Remember those little pre-packaged cakes American grocery stores always sell alongside cartons of fresh strawberries? The ones that are round and sweet and yellow, with a little indentation, like a bowl, on top –perfect for strawberry shortcake?
Mofongo is something like that, but it involves larger cakes, and, instead of being made from sweetened white flour, savory mofongo is made from taro root or potatoes. The result is something like a moist bowl made from tater tots or sculpted from polenta.
Over this, 'Ricans pour grilled steak, curried chicken, or shrimp. The steak I had last night was tender and tasty — with a mofongo base more like whipped potatoes. But yesterday's lunch mofongo was baked, I think, with stiffer walls, and topped with a stir-fry of sweet chicken curry and pungent onions.
Both were delicious. In fact, the more sangria I drank, the more delicious the monfongo became. Can you eat too much mofongo? I don't know, but Bebo's — a local joint near the Doubletree in San Juan — serves whopping portions of the Real Mofongo, along with glasses of sangria large enough for me to fit my head in — which is exactly what I did.
And yes — and this is for that reader who asked, "Does he ever do more than eat when traveling?" — yes I *did* do more than eat. We walked the ruins of the fortifications, strolled down Calle del Sol, shopped a bit (prize find: tacky salt shakers in bright colors), and — oh, yes, we went to Wal Mart.
I know. But, you see, we always go to Wal Mart, wherever we go, and I have to tell you that a Puerto Rican Wal Mart is a true thing of beauty. If you've been to Atlanta's Plaza Fiesta on Buford Highway, you know exactly what Puerto Rican Wal Mart is trying to be: a sprawling, friendly marketplace, complete with tiny side shops and food vendor stalls.
After picking up a car charger for my iPhone, we passed by stalls selling fresh mini-donuts, fruit smoothies, McFlurries, and — gasp! — authentic Argentine empanadas. My chorizo empanada was flaky, fresh, and just the right kind of spicy … while Clyde's Argentine empanada was stuffed to bursting with ground meat, onions, raisins, and spice.
You don't get that from any "inside the perimeter" Wal Mart in A-town, let me tell ya.
Today: off to the rainforest, where we understand it might be raining, which makes since, given the name of the place. Nevertheless, I am wearing so much sun block that I do not cast a shadow, and, like the lovable vampires in the Twilight series, my skin sparkles. Or glistens. Whichever word is greasier, that's exactly what I am.
Now, how about some breakfast mofongo … ?
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