Puerto Rican cooking is island cooking, It's a mix of European and indigenous ingredients, blended together to form a unique cuisine. Most of all it's home cooking - the comforting hug needed during hard times and hurricanes, holiday and happy times.
Von Diaz,food professor. author of several cookbooks and articles seen in Bon Appetit, Eater and Epicurious magazines wrote this interesting article along with recipes in today's New York Times Food section. She is Puerto Rican herself, however being raised in the States, namely Atlanta Georgia, but her heart and cooking belong to this complex tropical island. Its' cooking is a blend of Taino, the original culture of the island along with African and Spanish. Even modern American cooking has lent a hand - thanks to the introduction of canned food. There is also a nouvelle cuisine vibe with pastellos de guyaba, a mix of cheese queso en hoja and guava paste.Of course the backbone of Puerto Rican cooking is sofrito, a cooked mix of garlic , onions and peppers and spiked with culantro - cilantro's cousin. This is in many dishes. such as arroz mamposteao, a rice dish also made with beans and veggie or chicken broth. Sofrito is in other dishes too, like sancocho, a stew that combines, beef, pork and chicken with the indigenous roots like white yautia and yucca.
Of course the highlight of any Puerto Rican holiday dinner is pernil.This is a pork shoulder marinated in garlic, citrus and herbs and then roasted for an hour in a 400 degree Farenheit oven . The marinade is a flavorful combo of sour orange juice, garlic cloves, and oregano. (Professor DIaz also offers a tip for cleaning the roast pan too because the skin will stick). Another delicious main course is pescado frito, fried snapper. Again, the marinade is the same as the pernil, except with the addition of sazon - a mix of coriander,garlic cumin and annatto - seeds from the achiote tree. This gives color and flavor to the fish which is cut in three places, better for the marinade to soak in. It's then fried, whole, head an tail in vegetable oil. The fried fish is served with lime. What can end all these dishes? Those pastillos de guyaba, easily made with puff pastry dough. Farmer's cheese can be used in place of fresco en hoja. They should be left to cool because the guava gets molten hot and will badly burn your mouth.) Once cool, sprinkle confectioner's sugar over them and store in an airtight container. Stale ones can be refreshed in a 350 degree Fareneheit oven for five minutes before eating.
Puerto Rican cooking is rich and complex. It's a mix of all sorts of flavors , indigenous, Spanish and African. This is a perfect blend of deliciousness, pride and history.
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