Gastronomic History

CRIOLLO COOKING FOR THE AGES

 Photograph by Bill Gelabert

JUST in time for Mother's Day, a gorgeous table top book that honors women in the kitchen (plus a few men, too) and the glory of traditional Puerto Rican cuisine is out in print: "Sofrito The Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine," by Blanche and William Gelabert. 

IT is clearly a product of love. And while its reason for being is to celebrate Puerto Rico's "soul food" in its many manifestations, this 185-page, full-color tome is also a paean to Puerto Rico, its landscape, its people. Its pages are chock full of fascinating facts like the clever ways used by the Taino Indians in hunting for fish (amazingly, they used trained sucker-fish to capture other fish) and the curious life of the Ceti, a fish with parallels to salmon.

THE book combines easy-to -follow recipes and plenty of lovely

pictures of foods and places around the island. Some of the recipes are hand-me-downs from Blanche's mother-in-law while others, including recipes no longer part of the day-to-day culinary lexicon, were culled from old timers that the couple met during their travels around Puerto Rico. One encounter led to another: each person they met would refer them to someone else who they absolutely must visit in order to learn some terrific recipe. These special recipes came, from among others, Aida Olga Genoveva Cummings de Florit, who shared her grandfather's recipe for Pan de Mallorca (sweet yeast bread) while Melquiades Nieves contributed his favorite recipe for Empanadas de Ceti (a small fish) and the daughter of Maria de Mari de Burset shared her mom's Ponque Divino recipe.

FIFTEEN years in the making, "The Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine" summons up the diversity of the island's gastronomic heritage for the benefit of master or novice cooks, a culinary inheritance made all the richer by the contribution of different cultures: Taino, European, and African. Blanche is quite familiar with island fare having learned to cook the Puerto Rican way from her husband's mother, Doña Maria Gelabert. She and her husband met as teen-agers living in New York. Doña Gelabert "loved to spend hours on end in her kitchen preparing comida criolla and it was always a joyous occasion for me to visit her and learn about native island cuisine," Blanche writes in the preface. Preserving this trove of culinary history is important because, as Blanche points out, today's generation "has lost the art of original Puerto Rican cooking…Everything is frozen food." 

PULLING the book together is the vivid photography of William Gelabert. His still life pictures of food and table settings are sure to steer you to the kitchen to recreate the delicacies that his wife Blanche explains with such ease and clarity (the large type in the book is a plus for those with less than 20-20 vision!). Interspersed throughout are views of the Puerto Rican rural and urban landscape, images that focus on the island's idealized beauty.

"THE Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine" follows in the footsteps of the couple's earlier "The Spirit of Puerto Rican Rum", a book devoted to rum-infused recipes. Though the rum book was a success, the Gelaberts did not make plans to work on another book. In fact, for almost a decade they pursued a dream of establishing a bed and breakfast in their magnificent colonial house in old San Juan, an endeavor that, Blanche recalls, "took a lot of stress, money and legal battles" against opponents of the project. Eventually, they gave up on the plan in order to concentrate on their long-running business, a tourist publication titled "San Juan Guide," and to assemble all the recipes left out from the previous project plus information collected through the years into a second book. 

ITS publication is a bittersweet moment. Bill Gelabert died two years ago from cancer. For Blanche, the book encapsulates the lifework of her husband, a professional photographer who specialized in commercial food photography. During his illness, Gelabert worried about what would happen to his work and this concern pushed Blanche to bring the book to fruition with the help of several friends. "Bill was shooting photos till the end. That was his passion and therapy," she said. Ultimately, "this is a tribute to his work and to Puerto Rico."

"THE Essence of Puerto Rican Cuisine," priced at $55, is available at Borders in Plaza Las Americas and these stores in old San Juan: Spicy Caribbee, Butterfly People, The Poets Passage, Concalma, Puerto Rico Arts & Crafts. Written commentaries in the book are by Ellen Hawes, Lisa M. Gelabert-Rivera, and Della Smith. The attractive book design is by John Rivera.

Date to keep in mind: MAY 29, 2012

Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of cast off ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT... That's the invitation issued by The Colegio de Contadores Autorizados de Puerto Rico to everyone with retired electronic equipment lying around the house. You can drop off the equipment 

TOMORROW FRIDAY at the atrium of the Capital Center building on Hostos Ave. in Hato Rey from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Depending on the item, you will have to pay a fee ranging from $1 for mouses, keyboards and speakers to $20 for servers and rear-projection TVs. For a list of items accepted and corresponding fees check www.colegiocpa.com

Photograph by Rafvs Franco-Steeves

For each ecstatic instant/ we must an anguish pay/

in keen and quivering ratio/ to the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour/sharp pittances of years/

bitter contested farthings/ And coffers heaped with tears. --Emily Dickinson

NEW YORK FINDS:

Greenwich Village, at one time a magnet for bohemians, revolutionaries and the literati, is now, instead, a draw for the fashion set thanks to chi-chi boutiques by the likes of Mark Jacobs, Burberry, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, and Michael Kors. And tourists, of course. Still, to walk along its quiet, tree-lined streets flanked by townhouses and other admirable brick buildings is one of the most enjoyable delights when visiting Manhattan. And if you love cheese, one stop-over you will want to make is Murray's Cheese at #254 Bleeker Street. It used to operate out of a smaller corner store right in front of its present location but the new digs have allowed it to expand into other food categories. Still, the "piece de resistance" here is clearly cheese from all parts of the globe and at prices spanning affordable to ritzy. Check it out and when you leave, stop next door at the delightful Amy's Bread for a bit of refreshment. The breads are divine!

Copyright 2011© Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved