hungry sofia

Oct 28

Casquinha de Siri

Looking over Caribbean or Central American recipes, it’s no longer necessary to seek out Latin American markets or bodegas in search of specialty items. Increasingly popular, all grocery stores are now Latin American bodegas (or at least have a booming selection of Goya products). I could also order absolutely anything online but it doesn’t compare to finding it in a newly discovered shop or even better, bringing back a longed for ingredient from a trip. Portuguese and Brazilian recipes pose there own challenges. Too often lumped in with the rest of South America, it’s a combination of indigenous, Portuguese, and African influences whose unique ingredients can put it just out of everyday reach. I can find guajillo chiles or aji amarillo within few blocks of my house but I have yet to come across dendê oil or malagueta peppers by chance, making it that much more exciting to find farina de mandioca on the lower east side. Read more

Oct 25

6 Comments

Back InStyle

While I love having my own site, it makes for a quiet office Christmas party. That’s only one of the reasons I was so excited to be included in InStyle’s list 223 Sites You’ll Love in their current November issue. It was so thrilling to find myself in the company of blogs I follow like Cannelle et Vanille while discovering new ones like Sprouted Kitchen. The list also highlights great resources like ChefShop, The Party Dress, MeriMeri, and ReForm School Rules (the name alone warrants a visit). With so many good shopping and entertaining options it may be my best virtual holiday yet. Read more

Oct 22

5 Comments

Fairy Tale Soup

It was supposed to be a fairy tale. I found a recipe for pumpkin and crab soup that I couldn’t wait to try, a Cinderella pumpkin I couldn’t wait to photograph, and pound of fresh lump crab meat I couldn’t help but splurge on. Using a recipe that seemed pretty straight forward if a little vague, I roasted the pumpkin and scooped out a few cups – careful to leave the shell in tact so it could it be used as a tureen – then pureed it with scallions and coriander. Combining the puree with broth, I added way too much curry (the wooden spoon I used still looks gold plated). I made some adjustments but it only got the soup madder. I was moments away from throwing good crab meat into bad recipe when I decided to give up on it altogether. Read more

Oct 19

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Croquetas with Blue Cheese and Jamón Serrano

When chef Michelle Bernstein described Miami’s lunch counter croquetas as “leaden”, I hated to admit that she was right. Made of pureed ham, chicken, or beef, they’re often left to sit out in glass cases for hours. Even if you’re lucky enough to come across a freshly fried batch, it’s more ham spread than creamy béchamel. On a recent trip home, I had one from an otherwise good bakery filled with a flourescent paste that could not have possibly been found in nature. Sold in large trays for family parties, the tiny versions pack an even weightier punch. Still, I haven’t given up on them yet. Using any excuse to visit the crowded coffee stands and bakeries that dot Miami, they’re usually the first thing I ask for when I land and the last thing I pick up on my way to the departure gate. Read more

Oct 14

7 Comments

Tequila-Cured Salmon Gravlax

A friend from Seattle once described his family’s Christmas tree ritual. Every December, they’d go to the woods, pick a tree, argue a little, cut it down, then bring it home where they’d have hot chocolate together. A lovely story, but so wholesome, it seemed exotic. Told to a bunch of urbanites who believed Christmas trees sprouted up spontaneously from the sidewalks in front of grocery stores once a year, we wanted to know if there was a designated “tree section” of the forest. That’s the way I felt about making my own gravlax which I’d only bought pre-packaged and ready to serve (random connection I know but they’re both related to the Pacific Northwest). I love sushi, ceviche and all things smoked and cured, but when it comes to fish, I relied on chefs and Nova Scotians to tell me when it’s raw and when it’s lunch. This week I found a recipe for tequila-cured salmon topped with mango and lime relish that changed my mind. Read more

Oct 10

5 Comments

Pudín de Manzana

My grandmother used to say that there were always apples in Cuba. I’m not sure what she meant but it was an argument-ender. I thought of her when I came across an old Cuban recipe from the 1930s for apple pudding made with Bacardi rum. Though apples aren’t native to the island, rum most definitely is. I waited a few months to try it because, while we do always have apples in New York, I don’t always want them. Out of season, they’re mostly texture and water. Now that the markets are in full fall swing, I decided it was a good alternative to the pies and tarts I’ll be making once the holidays start. Somewhere between a fallen souffle and bread pudding, I served it with lightly whipped cream though next time I might drizzle it with a caramel or rum sauce (for a little more authenticity). Read more

Oct 5

8 Comments

Empanada Gallega

I could never take food for granted. There’s always something to learn, and I’m constantly surprised. I knew that empanadas were a specialty of Galicia, but I didn’t realize they’d partly originated there. I also didn’t know the “empanadas” I’d grown up with were actually empanidillas, smaller versions of the larger pies that Galician bakers first sold to pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela (a detail that make my history-major-geek heart beat faster). Fortunately, they never stopped moving, spreading across Latin America, baked or fried, in a million different variations. Read more

Oct 1

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Changua

I’ve written a lot about comfort food this past summer. It must be natural when so many things I make are from my childhood and it is a childish season after all. This week I got a take on comfort food I hadn’t considered before. I was talking to one of my oldest friends who’s going through a difficult time. Wanting to make some small gesture of support, I offered to make her something, anything. If she could think of a great dish she had growing up, I’d work out the ingredients and write it up for her. She suggested changua, a milk-onion-egg soup from the central Andes of Colombia. Loved the name, but it didn’t sound very appetizing, especially for breakfast when it’s typically served in Bogotá with a piece of calado or almojábana bread to soak it up. I had images of cracking open coconuts and frying fish but she wanted changua. Milk soup, really? Read more

Sep 30

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Catching Up In September

I considered skipping this month’s September catch-up but didn’t let it go by without letting everyone know what’s been going on. My pan de medianoche was chosen by three guys from Miami as their food photo of the month which is great since they were nice enough to let me use their recipe in the first place. Hungry Sofia was also featured on the Food Network‘s Food2 site with more to come and received a great write-up in Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs’ Food52. Of course, when anything good happens on my site, Steven Shaw, eGullet founder and Director of New Media Studies at The International Culinary Center, is the first person I let know. Read more

Sep 27

9 Comments

Cortado

After a wonderful fall break, I thought it was appropriate to wake up my blog the same way I wake up myself – with a cortadito. Landing in Paris was exhilarating, tinged with pink and capped with gold, the city smells like butter. From the first moment, I wanted to go in twenty directions at once. Exhausted but not wanting to lose the day, we went to the closest cafe for a quick lunch before heading out. Ordering in broken French, our waiter responded in broken Spanish. We weren’t getting very far until he hit on exactly what we were looking for – a cortado. Relieved to be understood, I finally felt awake. Read more