Meals and Drinks to Spice up Your Holidays
These recipes are inspired by my Hispanic Culture
Every Holiday season, our Hispanic grandmother will bring out a feast of food on the table that seems to serve 10 people but will probably fill 20 guests. You would have traditional dishes like Rice with Chickpeas (Arroz con Gandules), Pulled Pork (Pernil), Pork Chops (Chuletas), Macaroni salad, Deviled eggs, Mashed potatoes, Yams, Smoked Ham, Veggies, Cut out triangle sandwiches (every kid and grown man’s favorite, haha).
For dessert you will have Flan, Tres leches, a warm pudding with raisins and Coquito.
I can’t provide you with all the recipes to these featuring foods for your holiday but I can only lead you in the right direction towards your Google search. Better yet, ask your nearest Puerto Rican friend to invite you to their next holiday gathering and you will be sure to see these dishes on the feasting table. Growing up in a Puerto Rican home, we always had this every Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
As someone with a sweet tooth, I always looked forward to desert. I love Flan, a custardy treat that jiggles like Jello when you bring the edge of your spoon to its surface and it is cold to your teeth yet creamy to your palette. It is usually covered with a caramel drizzle of some sort and it is very delicious; however, the texture is more mature for some palettes and not many children would like it.
Tres Leches is another favorite as it includes three different types of milk added to a spongey cake to give you a creamy, cool, and smooth texture as it crumbles in your mouth after each milky bite. I loved this growing up and preferred it to flan but now I’m not as biased, lol.
Lastly, Coquito is a family favorite. It is a custardy egg nog dashed with a little rum served by Puerto Ricans in a shot glass to celebrate the Holidays. It is not meant to imbibe in large qualities as too much consumption could certainly bring you under the influence; however, it is meant to be savored and enjoyed as a treat for the evening as you sit to digest the feast your grandma just prepared for everyone. It is a great conversation piece to hold onto as you converse with friends and family as the evening grows older and you expect the new year to drop in by midnight.
I hope you enjoyed these recipe ideas and consider using some of these dishes for your next family feast this Holiday season. Better yet, find your nearest Puerto Rican friend and ask them to invite you over for one of their holiday meals and you won’t regret it. :)
Best wishes everyone. I hope you enjoy your Christmas and New Year Holiday. Expect more emails bi-monthly.
xxo Rosa