanime are some of the most popular dishes coming from Loíza. The cuisine of Loíza has influenced not only all of Puerto Rico but throughout the Caribbean.

Basic ingredients

Grains and legumes

Starchy tubers, starchy fruit, chayote, and squash are all known as viandas or verduras. They are all treated the same, whether boiled or made into chips and served with mojo or mashed with butter and milk. Mofongo is popular with all viandas but mostly plantain. They can be roasted, made into soups, breads, pastelillos dough, or used in desserts.
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.

Fruits

Fresh tropical fruit is important in the traditional daily diet in Puerto Rico
's mild cousin.
A traditional pique is an oil and vinegar based sauce that is infused with whole peppers, garlic, onions and maybe culantro or other spices. Traditionally found in every restaurant, pincho stand, and corner market.
Puerto Rican cooking has a large range of spices and seasoning due mostly to influence, this makes Puerto Rico one of the best in Latin fusion cooking. Caribbean and other curries can be found but not as common as sazón and adobo. Traditional cooking on the island uses more fresh and local ingredients such as citrus to make mojo and mojito isleño and especially fresh herbs, vegetables and peppers to make recaíto and sofrito. Star anise, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and other sweet spices are mainly used for drinks and desserts.
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 freshly ground garlic, tomatoes, onions, recao/culantro, cilantro, red peppers, cachucha and cubanelle peppers. Sofrito is traditionally cooked with olive oil or annatto oil, tocino, salted pork and cured ham. A mix of stuffed olives and capers called alcaparrado are usually added with spices such as bay leaf, sazón and adobo.
Although Puerto Rican diets can vary greatly from day to day and residents tend to indulge in a variety of cuisines, there are some markedly similar patterns to daily meals. Commonly breakfast is simple and small, consisting of coffee and a pastry such as quesitos, a flaky puff pastry filled with a sweet cheese. Dinners almost invariably include a meat, rice and beans. This typical dinner structure leaves room for a plethora of options with choices of meat and rice preparation varying greatly. Traditionally, Puerto Ricans indulge in a wide array of nationalistic dishes as described below.

National dishes

During Holy Week before and during Easter, people are encouraged to think more about spiritual matters and eat lightly. Rather than eat meat, they prepare dishes with fish, eggs and dairy.
When Thanksgiving was first celebrated, Puerto Rico was not a part of the United States and did not recognize the holiday. After officially becoming a commonwealth, Thanksgiving was eagerly accepted by the people as their own and has become one of the most celebrated vacations of the year. As many regions of the Continental United States have, they've also put their own twist on this classic American tradition.
Most American dishes have been adopted for this special day. Side dishes such as cornbread, roasted yams, mashed potatoes with gravy, hard apple cider, and cranberry sauce are a part of a Puerto Rican Thanksgiving menu.
Puerto Rican culture can be seen and felt all year-round, but it is on its greatest display during Christmas when people celebrate the traditional aguinaldo and parrandas – Puerto Rico's version of carol singing. Puerto Ricans celebrate what is probably the world's longest Christmas. The festivities get underway on 23 November and last until the end of January when the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián take place. Puerto Rican food is a main part of this celebration. Christmas expresses the best flavors of Puerto Rico with staple foods, textures, and tradition. Christmas food in Puerto Rico is meant to accommodate every palate.
Puerto Ricans enjoy fried food and pork. Most meals include fried appetizers, tostones being the island favorite, with rice and bean, stews, soups and other meals. Mofongo with fried pork with stews and soups. Small bit size pastelillos, empanadas or empanadillas are filled with cheese, pork, chicken or beef and can be a start to a meal. Puerto Rico has become popular for their fried food, which can be found in Cuba, Panama, Dominican Republic, and parts of the U.S.
Throughout the Caribbean and most of Latin America, it is a common practice to eat stews, fried plantains, rice, beans, flat breads wrapped with fish and boiled mashed plantains with eggs for breakfast. Puerto Rico has adopted a more traditional American breakfast menu including coffee and bread with butter or jam, pancakes, French toast, bacon, breakfast sausage, cold cereals, fresh fruit juice, eggs, and other favorites.
Along with the traditional breakfast favorites, Puerto Rico has added their own flair to the table.
Lunch and dinner in Puerto Rico is not particularly spicy, but sweet-sour combinations are popular. Vinegar, sour orange, and lime juice lend a sour touch while dried or fresh fruits add a sweet balance to dishes. Adobo, sofríto and annatto are used in most dishes. Fast food and diners are common for a quick lunch. Food trucks parked on the side of the street that serve sandwiches, churrasco, juices, and soft drinks. The tropical heat hasn't stopped Puerto Ricans from enjoying a good hot soup, usually with tostones, bread, or slices of avocado on top. Some fritters, like almojábanas and yuca con mojo among others, are served with rice, beans, and meat or fish. Slow cooked recaíto and tomato-based stews are a staple in Puerto Rican cooking, served with a side of white rice, salad, and usually something fried like mofongo. Women can be seen in streets, on beaches, and sides of the roads frying a variety of fritters like alcapurrias and bacalaítos. Jucies, piña colada, hotchata and sodas can also be brought at these locations.
Puerto Rico has a lush tropical climate and due to this fruits, sugar, and coffee grown wild. Coffee is the start of most Puerto Rican homes usually enjoyed with milk and sugar. Fresh fruit drinks and smoothies are typical in restaurants, stands, and homes. There are many drinks that include spices such as coquito, ajonjolí, and mavi. Soft drinks are enjoyed Coco Rico, Kola Champagne, and Malta.
Rum is the islands national drink and over 70% of the rum in the U.S. comes from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican rum is the biggest and best rum-producing nations in the world. Puerto Rican rum is considered the second best quality in the world after Cuban rum.
The Luquillo kiosks are a much loved part of Puerto Rico. Everywhere in Puerto Rico, rustic stalls displaying all kinds fritters under heat lamps or behind a glass pane. Kiosks, are a much-frequented, time-honored, and integral part to a day at the beach and the culinary culture of the island. Fresh octopus and conch salad are frequently seen. Much larger kiosks serve hamburgers, local/Caribbean fusion, Thai, Italian, Mexican and even Peruvian food. This mixing of the new cuisine and the classic Puerto Rican food. Alcoholic beverage are a big part of kiosks with most kiosks having a signature drink.
Cookbooks provide a window into the rich history and culture of a region, and as food policy and nutrition scholar, Melissa Fuster, states “they provide prescriptions for specific dishes and, in some cases, directives on what constitutes a proper meal.” One famous and intently studied Puerto Rican cookbook titled Cocina Criolla by Carmen Valldejuli, does just that. As revealed in Fuster’s article, Writing Cuisine in the Spanish Caribbean: A Comparative Analysis of Iconic Puerto Rican and Cuban Cooks, the cookbook not only has numerous chapters with dozens of recipes dedicated to soups, meats, pasta, sauces, sweets, breads and so on, but it opens with chapters that introduce the reader to the home cook and cooking as an experience. The reader learns that this book was written to act as an instructional manual to be used. Moreover, as Fuster details, cookbook author Valldejuli comes from an elite background, which is mimicked in the sheer number of recipes she includes.

Chefs