Food Feature:

Traditional Puerto Rican Food:

 

Come and get some! Flan the way of the PuertoRican, do you like flan?

My parents immigrated from Puerto Rican in their early teens, so I identify myself as Hispanic.  Even though I learned how to speak English first and Spanish 2^nd and I grew up In New Haven, CT. There are many foods that I like Papa Rellena, Bacalao, alcapurria, and Flan. 

Puerto Rican cuisine has its roots in the cooking traditions and practices of Europe (Spain), Africa and the Amerindian Taínos. In the latter part of the 19th century, the cuisine of Puerto Rico was greatly influenced by the United States in the ingredients used in its preparation. Puerto Rican cuisine has transcended the boundaries of the island, and can be found in several countries outside the archipelago.

Papa Rellena is a stuffed potatoes typically filled with chopped beef and onions, cumin and other spices. Bacalao is salted cod fish with tomatoes, vegetables with yellow meal and is fried. An alcapurria is made from a doughy mixture of mashed up tubers and root vegetables that grow on the island surrounding a center of heavily seasoned meat.

Flan is as Puerto Rican as the coqui; it is made with eggs and milk.  Although flan is made in many different flavors, like pineapple, chocolate, etc., the one that’s a favorite around the island, in my opinion, is the vanilla flan.  In Puerto Rico if you go to any bakery, store or supermarket, you will for sure find flan there. Flan is one of the most popular desserts in the island. A Hispanic person must have at one point in their life have eaten a variation of flan, weither they liked it or not is their own opinion.

Flan comes from ancient Rome. The Romans had many eggs and used the Greek's cooking skills to develop a recipe. Together they developed a custardy concoction known as a Flan. Flan started out not very sweet, but sometimes with honey. In Spain in became sweet custard made with caramelized sugar. It was mostly made with milk, eggs, and sugar. When Christopher Columbus found America flan was brought about. Almost all of central and south America fell in love with the flan and the different types of custard forms.

There are hundreds of different types of flan recipes anything from flancohco, coconut flan, Mexican flan, caramel flan, chocolate flan, and many more. My favorite kind of flan is the vanilla flan that my abulea makes. There are countless restaurants in Connecticut, that sell flan but I’ve never found one that can compare to my grandmother’s.  I’ve never brought flan from a restaurant, but I have brought the small Goya brand flan from a supermarket; which cost a little over 3 dollars for 2 portions. They were good but not the best they are pre made flan made in a factory not home made. I have no idea what the average cost of a piece of flan is but the average cost for the making of a complete flan is about 13 dollars. In my opinion the cost of any food when you’re at a restaurant; or at home does not matter as long as you like the food.