All Conched Out

Rachel and I just returned from a vacation in Grand Bahama, and we’re both pretty wiped. The photos below we took in December of 2008 still very much reflect the native cuisine of the island, and I can assure you, we ate an awful lot of it this trip.

• Also See: Food and Dining in the Bahamas (Complete Flickr Photo Set)

I’ll have some new photos of Bahamaian beach food (and the beautiful beaches) to put up shortly. But in the mean time, feast your eyes on the Island nation’s favorite marine gastropod, the ubiquitous Bahamian conch.

This is one of the many conch shell dumping grounds on Grand Bahama Island. There are literally tens of thousands of shells here in this one pile.

In the Bahamas, it’s all about the Conch. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Thanksgiving at Daisy’s

Here’s one of our best Thanksgivings ever. We’re bumping this post up in case you want some great holiday ideas.

This year, Rachel and I were invited to our friend Daisy’s house for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating family traditions, and like many families, Daisy Martinez’s yearly observance of the holiday is one of integrating her American-ness with her cultural identity, which is Puerto Rican and Latino.

Turkey (“Pavo” in Latin-American Spanish) the iconic American centerpiece of Thanksgiving, has also been integrated into Puerto Rican culture as Pavochon, which was probably created by New York Puerto Rican immigrants (“Newyoriquens“) between 50 and 70 years ago as an affordable substitute for roast pork, or Lechon, for Christmas.

Related: A Jewish Puerto Rican Thanksgiving

Like Lechon, Pavochon is rubbed with a garlic, salt/pepper and oregano wet adobo and marinated for over 24 hours and then roasted. This one was marinated for 48. In the last half a century, Pavochon has since been imported back to Puerto Rico,  is a popular dish eaten throughout the year and is served alongside Lechon in the central Guavate region.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

July 18, 2009 Updates: Havana’s Cuban Cafe, Tenafly Farmer’s Market

Crack open a Hatuey or an Ironbeer, Havana’s Cuban Cafe in Edgewater has an expanded dining room and is serving some of the best Caribbean Latino food in the entire area.

Sunny Organic Treats abound in late July at the Tenafly Farmers Market.

Jason goes to Puerto Rico: Guavate, Thanksgiving-Land

As Ricardo Montalban in his famous role as Mr. Roarke used to say, SMILES everyone, SMILES!, it’s Daisy’s buddy Jason Perlow again, and you know what that means — welcome back to Boriqua Island. Sorry, no Tattoo.

Last post, we talked about seafood and all the myriad of ways Puerto Ricans like to eat them. But I would be amiss if I didn’t talk about a very special place on the Island — a land where its Thanksgiving and Christmas 365 days a year. The place I’m talking about is GUAVATE.

A view of the Guavate mountain and forest region in Puerto Rico from a popular Lechonera.

Guavate is an area that is designated as a district as part of the larger town of Cayey, which is in South-Central Puerto Rico. Its a mountainous, forested area that has become known over the years as a favorite recreational spot for Puerto Ricans — and as a result, has created an entire culture dedicated to eating traditional holiday foods, such as Lechon (Roast Pork) and Pavochon (Roast Turkey  — see Daisy’s Recipe). A single road which passes through the town, Highway PR-184, also known as as the “Pork Highway” has many restaurants which specialize in these two dishes and all their accompaniments. Which one is the best? It’s hard to say, but Rachel and I visted two of them and if we picked the two worst ones, then I can’t imagine what the two best taste like. Your best bet — and our overall strategy — was to see which parking lots are the busiest and have the most amount of people eating there.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry link below” for more.