|  Puerto
Rican food is a pleasant surprise. It seems that everywhere you
visit on the island you will find some excellent food. The food
seems to combine some of the best aspects of both Spanish and
Mexican cuisine and together the style is unique and tasty.
One of the first things you notice about Puerto
Rican food is its freshness. Well this should come as no surprise
since much of the food is grown and cultivated in its tropical
hillsides. The fertile soils of Puerto Rico means that the meals
always have a fresh taste and can never be considered boring.
Please note
that additional info (prices, activities, etc) are found to the
right of this pages. 
It is said the Puerto Ricans have perfected the
style of food known as "Cocina Criolla". One of the
things that make the food stand out is the type of seasoning.
Common ingredients include cinnamon, cloves, pepp, garlic, ginger,
coriander, orgegano, and sour orange juice. These seasonings are
used in many of the more popular dishes and really add a nice
flavor. One style of ingredients used is called sofrito. Sofrito
seasoning is used in many dishes.
Once you start to try out the
great food in Puerto Rico you will quickly notice that rice is
typically used with many dishes. With rice being so popular, Puerto
Ricans have devised many different ways to prepare it along with
many different ingredients.
 Rice
is a mainstay of the Puerto Rican diet and it can be prepared
in a variety of ways be it "white" served with kidney
beans or prepared with gandules (pigeon peas) or garbanzos (chick-peas)
or in a variety of other delicious ways...( just try a well-made
rice with chicken).
Soups are a popular beginning
for meals in Puerto Rico or a full meal by themselves such as
the sopón de pollo con arróz (chicken soup with
rice), sopón de pescado (fish soup) or sopón de
garbanzos con patas de cerdo (chick peas soup with pig's feet).
Not really a soup, one of the most traditional of dishes is the
asopao,a hearty gumbo made with fish or chicken. Every Puerto
Rican chef has his own recipe for asopao. Asopao de pollo might
take a whole chicken, which is flavored with spices such as garlic,
paprika and orégano as well with salt pork, cured ham,
green peppers, chili peppers,onions, tomatoes,chorizos and pimentos.
If the budget is low an asopao de gandules will still be a hearty
meal. An amazing number of ingredients, notably local vegetables,
plantains and meats go into the sancocho, a type of Caribbean
soup which is a true delicacy
Pastelon de carne, or meat pies, are the staple
of many Puerto Rican dinners. Salt pork and ham are often used
for the filling and are cooked in a caldero (small cauldron).
This medley of meats and spices is covered with a pastry top and
baked.
Other typical main dishes include fried beefsteak
with onions (carne frita con cebolla), veal (ternera) à
la parmesana, and roast leg of pork, fresh ham, lamb, or veal
à la criolla. These roasted meats are cooked in the Créole
style, flavored with adobo. Chicharrónes is very popular,
especially around Christmastime--fried pork with the crunchy skin
left on top for added flavor.
 Puerto
Ricans adore chicken, which they flavor with various spices and
seasonings. Arroz con pollo (chicken with rice) is the most popular
chicken dish on the island, and it was brought long ago to the
U.S. mainland. Other favorite preparations include pollo al Jerez
(chicken in sherry), pollo en agridulce (sweet-and-sour chicken),
and pollitos asados à la parrilla (broiled chickens).
A favorite side dish are the tostones, made from
plátanos (green plantains) which are sliced, fried lightly,
then are crushed and placed back on the frying pan to be fried
again to a crunchy golden yellow. Most visitors to the island
prefer the fresh fish and shellfish. A popular dish is mojo isleno
(fried fish with Puerto Rican sauce). The sauce is made with olives
and olive oil, onions, pimientos, capers, tomato sauce, vinegar,
and a flavoring of garlic and bay leaves. Fresh fish is often
grilled, and perhaps flavored with garlic and an overlay of freshly
squeezed lime juice--a very tasty dinner indeed. Caribbean lobster
is usually the most expensive item on any menu, followed by shrimp.
Puerto Ricans often cook camarones en cerveza (shrimp in beer).
Another delectable shellfish dish is jueyes hervidos (boiled crab).
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