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Before marrying my husband, and while we dated he would always tell me “A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” I was like “Ha! I got this covered! I can cook, and boy can I cook delish!” Puerto Rican food is my specialty.
However, I was in for a big surprise.
You see, my husband is a very Southern gentleman. When I say “Southern” I refer to the South of the U.S.A. where food is soulful with varying elements of spices with African influences, where the hog (pork) is the predominant meat, and they love their greens, collards anyone? And where the main drink is sweet tea!
I on the other hand am an island girl. I come from Puerto Rico where we have a fusion of tropical flavors. Our cooking style is called “cocina críolla” (creole cooking and not to be confused with Louisiana’s Cajun cuisine). “Cocina críolla” can be traced back to the Arawaks and Taínos with a combination of Spanish & African influences after Columbus arrival on the island.
A staple in Puerto Rican cuisine is sofrito a mixture of pureed peppers, onions, cilantro, ajíes dulces (sweet pepper), tomatoes, parsley, and garlic. This is used in rice, beans, stews, everything! We eat a lot of root vegetables such as “yuca” (cassava), “yautía”, “ñame”, and green bananas. Our go to drink is the “piña colada” (made with pineapple and coconut) how tropical is that? 🙂
It was a food culture shock indeed! Needless to say, this upcoming January 2014 we will be celebrating our 6th anniversary, it’s safe to say that I have survived the food culture shock, and that I have become an expert in Southern cuisine! I can go head-to-head with any local Southerner when it comes to soul food. My husband has had his good share of Puerto Rican cuisine, but his heart is set on soul food. Little one thankfully has a good hearty appetite, and eats whatever his mami cooks for him especially when it’s Southern.
So here’s a look at our Multicultural Meal Plan Monday:
Sunday
Breakfast
Pancakes with syrup
Scrambled eggs
Fresh fruit
Dinner
Southern fried pork chops with hot sauce (for hubby)
Monday
Breakfast
Dry cereal with milk
Cheese stick
Applesauce
Lunch
*Usually a make-over of yesterday’s dinner
Fried pork chop sandwich
Chips
Dinner
Tuesday
Breakfast
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat
Boiled egg
Yogurt
Lunch
*Usually a make-over of yesterday’s dinner
Salad with diced up baked chicken
Roll of bread
Fruit cup
Dinner
Arroz con gandules (Rice with pigeon peas)
Bistec encobollado (Cube steak with sauteed onions)
Green salad
White rice
Avocado and tomato salad
Thursday
Steamed broccoli
Rolls of bread
Dinner
Green beans
Garlic toast
Friday
Small side salad
Dinner
Baked ham
Dirty rice with gravy
Mixed vegetables
Saturday
Breakfast
Plantains Breakfast Amarillos and eggs
Yogurt with fruit
Lunch
Corned Beef (Puerto Rican recipe)
White Rice
Tostones (Fried plantains)
Dinner
Green beans
Hope you enjoy our meal plan for this week. Need more multicultural meal plans? Click here.
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Frances
Owner/Blogger at Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes
Frances Díaz Evans is a Latina Author, Educator, Multicultural and Language Advocate. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of the East in Puerto Rico and a master's degree in Spanish education from the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.
She is the founder and writer of the multicultural, bilingual parenting website, Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes and Discovering Español (Discovering Spanish), a business dedicated to teaching Spanish online.
She can be found musing on her blog, Facebook and her favorite social media platform Instagram.
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Sounds like a delicious “affair”! Thanks for all the great recipes 🙂
Thanks for the recipes. I am Asian but I love Island food. My good friend taught me to cook Cuban food which my family loves. I’m excited to introduce them to Puerto Rican cuisine which sounds very similar to Cuban!!
I want to eat with you guys this week!! I guess I’ll have to settle for trying out some of your recipes! Thanks so much for sharing them here!!