Cuisine by Country | hungry sofia

Sep 16

Autumn Stewing

Buried in a cookbook from the 1960s, I first read about the Argentinian carbonada earlier this summer. Made to celebrate Argentinian Independence Day on July 9, during their winter season, stew weather seemed a long way off then. A mixture of beef, corn, peaches and pears, it seemed perfect for early fall, when the heartier fruits and vegetables come in just as the sweeter fruits of summer are fading out. Wishing I’d taken pictures of the market’s golds, purples, and reds, I felt like bit of a witch at her cauldron when they reappeared in the pot. Traditionally, the carbonada is served in a large pumpkin-like gourd called a zapallo. Hollowed out, baked, then filled with the stew, each serving includes a spoonful of pumpkin. With no fairy godmother to turn my northeastern squash into an Andean zapallo, I turned the small acorn and colorful delicata squashes into soup bowls instead. Read more

Sep 13

Singing Salt

I spent the day at the Brooklyn Book Festival at Borough Hall wandering in and out of readings and seeing friends. With little time to cook, I thought it would be right to end the day with Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. In his Elementary Odes, he writes to wine, tomatoes, maize, large tuna, chestnuts, artichokes, lemons. Here the salt sings back. Read more

Sep 10

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That’s No Lady

I have a regrettably low tolerance for alcohol. Typically, I’ll sip a mojito till it’s watered down to nothing or nurse a light Mexican beer most of the night. I’m that girl. So it’s odd that I’ve spent this week spiking sorbet with cava, getting a lobster drunk on rum, and now drizzling lady fingers with vermouth and yet more rum for a Bien Me Sabe, a Venezuelan dessert of lady fingers layered with coconut cream.

Whenever I have people over, I always go to Latin Chic written by my friend Isabel González-Whitaker and co-author Carolina Buia. Living in the neutral territory of New York City where everyone is from somewhere else, it’s full of simple but great ideas to add a cultural twist that’s honest to entertaining in Latin American style. Looking for a dessert to bring to a dinner party, I made their version of Bien Me Sabe or “It Tastes Good to Me”. This one in particular comes from Carolina’s great-aunt Mercedes Camps. The legend goes that she made it for Venezuela’s future president Rómulo Betancourt when he was hiding from political adversaries in her home. It’s impossible not to admire a woman who not only offers refuge to those in need but then throws in dessert. After three weeks, she smuggled out the father of Venezuelan democracy disguised in one of her dresses. Read more

Sep 9

Peruvian Treasure

Since realizing how much we owe to them, I have been looking for anything and everything to do with Peruvian cuisine. With so many ingredients difficult to find, I sometimes have to be content to read the food rather than make it. In Food Fit For The Gods for Saveur magazine, Gabriella de Ferrari describes the way recipes were passed (or not) among family and friends:

When my mother came to Peru, no Peruvian cookbook of any significance existed. Instead, recipes were passed from mother to daughter—or, like beauty secrets, were exchanged cautiously by word of mouth, as symbols of friendship. I remember that one of my classmates got into trouble because she revealed to me her mother’s special method of preparing mazamorra, a dessert made of fruit and purple corn. Read more

Sep 8

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A New Season

I may have waited until the very last weekend of the summer to have my first lobster roll, but now that I had, I wasn’t letting it scuttle away just yet. I decided to try a recipe from the 1930s for Lobster Havanaise, a cross between a Thermidor and Newburg but with rum instead of brandy. The rum is added off heat just before serving so the flavor is very pronounced. I started at Fish Tales in Brooklyn since they’re always helpful and let me take complimentary limes, even on a 1/4 pound of salmon. I almost left empty handed when I realized I would need at least two Maine lobsters to make up for the 2 pounder called for in the recipe. They pointed me instead to the Brazilian rock lobsters right for Caribbean cooking. With no claws, rock lobsters carry all their meat in the tail (no kidding, and I thought the only Cuban element was the rum). Though they’re not as sweet as the Maine variety, they’re in season from the end of the summer through winter, so they’re is plenty of time to play with. Read more

Sep 5

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Summer Break

Maybe it’s because of the “what I did on my summer vacation” essays, but summer always feels like a project. You’re given 2-3 months to put together a set piece for future memories and expectations are high. Even as an adult, fall blends into winter which blends into spring, but summer stands apart. It’s hard not to spend Labor day weekend thinking about what I did or didn’t get to do. It also marks my 100th post since I started writing this blog, though some days, I’ve felt like it’s been writing me. Still, I love where it’s taken me, and I’m still hungry for more. I wanted to end the season with fresh cava sorbet, a mix of Spanish sparkling wine, strawberries and oranges. It seemed like the right palate cleanser to catch my breath, send off summer and start making plans for fall. Read more

Sep 3

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Fritas

With a long weekend ahead and no barbecues in site, I’ve been thinking about fritas. A Cuban-style hamburger with more spice than size, it’s pan-fried and topped with crispy shoestring fries. Miami even has it’s own Rey de las Fritas challenging Ronald, Wendy and the Hamburgler for drive-thru supremacy. It was my favorite after the beach snack growing up, and I made my first batch last night. The only missing ingredients to make it a perfect burger madeleine were 1970s strength sun tan oil and sand. Read more

Sep 1

Corn at Last

I’ve wanted to try this corn tart recipe from Lourdes Castro’s Simply Mexican for weeks. Unfortunately, I’d only remember this when I’d just left the market cornless, mid-pool at the gym, or ten minutes before I fell asleep. With summer winding down, I realized it was now or never if I wanted to take advantage of the piles fresh summer corn that were getting smaller each week. Similar to a soufflé but less temperamental, I had it with the achiote chicken roasted in banana leaves. Having read it cover to cover, I should have known the tart would be easy to make. A straightforward collection of recipes, it’s a great introduction to cooking Mexican at home. Read more

Aug 29

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Pan y Chocolate

Since August has been more hectic than I’d planned, I’ve been enjoying my own kitchen vacation this week. With family visiting, I’ve avoided my usual pitfall of putting together an over ambitious meal with only a 50/50 chance of success. This morning I kept it simple. I found a Catalan recipe in Anya Von Bremzen’s The New Spanish Table for toast with chocolate and olive oil. Just a baguette brushed with olive oil then toasted or broiled for a couple of minutes till golden, covered with melted dark chocolate then sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. With only a few basic ingredients, I can dwell on which chocolate to use or whether my olive oil is sufficiently “fruity”. An easy lesson learned, and something to remember the next time I’m elbow deep in the kitchen. Read more

Aug 28

Universo Venezuela

I was happy to hear that Miss Venezuela had won the Miss Universe title for a historical second year in a row. Though I don’t follow the pageant and can’t speak for the universe, they do seem to want it more than any other country. I think it was seeing this in the news that reminded me of a Venezuelan restaurant I had wanted to try for a few weeks. When I read in the New York Times about the patacón Maracucho served in El Cocotero, I felt deprived. Having grown up on fried plantains, Read more