June 4th, 2010

Raices (Roots), Restaurant, Review, Caguas, Puerto Rico, Comida Criolla, Puerto Rican Food

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….