When one thinks of food in this era of light and healthy eating, the thought of piling into one’s stomach the culinary equivalent of incredibly flavored concrete is never foremost. Salads with dressing on the side, fish steamed with lemon, both typical examples of light and healthy, are the refrain heard at most eating establishments.
However, on the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is a dish that crushes any notion of light and banishes the very thought of healthy. It is concrete, incredibly flavored, richly seasoned, devastatingly addictive.
It is mofongo, a carbohydrate juggernaut of mashed plantains or yucca, fried then mashed and filled with a highly seasoned mixture of fish, shell fish, chicken or beef, and served typically with a side of beans and rice.
The historical streets of San Juan are home to many small restaurants, each claiming to have the best version of mofongo on this vacation island. Tourists, still looking for their “sea legs” after a trip to the rum distilleries that dot the lush green landscape, are met with many an option for their initiation into the gut busting delight
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