June 4th, 2010
You are wondering if I am there or here. Well, I am here, at the Delaware Beaches. But, it is like anything. You go on vacation, had a good time and you spread the word. Plus, in our Delaware and Maryland beaches, we have a fair amount of residents that winter in Puerto Rico. These posts might give them a taste of what this Island is all about.
And this post will be about food. Puerto Rican food and its flavors.
We decided to try a restaurant called Raices in the town of Caguas. Caguas is only 20 miles south of San Juan but it might take you an hour to get there, depending at what time or day of the week you decide to travel.
Raices is located on Urb. Villa Turabo, H-31, Caguas. The tel. is 787-258-1570 and the website is www.restauranteraices.com. It is a great website written in English and Spanish. This restaurant also has another location in Old San Juan, on Recinto Sur Street #315. Tel. 787-289-2121. I am reviewing the one in Caguas, though.
I met my family there and decided to go very early to see if I could get some pictures of the restaurant. The restaurant is completely decorated as it would have been in 1949 in the Island, showing what was important at that time. The staff is dressed as the “jibaro” and you really don’t know what I am talking about.
Jibaro is the term used to describe the mountain people, just like hillbillies in the United States. They lived in-land and are the backbone of the Puerto Rican culture. The Jibaro was poor, uneducated and probably illiterate. But, they were honest, hospitable, self-sufficient and most of all, proud. The Jibaro is pretty much gone from the Island but there are some that are still jibaros at heart. Raices memorializes the soul of the Jibaro.
Puerto Rican food is unique; well seasoned, but not spicy unless you add some of home made sauce “pique”.
Cooking with foods of the island like coriander, papaya, plantains, root vegetables, annatto seeds, and the spice called adobo used as a base for many dishes give that “criollo” flavor.
My favorite tropical fruits used in cooking are pineapples, guavas, papayas, mangoes and coconuts; a real treat.
I was looking forward to tasting some of Raices’ food and someone suggested I try the Pork Chop Kan Kan served with Mofongo (plantain mash). It was huge, tasty, delicious and the edges of crispy pork rind probably gave my arteries a shock but worth it.
 Pork Chop Kan Kan I also had the cream of plantain soup and that was outstanding. I would recommend it anytime.
 Creme of Plantain Soup Other members of my family ordered the Tornado which was a skirt steak stuffed with Raices Mash and crowned with shrimp and mushroom and onion sauce.
A few other dishes ordered were served on the Mortar (Pilon) and it was Mofongo (Plantain) served with shrimp, octopus and mahi mahi.
Sangria, freshly squeezed orange juice and drinks were very well received, as well.
Raices gets crowded. On Thursdays, there is live music.
Enjoying lunch with my family; it is a time to exchange ideas and to remember how lucky we are to have each other.
Have a good one and talk to you later….
June 3rd, 2010
“If life is the pursuit of happiness…the Beach should be the Destination.”
With that in mind, I started my evening, on Wednesday, having dinner at the Beach with friends; good company and engaging conversation, always with this group.
It was that time of the day and I got a call from a good local friend. Yes, the one and only that I wrote about on my first “blogging” day. He was hungry and so was I. We decided on Mixx, located on 26 Baltimore Ave., a block from the beach. The Tel. is 302-226-8700. The website is www.mixxrehoboth.com.
I have got to tell you that it really was a beautiful night in the Delarmava Peninsula. The stars were out and after such a busy holiday week-end the beaches were quiet. We live here and even though we like to see the hustle and bustle of a busy coastal town, sometimes there are those evenings when a little bit of serenity is all we want. And such was the evening on Wednesday.
I have been wanting to try Mixx. I read about it in the fall and what attracted me at the time was that they had a fish encrusted in popcorn. I love an innovative cuisine and I had a feeling this place was going to give me what I wanted.
Mixx is located on the bottom floor of the building. I was very pleasantly surprised to see this bistro with a comfortable bar, just the right size for the restaurant. The decor is modern and colorful with plenty of art.
The size is deceiving; it is bigger than you think. You have the choice of booths or individual tables. There is no crowded feel to it.
On Wednesdays, the special is Burger & Martini Mixx. This means you are able to get $8 burgers and half priced martinis.
I had to call ahead of time to find out about gluten free cooking. I am surprised to see how many restaurants are offering gluten free menus or marking the dishes that are gluten free. Mixx is one of them.
We chose a couple of appetizers. The flashed fried Calamari with 3 dipping sauces. Sweet and sour, roasted garlic and chili, the diavolo sauce. We also had the Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps; toasted sesame and marinated pork, carrots, cucumbers, and rice stick, seved with butterhead lettuce and sweet peanut chili sauce. We all liked these dishes a lot.
Since it was burger night, it usually is more of a limited menu, therefore a couple of gluten free choices were available. The person chose the Deviled Short Ribs, horseradish braised, served with rice and grilled asparagus; finished with a cabernet balsamic reduction. They were so tender and perfectly seasoned.
The rest of us ordered different burgers. The Short Rib Burger which is their signature burger with fried onions, mushrooms served with french fries and truffle oil. She thought is was delicious.
I had the Asian Pork. This was our waiter, Davie’s, suggestion and it was ground pork, roasted garlic and chili sauce topped with an Asian slaw. I chose carrot chips. I loved it and would have it again.
The Bison Burger was ordered. Ground bison topped with sauteed mushrooms, frizzled onions, cheddar cheese and roasted red pepper mayo. He chose sweet potato fries. He was very satisfied, as well.
If you were to ask me to describe this restaurant I would definitely say that it is American Fusion, just like Mixx describes it and I would further expand that its cuisine has an eclectic approach that features dishes using a wide variety of ingredients from different cuisines and regions and then combine them.
Mixx has full and tapas portions available for most menu items.
It never stops amazing me how comforting it is to share a meal with friends. I have said it so many times and I will say it again; Priceless!!
Have a great week…talk to you later…
June 2nd, 2010
Who would make an appointmet in Baltimore, Maryland the day after Memorial week-end? Well, I did. That was really crazy because just in Ocean City, Maryland, right here at the beaches, there were 250,000 visitors that decided to spend the week-end with us. I don’t know how many in the Delaware beaches but plenty were here, as well.
Needless to say, they have to go home so on Tuesday we all drove West in caravan style.
At one point we are at a dead stop on Rt. 404. Many of you know which route this is. A suggestion was made in my car to take a “short cut”. Yeap, the short cut took us 10 miles back on a winding road that was sort of familiar but really wasn’t.
It did not matter to much to me and I just laughed and hoped that other suggestions would not be made.
My thoughts were really on where I would, definitely, be stopping on my way back. Harris Crab House is a must for me when I find myself traveling these roads. The restaurant is located right there in Kent Island and I have talked about it in the past. And once again I am talking about it because you never know how the food or service is going to be. The location is perfect for a crab house. Right on the water, watching the boats go by.
Harris Crab House is on Kent Narrows Way, North, Grasonville, MD 21638. It is Rt. 5/301, Exit 42. Tel. 410-827-9500 and website is www.harriscrabhouse.com.
It was late in the afternoon but not dinner time so the idea was to have just an appetizer. Well, I have to confess that I love steamed clams, especially, cherrystones.
Of the small clams there are “littlenecks” that are from Littleneck Bay, Long Island, N.Y. and are better eaten raw or in chowders, and the “cherrystones” which are slightly larger in size and named for Cherrystone Creek, Virginia. These could be eaten raw or cooked, but I love them best steamed, as mentioned above.
I really was a pig; I ate 60 clams. Yeap, I did. I am not guilty beacuse they were so good; sweet and salty and the perfect size. Then I just had 3 crabs; a balancing act.
The crabs were not as good as they usually are. The man at the next table who had eaten plenty of crabs in his life thought they were paper thin. And, they were, even though they were tasty. The waiter said that they were hit hard during the week-end. The size of the crabs were large but not that large, really. They were out of the jumbos, and the prices were high.
This man mentioned that his favorite crab house in Ocean City, Maryland is The Crab Bag. Probably so, but I will have to check it out since I have not been there this season. Will let you know.
By the way, I had lunch in Baltimore, Maryland yesterday at a restaurant called Tark’s Grill. I did not take pictures but it is worth mentioning in case you are in the area of Greenspring Station, Lutherville. It was delicious with an extensive wine list and menu. There is outdoor seating available and my signature salad, Lindsays Chicago Chopped Salad with Blackened Chicken was great. It had chopped pickles, almost unnoticeable, but it really added to the salad.
Tark’s Grill is a traditional American Bistro. The address is 2360 West Joppa Rd., Suite 116, Lutherville, MD 21093. Tel. is 410-583-Tark. The website is www.tarksgrill.com.
I hope you have a great day…talk to you later…
June 1st, 2010
Sightseeing around the southeastern side of the Island of Puerto Rico took me to Yabucoa. This town is in short proximity to Humacao, where I grew up. I just wanted to take a trip around this area and see what time had done to this beautiful part of the island.
I arrived at the remnants of the Central Roig, which is located in Yabucoa. Yabucoa is known as Sugar Cane City.
At one time in history there were 6 sugar mills operating in this area. The most important one was Central Roig. The name was changed to Central Roig when it was bought in 1909. It is a historic sugar cane plantation.
Yabucoa is a fertile valley that produces plantains and bananas. But, most of the valley was used for sugar cane growth.
Central Roig was one of the last mills that produced sugar in Puerto Rico.
During harvest it felt like it was snowing except that the flakes were black and the weather was warm. Hand harvesting accounted for more than half of production. It was done by using “machetes”.
The “colonos” of the sugar were the harvesters. They lived at the mill in small houses in a plantation atmosphere. My father grew up at the mill and my grandfather worked for the Central Roig. I remember him bringing me sugar cane. It was such a treat to chew on the cane and, oh, so sweet.
Another method of harvesting is using sugar cane combines. This is called a mechanical harvest, but the preferred method was with the “machetes”.
The sugar cane industry had been most important in Puerto Rico for 400 years and in 2000 the Central Roig closed.
I had to take the pictures of what was a very important part of my family’s past. Puerto Rico’s own governor’s mother grew up in “La Central”, as well.
The mill looked so sad and abandoned and as I took those pictures I kept thinking if only those buildings could talk.
On that same day I took off with my driver to El Yunque, the rain forest. You already met him in my previous blogs.
I had to go and visit because I also spent so much time there. You might not know but people do have homes inside the rain forest. They are beautiful homes in a most unique environment.
Approaching Rio Grande, which is where El Yunque is located, you could see that it was raining; 240 inches per year. The mountain is 3,543 feet high.
 El Yunque at a distance; Rain Forest The little town of Palmer had not changed in all those years. It was great and I could not believe it. At least something has remained the same.
Driving up the rain forest I had to open the windows; the coolnest of the mountain and the mist were fantastic. In El Yunque there are 4 different forest vegetations. The mountain is also renowned for its unique Taino petroglyphs (rock engravings).
One of the “Kodak” moments of every tourist visiting El Yunque is the Coca Falls. Through the years I have taken pictures up on the rocks. I had to take some more and the falls looked exactly the same, as well. The sounds were unforgetable.
Not too long ago a friend reminded me that to reminisce is to live; definitely, so true.
Talk to you later….
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