Now that the hubby has gone back to his carnivorous ways after 15 years, I have recently been able to prepare some of my favorite Puerto Rican dishes. And by "some", I mean two. A couple of weeks ago, it occurred to my better half that we should make pernil. Pernil is roast pork shoulder. It's a dish that has been prepared by many a tia and abuela in my family. With so many tias and abuelas, heck, I never had to make it myself....until now.So a few Saturdays ago, we walked to the butcher shop, bought a 5 pounder and headed home to prepare the ingredients. Before starting, I called one of my tias (the one who makes the best pernil I've ever had) just for a quick review. Mixed together the garlic, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano and made a paste. Poked holes everywhere, stuffed the paste into every crevice then slathered the remaining goop all over the pork. Good stuff, man. Good stuff!
So after cooking for 3.5 hours we had our first pernil. I gotta say, for a first try, not bad. Not bad at all. A little dry, but not awful. Will certainly try it again.
Last night was another attempt at getting back to my roots, this time with bistec. The name comes from the very mispronounced "beefsteak". It's so great being able to cook meat for the hubby. This time I decided to
hold on to my lifeline and go at it on my own. One tasty dish if I do say so myself. Mind you, the meat turned out as hard as the sole of a Docksider shoe, but booooy, the flavor sure did pop.So, now I've learned that I need to adjust my cooking times just a smidgen. But at least I know how to add the sazón. And really, that's the only important part. You can always get new teeth.
3 comments:
Can you recommend any restaurants for good Puerto Rican food in NYC? I saw a place called La Fonda Boricua on the 'net up on E 104th St.(isn't that "Spanish Harlem"?) that looks interesting, but of course it's hard to tell how good the food really is by way of a web site.
Hi Ajay,
That's a darn good question. Most of my Puerto Rican meals have been prepared by family. Never really had Puerto Rican "take-out". However, I will scope out my resources and see if I can get some good recommendations for you.
Actually, I think I've been to Old San Juan in midtown. That was some time ago, but I don't recall it being a bad experience. So, that's worth a shot. Again, I'll ask around.
If you want fancy Boricua food, go to Sofrito on the East Side. If you want "home cooking" go to International Food House on 38th Street and 8th. It's kinda like a luncheonette. It's all you can eat buffet...SO good!!!!!
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