If You Wanna Be My Lover You Gotta Eat Puerto Rican Food

If there’s one thing in the world I love more than sleeping it’s eating.  As the foodie that I am, I like finding new places to eat, new recipes to try, as well as telling people of the things I think they should try. Back in college my friends and I would have something we liked to call “Gordita Tuesday” or “Fatty Tuesday” which honestly happened every day, not just on Tuesdays, and we would try and go to new places every week.

Which is why I feel like it is my duty, as a foodie and a Puerto Rican, to give you a list of some of the things you should try if you ever visit Puerto Rico.

Bacalaitos



Bacalaitos are a fritter made off of codfish mixed with a flour batter, and it is honestly a gift from the gods. That statement is big coming from someone like me, that does not enjoy any type of animal that comes from the sea; cod is literally *cue Paramore* the only exception. You can find this pretty much anywhere around the Island, like the side of the road with an assortment of fritters, or a creole restaurant that serves them as appetizers. They come in a variation of sizes, but if you ask me, the bigger and thinner they are, the better they are. There is no specific time to enjoy a bacalaito if you ask me; they are the perfect brunch item after church or the perfect breakfast before going to the beach, or simply the snack you might crave during a road trip.

Alcapurrias



Before I explain the ins and outs of alcapurrias, I have to apologize about not having a legit picture, writing this post I realized I haven’t had one in forever, which is why that picture used had to be taken from Wikipedia. I am literally the worst Puerto Rican ever.

Alcapurrias are a staple fitter, made up of green bananas with eddoe dough, stuffed with ground beef. The dough might change depending on where on the Island you are. They are also stuffed with chicken or crab meat. Just like bacalaitos, you can find alcapurrias everywhere and eat them whenever your little heart desires.

Arroz con gandules & Carne frita (Rice with Pigeon Peas and Fried Pork)



If you ever wondered what is one thing we ate pretty much every day, the answer is rice, we eat rice in so many different forms you can literally have a different type of rice for every day of the week.

As you can see there’s a theme in Puerto Rican food and that is that we fry EVERYTHING, but it’s too good for us to even care.

Arroz con gandules y carne frita is one our typical Christmas dishes, although we tend to have it through the year. For this rice we use pigeon peas, throw some pork meat in it as well as some grated green plantain, obviously tossing in there our signature spices and the infamous sofrito. Arroz con gandules truly is a gift from the gods, and that fried pork on the side makes it a thousand times better. Don’t get me started on how good it is when you have a slice of avocado with it. I need to move on because my mouth is watering.

Mofóngo




To keep the theme of fried foods we must include mofóngo, the love of my life, the thing that keeps me going, the one food that does not let me down. Before you ask, yes, those are snapchat pictures because why not. Mofóngo is a little ball of fried then mashed green plantains and it truly is glorious. I feel like I’m saying that about all of these, but Puerto Rican food is just that amazing. Mofóngo is usually paired with fried pork, but pretty much every single Puerto Rican restaurant has a thousand of meat choices you can choose from. For instance, my sister usually gets her mofóngo with shrimp. You can get yours stuffed with the meat, or have the meat served on the side. Whichever you choose will change your life, and you will wonder how did you have a life before trying mofóngo.

Pro tip: If you eat this, you must throw some mayo-ketchup sauce on top. Yes, you read that right; we make a mayonnaise, ketchup and garlic sauce to throw on top of mofóngo and on top of tostones. Life-changing I tell you.



The list of things you should try goes on and on and on, but these are the ones I’m sharing for today, maybe I’ll do another installment of this in the future.

Our country might be going through some difficult situations, and we might be faulty of a lot of things, but if there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s cooking. If you ever come to Puerto Rico, take as much time to try our food, as you would do to sightsee. You will not regret it trust me.


Always the foodie at heart,

                 - Michelle 

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