I swear I almost choked to death the first time I had Pastelillos de Guayaba (pahs-tay-LEE-yos de gwa-YA-bah). Bakeries in Puerto Rico and NYC love to douse these guava turnovers with an obscene amount of powdered sugar. You’re bound to inhale it and choke. It’s so amazing. And it’s worth choking on because the taste-reward…
Caribbean
Tostones (Twice-Fried Green Plantains)
All of us, at some point in our lives, have been lied to. This is a given fact. As a wife, I’ve told my fair share of tall-tales; “No, Hector, those shoes aren’t new. I’ve had them for years!” Moms lie as well, “Sorry, but the restaurant with the games and the oversized rodent has…
Guarapo: Sugarcane Refresher with Lime
You need an update on the weather here, don’t you? It’s still hot as hell. Nothing follows. Well, that’s not true; this Guarapo (gwa-RAH-poh) recipe follows. This sugarcane “juice” is what a lot of my, and the Soldier’s, ancestors sipped on to endure those sweltering days back in Puerto Rico. Guarapo is still enjoyed by…
Pan Sobao: Soft, Chewy Puerto Rican Bread
Never have I had so hard a time naming a recipe as I had with this one. Pan Sobao has no English translation that makes sense. For starters, sobao is good Puerto Rican Spanish for sobar (or knead). So, directly translated, it means “Kneaded Bread”. Obviously I’m not going to name it “Kneaded Bread” because that’s an alliteration. Nearly all breads…
Puerto Rican Recao (Herb Flavoring Paste)
This is a picture of Green Gold, my friend. Commonly known as recao; some also call it sofrito. No matter what it’s called, this flavoring blend, found in most Caribbean cuisines, is money. I once knew a family in Brooklyn who got busted in a sting for operating a recao supply chain illegally. Word on the street was that a…
