Although Puerto Rican diets can vary greatly from day to day, there are some markedly similar patterns to daily meals. Dinners almost invariably include a meat, and rice and beans.
Christmas dishes are a staple during the Christmas festivities Puerto Rican culture can be seen and felt all year-round, but it is on its greatest display during Christmas when people celebrate the traditional
aguinaldo and
parrandas – Puerto Rico's version of carol singing. Puerto Rican food is a main part of this celebration.
Pasteles for many Puerto Rican families, the quintessential holiday season dish is
pasteles, a soft dough-like mass wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled, and in the center chopped meat, raisins, capers, olives, and
chick peas. Puerto Rican
pasteles are made from milk, broth, plantain, green bananas, and tropical roots. The wrapper in a Puerto Rican
pastele is a
banana leaf. Many other dishes include
arroz con gandules,
roasted pork,
potato salad with apples and chorizo,
escabeche made with green banana and chicken gizzards,
hallaca are the cassava version of
pasteles, among other dishes.
Coquito is a spiced coconut
eggnog typically served in a shot glass; family recipes vary. Desserts include
flan,
natillas, cream cheese spiced
bread pudding made with
currants and either guava or sweet plantains, coconut spiced
rice pudding,
tembleque a coconut pudding.
Beverages The history of Puerto Rican alcoholic drinks includes the production of
rum and
pitorro, the creation of the
piña colada, and the evolution of the
coquito.
Coffee production in Puerto Rico was first introduced in 1736, when Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony. At first, the industry thrived. By the beginning of the 1800s, civil wars in coffee producing countries had caused an increase in the price of the commodity worldwide. This paved the way for a surge in production. In combination with the arrival of new technologies and European immigrants, who both acquired and worked the land, Puerto Rico became the fourth-largest coffee producer in the Americas. The nineteenth century was a golden era of coffee for Puerto Rico. Coffee sent to the
Vatican came from Puerto Rico, by the Cooperativa Cafeteros de Puerto Rico, which registered the Café Rico brand in 1924. For a long time, it was considered the best coffee in the world. It had a factory with a coffee cupping laboratory and the only one that had a certified coffee taster in the entire archipelago. Today Puerto Rico still produces small batches of grade 1 coffee and
peaberry. Coquito lattes include coconut milk,
condensed milk, egg yolk, and a variety of spices.
Soft drinks have a long history in Puerto Rico, including the creation of popular drinks and the local production of other brands.
Coco Rico began marketing its drink in Puerto Rico in 1934, and patented the formula the following year. It is the first coconut soda and has gained popularity throughout the Caribbean,
Mexico, and some parts of
Latin America.
Kola Champagne was invented in Puerto Rico by
Ángel Rivero Méndez. Like Coco Rico, Kola Champagne is popular throughout the Caribbean and parts of Latin America, but also
Pakistan.
Malta (soft drink) may have come to Puerto Rico in the mid-19th century with German businesspeople or laborers, or with
German and
German-American immigrants who settled in Puerto Rico after
World War I. A drink made from malta in Puerto Rico is called ponche de malta. Malta is mixed with whipped egg yolk, and condensed milk. A scoop of ice cream can be added and topped with cinnamon.
Cherry Coca-Cola, spiced
rum, cherry liqueur, garnished with
maraschino cherry and lime wedge called spiced cherry is a local play on the famous
Cuba libre (rum and coke).
Spanish conquistadors brought
horchata to the Americas during colonization, but they did not bring
tiger nuts, the key ingredient in the original recipe. Instead, they used rice and other grains, and added sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and sometimes
marigolds. In Puerto Rico toasted
sesame seeds are used and sometimes
coconut milk is added.
Kiosks Rustic stalls displaying many kinds fritters under heat lamps or behind a glass pane can be spotted in many places throughout Puerto Rico. Collectively known as
frituras, these snacks are called
cuchifritos in New York City, but to be strictly correct,
cuchifritos are the mom-and-pop stores where
frituras are sold. In Puerto Rico, the name
quioscos (kiosk) is used to refer to the cuchifrito. Quioscos are a much-frequented, time-honored, and integral part to a day at the beach and the culinary culture of the island. Fresh octopus and conch salad are frequently seen. Much larger kiosks serve hamburgers, local/Caribbean fusion, Thai, Italian, Mexican and even Peruvian food. Most kiosks have a signature alcoholic drink.
Puerto Rican food outside Puerto Rico In
New York City,
cuchifritos or cochifritos refers to various fried foods prepared principally of pork in Spanish and Puerto Rican cuisine. In Spain, cuchifritos are a typical dish from Segovia in Castile. The dish consists of pork meat fried in olive oil and garlic and served hot. In Puerto Rican communities in New York City they include a variety of dishes including
morcilla (blood sausage),
papa rellena (fried potato balls stuffed with meat), and
chicharrón (fried pork skin), and other parts of the pig prepared in different ways. Some cuchifritos dishes are prepared using plantain as a primary ingredient. Cuchifritos vendors also typically serve juices and drinks such as passionfruit, pineapple, and coconut juice, as well as ajonjolí, a drink made from sesame seeds. In Chicago,
el jibarito is a popular dish. The word
jíbaro in Puerto Rico means a man from the countryside, especially a small landowner or humble farmer from far up in the mountains. Typically served with Puerto Rican yellow rice,
jibaritos consist of a meat along with mayonnaise, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and onions, all sandwiched between a fried green plantain. In the early 20th century, bread made from wheat (which would have to be imported) was expensive out in the mountain towns of the
Cordillera Central, and
jíbaros were made from plantains which are still grown there on the steep hillsides. The version introduced to
Chicago was originally made with
skirt steak, but today it can be found in versions made with chicken, roast pork, ham, shrimp and even
tofu.
La jibarita is the sweet plantain version. ==Chefs==