Cuisine by Country | hungry sofia

Nov 10

Fairest of Them All

I really miss apples when they’re gone. I try to follow the seasons, stay local, only buy what’s available at the farmer’s markets but have to admit that I cheat all the time when it comes to apples. Not that I have to these days – the markets are bursting with every variety. My great grandmother, who grew up on a farm in Asturias where they made their own cider, lived to be a very healthy and graceful 103. It could have been the apples or the Estée Lauder but its definitely worth a try. Having found a simple recipe for baked apples, I looked for variations with added butter, custard, almonds, or preserves. They all looked great, and I’ll Read more

Nov 8

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Kiosk Portugal

The first time I went to Kiosk to see their Florida collection I was apprehensive. A curated collection of objects brought back from their travels, I worried that, taken out of context and back lit in their Soho space, the cans of Materva and La Cubanita guava bricks would be all hipster irony and no heart. When I finally went, I loved it and was excited to hear they were hitting Portugal next. I’d only been there once in college but it’s still my favorite vacation of all time. For three days we drove along the southern coast only stopping to eat, swim and sleep. Like previous exhibits, Portugal. What a Beautiful Place! is small collection of shelves set up with light box view of a trip you wish you’d been on. With Avril au Portugal still floating through my mind, I wasn’t expecting to find so many practical why-have-I-not seen-this-before items. Here are a few pictures of my trip to their trip: Read more

Nov 5

Causa Caliente

I’ve been wanting to try this second causa recipe, stuffed with chicken for awhile. I was finally got my hands on bottled ají amarillo, the Peruvian peppers that are key to so many recipes but are difficult to find in New York. Though usually served cold, roast chicken wrapped in yellow potatoes then slathered with cheese and lightly browned, seemed like the perfect early fall comfort food. I’m always a little skeptical that it’s going to work, but the pureed potatoes combined with oil and peppers become a perfect kind of molding clay so the only difficult part is stopping yourself from playing with it incessantly so it has time to chill.

Pan de Muerto

I first came across pan de muerto, or “bread of the dead” in the long stretch of Mexican bakeries and stores in Sunset Park. Placed on family altars for el Día de los Muertos (November 1 & 2) as an offering to their deceased loved ones, I asked everyone I knew how they’d celebrated in Mexico and whether they continued to do so in the States. Read more

Oct 30

New Map

I’ve been going through this week’s New York Times travel section featuring Latin America, specifically an awakened Chile, colonial Colombia, 36 Hours in Montevideo, Rio hot spots, Peruvian restaurants, and rejuvenated Mazatlán. Travel exhausts me but its a fun read.

Oct 29

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Ñoquis del 29

A few weeks ago, I read about Argentina’s ñoquis del 29, the day of the month to prepare and eat gnocchi and wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I would invariably remember this on the 30th of each month. I was determined not to forget this time and with all the fall vegetables weighing down the markets, I was looking for something in a pumpkin-squash-sweet potato to start a new monthly tradition. I found a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi in October’s Gourmet (still can’t believe it’s gone) issue that was exactly what I wanted. I’d only made gnocchi once before and while they were okay, I had that nagging feeling when you first try a recipe that you just didn’t do it right. To avoid this, I read the recipe a few times, cross referenced similar ones for tips and techniques, gathered up the few necessary ingredients and got ready to make a mess. Read more

Oct 26

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Stuffed Chayotes

During my last Sunset Park crawl, I couldn’t resist buying some of the Mexican chorizo that’s sold in all the grocery stores and bodegas. Mixed into omelettes or covered in cheese, all the recipes I found for using it were pretty heavy. That’s when I came across this version using chayotes in Marilyn Tausend’s Cocina de la Familia, a collection of recipes she collected while traveling through the United States and Mexico. This one come from Miami by way of Mexico City. Light, fresh and slightly sweet, the chayotes were the perfect balance for the heavily spiced chorizo. Originally from Mexico but popular throughout Latin America, Tausend compares chayotes to the ideal 19th century woman, “somewhat exotic, always modest, very versatile, and capable of assuming any role necessary.” I didn’t know I was looking for a Victorian solution but I found one. Read more

Oct 22

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The Running People

“They seemed to move with the ground,” said one awestruck spectator. “Kind of like a cloud, or a fog moving across the mountains.”

This time, the Tarahumara weren’t two lonely tribesmen adrift in a sea of Olympians…they were locked in formation they’d practiced since childhood, with wily old vets up front and eager young buck pushing from behind. They were sure-footed and sure of themselves. They were the Running People.

-Christopher McDougall, Born to Run

If anyone has read Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run, they know what it’s like to have images of Mexico’s Tarahumara racing through their minds. A story about “a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen,” it’s really about all of us and none of us. A story of our evolution and ability as runners that may be largely lost, except to a few who never forgot how. Read more

Oct 9

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Fantasy Island

I’ve always known that if stranded on a desert island and forced to choose only one dish to eat for the rest of my life, it would be arroz con pollo. I understand that this is ridiculous. Obviously, with the plethora of fresh seafood available on a desert island, paella makes more sense. Nevertheless, the scenario itself is unlikely, so I allow myself to imagine an arroz con pollo eternity. With beer instead of wine, more chicken and less rice, a little burnt on the bottom, it’s always the perfect one-pot Cuban comfort meal. My choice is made. What would your desert island dish be? Read more

Oct 4

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Cold Nights

He turned round, and leaning upon his elbow, began to sip his chocolate. The mellow November sun came streaming into the room. The sky was bright, and there was a genial warmth in the air. It was almost like a morning in May.

– Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

There are always a few weeks in early Fall where it is colder in my apartment then it is outside. I leave the house ready to face a brisk New York, early frost and find a mild northern California day instead. While the season makes up it’s mind, I’ll just live in a bowl of hot chocolate. Read more