Connecting Puerto Rican Roots Through Food

A small community in Hartford, Connecticut has Puerto Rican food that is so authentic it has inspired two new scientific concepts. The similarities between the food in the marketplaces of Hartford and Puerto Rico really highlight the cultural value that the Puerto Rican community puts on its cuisine. Food is a very important element of the Puerto Rican communities identity, and it baffles biologists how the community has recreated the value put on cuisine in a culturally, climatically, and agriculturally different place. Botanists Gregory Anderson and David Taylor decided to analyze the community and its cuisine by measuring the diversity of the crops, the availability of the crops, the amount of market space given to each food, and the amount of money consumers would pay for the item. Over a period of two decades, the Taylor and Andrew patiently analyzed their data. The first scientific concept they discovered was "Culinary Cultural Conservation," and this is the preservation of cuisine over a great distance and time. The second is "Cultural Keystone Food Group," which are food groups that are more important to the cuisine than others.

I am 50% Puerto Rican, and I love Puerto Rican cuisine. When my grandma visits for the holidays, she infuses Puerto Rican flavors and dishes into our meals.  My dad was born in Puerto Rico, and he relocated to the United states at the age of ten. My family and I really got a taste of the Puerto Rican culture when we decided to visit my dad's family in June of 2007. We stayed at my great-great-aunt Titi Fina's house that greatly resembled a cage with its marquesina (covered patio) and burglar bars. Outside the  house was a mango tree that littered the street with its fruit that we snacked on all through our visit. Water was only available at certain times during the day, and the toilet only worked if you dumped a bucket of water into it after you used it. The heat index never seemed to drop below 100 degrees, and yet it was still the best vacation I have ever been on.

We visited Old San Juan and walked through the little shops and on the old cobblestone streets. The food was incredible. The sides of the highways were dotted with food stands selling bacalaito, a fish filled fried dough, alcapurrias, a  fritter dish, and tostones, which are called fried plantains. We visited Café Manolin, located in San Juan, that is so good it attracts locals and tourists alike, and creates many authentic meals like the ones my grandma makes. As a side dish you were offered arroz con habichuelas or arroz con frijoles, which means rice with red beans or black beans. Every morning we visited reposterias, which is Spanish for bakery, to find quesitos and café con leche.

A few of the other highlights of the trip were exploring the breathtaking El Yunque Rainforest, meeting relatives, and swimming in a bioluminescent bay. Visiting Puerto Rico was an amazing experience, and I look forward to visiting again and making new discoveries.

My sister Kate holding a mango.

My sister Julia and me in El Yunque Rainforest.



Metropol, a Cuban and Puerto Rican restaurant

Titi Fina

Bioluminescent Bay

Works Cited

Taylor, David W. "The Human Food Connection: Authentic Puerto Rican Food in Connecticut." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140415181405.htm>.