Traditional puerto rican meals: 35 Popular Puerto Rican Foods You Have To Try At Least Once
19 Popular Puerto Rican Foods to Eat Before You Die
Lifestyle
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Puerto Rico is the place to be this spring break. The island’s landscape includes beautiful sand beaches, mountains, waterfalls, and the El Yunque Tropical Rain Forest. Puerto Rico is the perfect place to catch a tan, but if lying around the beach all day isn’t your thing, the island has loads of adventurous activities for tourists to enjoy as well.
You can try exploring the streets of Old San Juan, swimming in the bioluminescent bay, snorkeling in La Parguera, learning to surf with a professional instructor at Surfing Puerto Rico Adventures or Spectrum Surf School, and much more.
For thrill-seeking travelers looking to make their trip more memorable, skydiving with Xtreme Divers in Arecibo, Puerto Rico is a must.
Not only does the island feature stunning beaches, rich culture, and a drinking age of 18, but it also has lots of delicious Puerto Rican food. Here are the Puerto Rican foods you won’t want to miss:
1. Tostones
TheHungryDudes on Flickr
Tostones are wildly popular across the island of Puerto Rico. Often served as an appetizer, this dish is made by thinly slicing plantains, coating them in a batter, and frying them. Tostones pair perfectly with mayo ketchup, a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic, and other spices.
2. Arroz Con Gandules
Arroz con gandules is actually considered the island’s national dish. Arroz con gandules is the first food every Puerto Rican abuela teaches her grandkids to cook.
For those of you who may be challenged in the kitchen, this dish and can be found on almost any restaurant menu. It’s white rice cooked with pigeon peas, olives, capers, tomato sauce, seasoning, and sofrito. Sofrito is a cooking base made from cilantro, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. The sofrito is what gives the rice its unique flavor. Sometimes pork is also added to give the rice more substance.
3. Alcapurrias
Made with yucca and plantains, alcapurrias are fritters filled with ground beef. They are similar to corndogs in America, but I think they’re much more delicious. The best alcapurrias are sold at “cuchifritos.” Cuchifritos refers to restaurants that sell Puerto Rican fried food. These establishments are often counter-serve, rather than sit down restaurants.
You can find them across the island of Puerto Rico; however, some of the best cuchifritos are located in New York City.
The next time you’re in the big apple, you have to stop by Cuchifritos in Spanish Harlem, La Isla in Brooklyn, or 188 Cuchifritos in the Bronx to try something new.
4. Empanadillas
Núria Farregut on Flickr
Puerto Rican empanadallias are savory fried pastries traditionally filled with ground beef, although now you can find them stuffed with chicken as well. Although similar to empanadas, empanadillas tend to have a thicker outer crust.
5. Mofongo
In Puerto Rican cuisine, instead of mashing potatoes, they mash plantains and call it mofongo. Mofongo is made from green plantains seasoned with garlic and salt and often stuffed with chicken, beef, shrimp or vegetables.
Mofongo is a classic Puerto Rican food that’s fairly versatile. My personal favorite way to enjoy this dish is topped with veggies and a side of arroz con gandules.
Café Berlin in San Juan, Puerto Rico makes amazing veggie mofongo.
6. Pernil
Pernil is roasted pig. Puerto Rican families often roast an entire pig at family celebrations and parties. Pernil is enjoyed alongside a variety of other Puerto Rican foods including: arroz, mofongo, tostones, and more.
7. Rellenos de Papa
Rellenos de papa are potatoes stuffed with ground beef and deep fried to create a crispy outer layer. They are often served at restaurants, food trucks, and cuchifritos. The meat filling, called picadillo, can be made by pan frying ground beef mixed with adobo, sofrito, tomato sauce, olives, oregano, and garlic powder. The picadillo is then stuffed into mashed potato balls and fried in hot oil. The result is a savory fried potato croquette.
8. Pasteles
Pasteles are typically served at a traditional Puerto Rican Christmas dinner, although they can be enjoyed year-round.
They’re made with green plantains and are filled with some variety of meat, typically pork. Many people find them to be somewhat similar in taste and texture to tamales.
9. Pastelon
Pastelon is the Puerto Rican version of traditional Italian lasagna. The filling is made from fried meat seasoned with oregano and cumin and mixed with sofrito, olives, and tomato sauce. This is placed between layers of ripe, thinly-sliced plantains, topped with cheese, and baked in an oven. Pastelon has a unique taste that is both salty and sweet.
10. Platanos Maduros
arnold | inuyaki on Flickr
Maduros are fried plantains; however they’re different from tostones. These are sweeter because they are made from riper plantains. They taste similar to a caramelized banana. They’re typically served as a side dish or dessert. I think they taste best when paired with creamy vanilla ice.
11. Asopao
Asopao is popular across the Caribbean. It’s essentially a blend of rice and soup. This dish is similar to gumbo and is often paired with seafood, chicken or pork. There are many different variations of this dish. The most popular in Puerto Rico is asopao de pollo, which is made from broth, rice, chicken, oregano, tomato, olives, onion, garlic, and other seasonings.
12. Coco Rico
Coco Rico is the Coca Cola of Puerto Rico. This carbonated coconut beverage is just what you need to cool off after a long day at the beach. It has a fairly light flavor and is similar to Sprite, but with a coconut aftertaste. The soda is usually enjoyed on its own, but you can try this Coco Rico Mojito recipe if you’re looking to mix it up.
Coco Rico is the widely popular on the island and can be found almost anywhere: grocery stores, restaurants, drug stores, bakeries, gas stations, roadside markets.
The brand can now be found in the United States as well. The next time you’re in the supermarket, keep an eye out.
13. Coquito
Coquito is a milky coconut drink served during the Christmas season in Puerto Rico. It is similar to eggnog; however, the egg component is replaced with coconut. Coquito is made from a blend of evaporated milk, cream of coconut, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, rum, vanilla, and is often enjoyed with a cinnamon stick.
You can order your own delicious coquito that’s sure to be better than your abuelita’s from Brooklyn Coquito, or if you’re feeling adventurous you can make it yourself.
14. Cafe con Leche
Coffee is a staple in Puerto Rico. Some of the island’s most popular brands are Yaucono, El Coquí, and Café Rico. Personally, I love 787 Coffee Co. because their coffee is 100% Puerto Rican and has a unique, rich flavor.
They also have a coffee shop in Maricao, Puerto Rico.
15. Arroz Con Dulce
Lissane Kafie
This coconut rice pudding is made from cooking rice with coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Arroz con Dulce is often garnished with cinnamon sticks and raisins and enjoyed as a dessert. Who knew rice could taste so sweet?
16. Flan
Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue on Flickr
Flan is popular in most hispanic countries and comes in many different varieties. In Argentina, Mexico, and Uruguay dulce de leche flan is the most prominent, and in parts of Spain flan de naranja is commonly enjoyed. However, the most popular flan in Puerto Rico is flan de queso, which has a rich taste similar to cheesecake.
17. Tembleque
Tembleque is creamy coconut pudding made from coconut milk, sugar, and cornstarch.
Although similar to arroz con dulce, tembleque has a smoother consistency. It is often topped with cinnamon for added flavor. The dessert is enjoyed year-round but is especially prominent at parties during the Christmas season.
19. Dulzura Borincana
Although not exactly a food, Dulzura Boricana is the island’s most popular candy brand. Among the most popular are marrallo, a chewy bar candy made of black coconut; cremas de coco, coconut cream bar candies; ajonjolí, crunchy sesame seed snacks; and pilones, lollipops with sesame seed.
Pilones are unfortunately the only candy Dulzura Boricana does not sell online, but the rest are all available for order. You don’t even have to pack your bags to try these sweet treats.
19. Adobo
Also not a food, Adobo is a seasoning used in many Puerto Rican dishes.
They use it to season meat, fish, vegetables, you name it. If you want to try preparing your own Puerto Rican-inspired meals, it’s a necessity.
As you can tell by the length of this list, Puerto Rican food is fairly versatile and accessible. There’s a dish to satisfy everyone’s tastebuds or dietary restrictions.
Even if you’re not going to Puerto Rico, you can enjoy some of these foods at restaurants in the United States. Some of my favorites are El Rincon Tropical in Virginia Beach, Pearl Island in Charlottesville, and Sazon in New York City.
If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also try cooking your own Puerto Rican dishes. Puerto Rican food blogs like El Boricua and Que Rica Vida provide lots of easy-to-follow recipes.
Big Groups Adventurous Spring Break Bucket List
23 Puerto Rican Foods and Dishes Everyone Should Know
The food in Puerto Rico is bold, enticing, and varied. Guests and locals alike are hard-pressed to leave a Puerto Rican event without at least two meals crammed between paper plates and enveloped with aluminum foil.
After all, traditional Puerto Rican food this good is worth having again at midnight and for lunch the next day.
Puerto Rican food is a blend of indigenous and foreign influences. Some ingredients predate Spanish settlement, such as yucca and plantains. Others, like olives and salted cod, were introduced by European colonialists. After Puerto Rico was designated as a port along the slave trade route, African influences and cooking methods were brought to the island.
Today, Puerto Rican food has evolved into a blend of flavors and spices that reflects its diversity. These 23 delicious Puerto Rican dishes are just an introduction to the island’s cuisine that people around the world should know and love — and don’t forget that almost all of them can be paired with tropical drinks.
1. Mofongo
Photo: Rachel Moon/Shutterstock
This local favorite is made with mashed and fried plantains mixed with oil, garlic, and spices. Shrimp and chicharrónes are sometimes added as well.
Mofongo is one of Puerto Rico’s most important dishes, and it’s a blend of cultures and traditions. The dish can trace its roots back to fufu, a West African dish of mashed root vegetables that was brought to Puerto Rico by slaves. On the island, the mashing was done by a pilón, the mortar and pestle used by the indigenous Taino people, and the mixture fried. Finally, Spanish sofrito sauce (which is made with onions, garlic, and peppers) was added. Today, this combination is served and loved all over the island.
2. Tres leches
Photo: Anna_Pustynnikova/Shutterstock
Puerto Ricans take traditional yellow sponge cake to the next level by drenching it in three types of milk: condensed, evaporated, and regular. The dessert soaks overnight in the milks, and then it’s topped with whipped cream before serving for a sweet, satisfying dessert. It’s similar to the tres leches made in Central and South America, Europe, and elsewhere around the world.
3. Lechón
Photo: DingLuo/Shutterstock
Like the lechón in the Philippines, few major celebrations in Puerto Rico are complete without a lechón, or whole roast pig, as the treasured centerpiece of the table.
The pig is roasted on a spit over a fire for the better part of the day before being taken off and enjoyed. Christmas carols are sung about the unlucky pig at holiday parrandas, and the first meat to go is always the facial cheeks.
4. Harina de maíz
In Puerto Rico, many children wake up to the smell of harina de maíz, which is cornmeal that’s mixed with sugar, milk, and vanilla to form a breakfast similar to oatmeal. This porridge is finer than polenta or grits and has a sweet flavor to appeal to picky eaters.
5. Bacalaítos
Photo: Fanfo/Shutterstock
Salted cod is a beloved side dish around the world on its own, but Puerto Ricans make it more appetizing by turning it into a patty and deep frying it. The cod goes through a desalination process before cooking, so the result is surprisingly neutral, even for those not fond of fish. Bacalaitos go great with a garlic dipping sauce.
6. Pinchos
Pinchos (Spanish for spikes) are shish kebabs that are usually made with chicken, pork, or shrimp.
You’ll find street vendor carts lining the beaches of Puerto Rico selling meat that has been cooked on the spot. Don’t be surprised by the lack of vegetables on your skewer, as this street-food favorite is all about the meat.
7. Flan
Photo: Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock
Flan is a custard that’s similar to creme brûlée and is popular in much of Latin America. In Puerto Rico, flan is made with evaporated and condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, and caramel that’s cooked in a hot water bath.
8. Tembleque
Tembleque means wobbly, and that’s the perfect way to describe this dessert. It is gelatinous like flan (and looks somewhat similar as well), but has a creamy texture based around coconut rather than dairy. The main ingredients are coconut and cinnamon. Tembleque is eaten throughout the year, but it’s especially prevalent during the holiday season when other coconut treats are popular as well, like coquito.
9. Yucca
Photo: Catherine M Hollander/Shutterstock
Yucca is a root vegetable much like a potato.
It can be served mashed or fried, usually in thick wedges. It’s also commonly seen at restaurants boiled, peeled, and served with a dash of salt and garlic. Yucca fries are a staple at fast food chains throughout the island.
10. Tostones
Photo: Hans Geel/Shutterstock
When green plantains aren’t getting mashed to make mofongo, they’re sliced and double fried to make tostones. This is one of the most popular side dishes on the island. You’ll also find them commonly used in place of nachos in a loaded-nacho dish. Be warned: Tostones are much more filling than your average corn chip.
11. Maduros
Photo: Ildi Papp/Shutterstock
Maduros are made of sweet, slightly over-ripe plantains that are simply fried in oil. The simplicity of the treat means ripeness is key: not too brown, green, or yellow. The plantain is sliced diagonally into thin pieces to be quickly fried, and the result is a sweet and lightly crunchy snack.
12. Asopao
Photo: Fanfo/Shutterstock
You don’t get cold weather blues in Puerto Rico, but it is still nice to indulge in a rich soup like asopao.
Asopao is made with chicken, sofrito, olives, and spices, and it’s served with a side of rice to drop in your bowl. This piping hot dish is a staple on Puerto Rican menus and is the best cure for whatever ails you.
13. Alcapurrias
Photo: Nerman Riuso/Shutterstock
Alcapurrias are the preferred fried fast-food dish on the island. The fritter’s batter is made from taro root and green plantains which is then stuffed with seasoned ground beef. Alcapurrias are common in the Caribbean, and in Puerto Rico, bell peppers, onions, and olives are often included in the stuffing.
14. Coquito
Photo: Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock
You know the holidays have arrived when everyone is drinking coquito at a close family gathering. There is always someone in every family with a killer secret recipe. Similar in texture to eggnog, coquitos are made with evaporated and condensed milks, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut cream. The whole thing is mixed and chilled overnight before being doused with a generous portion of rum.
15. Guineos en escabeche
Pickling is not the most common Puerto Rican food preparation method used on the island, but guineos en escabeche are the exception. These pickled green bananas are flavored with onions, bay leaves, and white vinegar. They’re typically served as a side for a hearty meat dish. You haven’t experienced a Puerto Rican Thanksgiving until you’re fed a spoonful of these by a doting Puerto Rican grandmother.
16. Pernil
Pernil is pork shoulder that’s seasoned and slow roasted until it falls apart into thick pieces. And by slow roasted, we mean slow roasted — timing ranges from hours to a full day depending on the thickness of the shoulder. A common lunch or dinner consists of pernil with mojo sauce, rice, and beans.
17. Pasteles
Photo: Mike Herna/Shutterstock
Pasteles are similar to tamales and are typically reserved for special occasion, with most Puerto Rican families preparing them by the dozen. They are made of plantains, potatoes, and pumpkins, and then mixed with meat and secured in a banana leaf with twine before being boiled.
They keep well in the freezer, so family members commonly give them to each other by the bagful.
18. Empanadas
Photo: stockphotofan1/Shutterstock
Empanadas are the quintessential savory island pastry, and you’ll find the Puerto Rican version stuffed with beef, chicken, shrimp, or cheese. They are a cheap and easy way to repurpose leftovers and are common in homes and as an on-the-go snack.
19. Arroz con gandules
Photo: Damaris Zoe/Shutterstock
Many Caribbean islands serve rice in abundance, but the distinguishing factor in Puerto Rican rice is the presence of sofrito and green pigeon peas known as gandules. This is the dish around which many meals are centered. In many cases, without arroz con gandules, there is no complete dinner.
20. Bistec
Bistec is beef steak, served either encebollado (with onions), empanizado (breaded), pan fried, or grilled. Bistec is a common lunch-special item, with most restaurants serving your choice of bistec, fish, or chicken a la parilla (on the grill) at a discounted price.
21. Parcha
Parcha is passionfruit, one of the most consumed fruits on the island. It’s consumed in all forms, including jugo de parcha (passion fruit juice), ripe right from the stand, or in drinks. You’ll also find roaming ice cream vendors in the streets of San Juan selling parcha ice cream, a welcome treat on a hot day.
22. Arroz con dulce
Arroz con dulce is a sweet rice pudding made with coconut milk, nutmeg, raisins, cloves, and cinnamon. It can be a tough dish to master as it requires sufficient soaking time to soften the rice, and it must be constantly tended in order to avoid a smoky flavor.
23. Quesitos
Photo: Avaniks/Shutterstock
It’s customary to save the best for last, and quesitos are no exception. These sweet, cream cheese puff pastries are glazed with sugar and oven-baked. Quesitos have no strong or off-putting flavors and they appeal to anyone who likes pastries. They can be purchased throughout the island, even at the airport upon landing.
What is Puerto Rico’s most famous food?
The most famous food in Puerto Rico is probably arros con gandules, or rice with pigeon peas, a type of legume with a nutty flavor. The rice and peas are typically mixed with pork or chorizo. Arroz con gandules is the national dish of Puerto Rico. It’s topped with sofrito, a staple sauce used in Caribbean and Latin American cooking, made from garlic, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, among other ingredients.
What is a typical Puerto Rican lunch?
A typical lunch often begins with Puerto Rican appetizers like bacalaitos, or fried cod fritters. Empanadillas filled with seafood like lobster or crab might also be served. Mofongo is one of the most popular lunch dishes on the island, but soups like asopao — which is similar to gumbo — and stews are a huge part of the Puerto Rican diet as well. Plantains and chicken dishes like arroz con pollo are other lunch favorites.
What do people in Puerto Rico eat for breakfast?
People in Puerto Rico typically eat pastries, porridge, and egg dishes for breakfast.
Popular breakfast pastries in Puerto Rico are called pan de mallorca, a sweet bread sprinkled with powdered sugar, and quesito, which is filled with cream cheese.
Crema de maiz is a cornmeal porridge, made with milk and topped with a pat of butter, that might also appear on the breakfast table. Revoltillo is an egg scramble dish, mixed with ingredients like tomatoes or shrimp, that is another popular breakfast option. You might wash your breakfast down with a cafe con leche, too.
A version of this article about Puerto Rican food was previously published on August 22, 2017, by Jen Ruiz and was updated on July, 21, 2020, by food and drink editor Nickolaus Hines.
More like this
Best Country: Puerto Rican Cuisine
Puerto Ricans call their cuisine “cosina criolla” and trace its ancestry to the traditions of the Arawak and Taino Indian peoples. However, the cuisine of Puerto Rico is very different from the original Indian cuisine, which was based on cereals, various root vegetables, fruits and seafood.
The Spanish influence is evident in the local dishes of beef, pork, legumes, rice and wheat, as well as in the abundant use of vegetable oils, especially olive.
African slaves also influenced the cuisine of Puerto Rico, which now features dishes from okra and taro, known locally as “yautia”, as well as various herbs that are used in abundance as seasonings.
As a result, the mixture of all these components formed the exotic modern Puerto Rican cuisine , widely known far beyond the borders of the country.
Puerto Rico , and especially its capital, will delight you with an abundance of first-class restaurants, specializing in both local cuisine and Spanish, Chinese, French, Greek or Italian cuisine.
Puerto Rican cuisine in is dominated by all kinds of stews. Here you should try “carne guisada puerto ricana” – Puerto Rican beef stew with peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes and olives, as well as “pastellon de carne” meat pies, which are an integral part of the dinner.
Soups are also very popular on the island.
Widely known throughout Latin America frijoles negros soup , made from black beans, is considered by Puerto Ricans to be their “most popular” dish, but there are still disputes about its origin. Another classic soup is chicken and rice sopon de pollo con arros, which is so popular that there are about two hundred recipes alone. Also in the cuisine of Puerto Rico, great attention is paid to fish and seafood.
One of the traditional desserts is pies with fruit jam or custard, it is also interesting to try guava jelly and pies, orange and sweet potato pies and coconut fruit pies.
The national drink is Puerto Rican strong black coffee and. Tea is popular only as a daily drink, but all kinds of iced fruit juices can be found almost everywhere.
Since the island does not produce wine, the most popular alcoholic beverages are rum and beer – “cherves” , the most popular brand of which is Medalla.
Puerto Rico is one of the leading rum producers on the planet – 80% of the rum consumed in the US is imported from here, so you can find about 200 varieties of first-class rum in any institution on the island. Imported drinks are also available in most restaurants and bars.
National dishes of Latin American cuisine / What to cook at home – an article from the “Food not at home” section on Food.ru
Features of Latin American Cuisine
But first, let’s take a short tour of the Latin American cookbook. There are about 20 countries in Latin America, but there are foods that are equally loved everywhere – these are corn, potatoes and its varieties, meat, rice and spices. This is the foundation. There are dishes that are typical for several regions at once. For example, meat pies empanadas, fish ceviche, wheat tortilla with various fillings or asado meat roast.
Along with traditional cuisine, there are a lot of original, unusual and slightly shocking Latin American recipes.
We will tell you what or whom you will be offered to eat in national restaurants and what you can cook in the kitchen yourself.
French Guiana / Chow mein
It would seem that most of the population of the Latin American country are descendants of slaves brought from Africa, a European colony, and the most famous dish is Chinese stew.
East Asians have made a significant contribution to the culinary cuisine of the Guianese. The locals especially liked chow mein – wide noodles fried with meat and vegetables with the addition of soy sauce and spices.
No less popular is a Latin American broth made from various smoked meats, fish, poultry meat, vegetables and fruits of the Avara tree, reminiscent of apricots.
Mexico / Burrito
Mexican cuisine began to form in the days of the Mayans and Aztecs. Of course, the Spanish conquistadors had a huge impact on the local culinary culture, as well as on the cuisine of Latin America in general.
The hero of our story is a burrito.
This is a soft tortilla made from wheat or corn flour with different fillings: meat and cheese, vegetables, rice and avocado.
Initially, the dish appeared in Spain and was called “shavaruma” (almost like shawarma, and it looks similar), but in Mexico it was modified. There is a story associated with the name of the old man Juan Mendez, who, on his donkey, transported food across the border river. To lighten the load of the animal, he decided to wrap the stuffing in unleavened tortillas instead of dishes. They say that when the Mexicans saw the merchant, they shouted: It goes burrito! (“The burrito is coming”). Burrito translates as “little donkey”.
Interesting fact
UNESCO has added Mexican cuisine to the list of intangible World Heritage Sites.
Colombia / Bandeja paisa, empanadas and ceviche
If you’re ready to experiment, it’s time to head to Colombia in Latin America. Do not be surprised if they offer fried palm weevil larvae and leaf cutter ants, red-eared turtle stew.
Local cuisine has absorbed the customs of Indian, European and African gastronomy.
One of the most popular dishes in Colombian restaurants is bandeja paisa. They will bring you a large plate of rice, beans, corn tortillas, meat sausages, fried pork skin with plane trees – vegetable bananas.
Don’t worry, they will also offer traditional Latin American meat pies empanadas and fish ceviche. Following our instructions, these dishes are easy to prepare at home.
Colombia also has a huge selection of exotic fruits and vegetables. Particularly popular among tourists:
lulo is a golden fruit from the foothills of the Andes of Latin America, a relative of the potato;
tomate de arbol – sour tree tomato;
guava — Hispanic residents strengthen immunity with the juice of this fruit;
papaya – known for its high content of the enzyme papain (a protease that softens meat) and other proteins.
Cuba / Fried pig and rice with beans
In Cuba, you will be treated to delicacies from lobsters, turtles and crocodiles, but the people of Liberty Island themselves prefer to eat pork.
What’s a Cuban holiday without a roasted pig on a spit?
On ordinary days, Cubans pay tribute to cereal crops. Mooros y christianos (Moors and Christians) is what the locals call rice and beans. The side dish goes especially well with meat or fish.
Easy to cook with our step by step photo recipe. Rice and beans are boiled in different containers. At the same time, vegetables are stewed: onions, carrots, bell peppers. At the final stage, coarsely chopped tomatoes are added to them. Then everything is mixed, various spices are added and brought to full readiness, leaving a few more minutes under the lid over low heat.
Interesting fact
Passionate Latin American salsa dance is named after salsa criolla hot sauce.
Ecuador / Soup of fanesca, charcoal piranha and chorizo
Traditionally, soup is prepared in Ecuadorian families a week before Easter, but it is on the menu of national restaurants at any time of the year. The soup consists of twelve types of legumes and cereals, symbolizing the apostles, and dried cod soaked in milk, which in turn personifies Christ.
Outwardly, it resembles a thick stew. Greens, spices, pumpkin are added there, served with pies, fried bananas and boiled eggs.
Latin American culinary experts may suggest a more exotic piranha dish. The fish is wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled over charcoal. If you decide to try such a delicacy, be careful: although the predator has baked, its sharp teeth remain with it.
In local markets, as well as throughout Latin America, Spanish chorizo sausages are very popular. They are grilled and like to be combined with mashed potato patties with cheese. Peanut sauce, avocado and lettuce salad will be a piquant addition.
Peru / Lomo saltado and grilled beef heart
A distinctive feature of Peruvian cuisine is meat in almost every dish. Lomo saltado is a roast of the most tender veal. The meat is pre-marinated, then stewed with red onions, fresh herbs, tomatoes and a sauce consisting of hot Amarillo peppers. It is served with potatoes or rice.
Grilled beef heart pieces are no less appetizing.
And in local restaurants, you will be given a choice of alpaca roast or paiche steak, a huge river dweller. He is also called the king of the Amazon.
Interesting fact
In Latin America people like to experiment with spices, but cooks have a rule not to add more than five spices to one dish.
Brazil / Feijoada
Who would have thought that African slaves would come up with a dish that after a couple of hundred years will be loved by every Brazilian. To make a meal, the Africans mixed the remaining pieces of pork with black beans, which were fed to animals. As time went on, the Portuguese added sausages with sausage to feijoada, and the Indians added farofa, a mixture of cassava flour and butter. However, each region of Brazil has its own way of cooking.
Served with orange slices, rice, cabbage and various sauces.
8 main drinks of Latin America
It would be wrong to complete our selection without talking about the traditional drinks typical of the cuisine of Latin America:
Mate is a tonic tea with a tobacco flavor from the dried leaves of the Paraguayan holly.
Tequila – Mexican vodka made from fermented blue agave juice.
Maubi is a sweet Latin American drink made from the tincture of the bark of the colubrine tree with the addition of various spices.
Pisco is a type of brandy made from Muscat grapes. Produced in Peru and Chile.
Mamajuana is the national spirit of the Dominican Republic, consisting of rum, honey and red wine.
Aguardiente is a strong Spanish moonshine that migrated to Latin America, translated as “fire water”.
Mocochinchi – juice from peeled dried peaches with cinnamon.
Coffee is indispensable, because the best varieties grow in Latin America. Brazil alone accounts for a third of the world’s coffee bean production.
What can be done?
Gather friends in the home kitchen, hold a master class on how to make a Mexican burrito. Or cook something from Chilean cuisine, which also belongs to Latin American.