Mofongo
Mofongo is a fried plantain-based dish from Puerto Rico. There are also similar dishes, made by boiling (instead of frying) and mashing plantains, known as fufu de plátano in Cuban cuisine and Mangú in the Dominican Republic.[1]
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[edit] Description
Mofongo is generally made from fried green plantains which is mashed together in a pilón (which is a wooden mortar and pestle), with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. It is often filled with vegetables, chicken, crab, shrimp, or beef and is often served with fried meat and chicken broth soup.[1] Mofongo relleno is mofongo stuffed with stewed beef, chicken or seafood, with stewed sauce poured over.
[edit] Origins
Two Dominican cookbook authors, Clara Gonzalez and Ilana Benady, say that mofongo in Dominican cuisine can be traced back to Puerto Rico,[2][3] but scholarship indicates the dish is ultimately of African origin and is a variant of a dish called "fufu," which is made from various starchy vegetables and was introduced to the Caribbean by Africans in the Spanish New World colonies such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. But unlike mofongo, where unripened plantains are fried then mashed, fufu and mangú are made of either green or semi-ripe plantain boiled then mashed.[4]
[edit] Other version
It is also possible to make mofongo with cassava, bread fruit, ripe plantains, or a combination of cassava, green plantains, and ripe plantains called trifongo.
[edit] Mofongo in popular culture
Food Network chef and host Guy Fieri featured mofongo from Benny's Seafood (in Miami, Florida) on one episode of his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. He liked the dish so much that he called it the "best fried thing I ever ate" on an episode of the show The Best Thing I Ever Ate.[5]
In a Season 2 episode of Sanford and Son, Lamont tells his father that he has met their new next-door neighbor, Puerto Rican Julio Fuentes. Lamont tells his father that Fuentes gave him "a dish of some stuff that was terrific", which was mofongo.[6]
In The HBO Series How to Make it in America, Episode 5 of the second season is entitled "Mofongo". In it, the dish is prepared and served by one of the characters.
[edit] Mofongo in music
Ismael Rivera & Rafael Cortijo - Mofongo pelao
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico - El Menu
Celia Cruz & Willie Colón - Pun pun catalu
Hector Lavoe - Hacha y Machete
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Antonio Benítez Rojo; James E. Maraniss (translation) (1996). The repeating : the Caribbean and the postmodern perspective. Duke University Press. p. 97. ISBN 0822318652. http://books.google.com/books?id=yTYWZnlz0akC&pg=PA97&dq=Mofongo+origin&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3&ei=NhTcScS7EYTyzQTujsDeDg.
- ^ Clara R. Gonzalez; , Ilana Benady, Jill Wyatt (2007). Traditional Dominican Cookery. Lulu.com. p. 56. ISBN 9945045016. http://books.google.com/books?id=RzKs7BO5eSwC&pg=PA56&dq=Mofongo+origin&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3&ei=NhTcScS7EYTyzQTujsDeDg.
- ^ http://www.specialtyfood.com/news-trends/featured-articles/foodservice-operations/whats-next-in-latin-american-cuisine/ Ramona Hernandez
- ^ http://www.guije.com/libros/cocina01/platano/fufu.htm
- ^ Video: Guy Fieri on Mofongo on Food Network
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
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