Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook
Photography: Erika P. Rodriguez, Dan Liberti
Ten Speed Press, 2022
Publisher Description
Over 90 delicious, deeply personal recipes that tell the story of Puerto Rico’s Stateside diaspora from the United States’ first Puerto Rican food columnist, award-winning writer Illyanna Maisonet.
Illyanna Maisonet spent years documenting her family’s Puerto Rican recipes and preserving the island’s disappearing foodways through rigorous, often bilingual research. In Diasporican, she shares over 90 recipes, some of which were passed down from her grandmother and mother—classics such as Tostones, Pernil, and Arroz con Gandules, as well as Pinchos with BBQ Guava Sauce, Rabbit Fricassee with Chayote, and Flan de Queso. In this visual record of Puerto Rican food, ingredients, and techniques, Illyanna traces the island’s flavor traditions to the Taino, Spanish, African, and even United States’ cultures that created it. These dishes, shaped by geography, immigration, and colonization, reflect the ingenuity and diversity of their people. Filled with travel and food photography, Diasporican reveals how food connects us to family, history, conflict, and migration.
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Recipes
Cooking Traditions and Flavors
- Lexicon Recipes
- Achiote Oil
- All-Purpose Sazón
- All-Purpose Adobo
- Illyanna’s Adobo
- Mayoketchup
- Pique
- Sofrito
Frituras
- Bacalaitos
- Empanadilas–Pastelillos
- Papas Rellenas
- Tostones
- Macabeos
- Alcapurrias de Jueyes
- Arañitas de Plátano
- Granitos de Humacao
- Almojábanas
- Guichis
- Arepas de Coco
- Barriguitas de Vieja
Beans, Soups, and Stews
- Nina DeeDee’s Beans
- Puerto Rican Habichuelas
- Mami’s Chicken Soup with Bisquick Dumplings
- A Chicken Curry
- Rabbit Fricassee with Chayote
- Sancocho
- Pastele Stew
- Caldo Santo
Seafood
- Grilled Oysters
- Salmorejo
- Califas Shrimp
- Empanadas de Scallops
- Dungeness Guanimes
- Bacalao Ensalada
- Lobster Sauce with Mofongo
- Ensalada de Pulpo y Camarones
- Chillo Frito
- Halibut with Mojo Isleño
Poultry
- Casa Adel-Inspired Roasted Chicken
- Mojo Braised Chicken
- Chicharron de Pollo
- Mami’s Mushroom Chicken
- Pinchos with Guava BBQ Sauce
- Pavochon
- Thanksgiving Leftovers Pavochon Pasta Bake
Pork
- Jamonilla Guisada
- Nana’s Oven-Barbecued Ribs
- Puerto Rican Laab
- Pernil
- Leftover Pernil Sandwiches
- Leftover Pernil Cheat Chile Verde
- Sandwiches de Mezcla
- Chuletas
- Chuleta Kan-Kan
- Pasteles
- Lechón
Beef
- Picadillo
- Pepper Steak
- Jibarito
- Braised Corned Beef
- Carne Guisada
- Puerto Rican Meat Logs
- Bistec Encebollado
- Piñón
- Spaghetti with Not Fideos
- Sloppy Joes
Rice and Other Grains
- Basic White Rice
- Arroz con Gandules
- Arroz con Jueyes
- Arroz con Longaniza
- Arroz Chino Boricua
- Arroz Mamposteao
- Casabe
- Funche
Salads and Sides
- The Pop-Up Salad
- Tres Hermanas Sauté
- Cauliflower “Arroz” con Gandules
- Guineos en Escabeche
- Maduros
- Viandas
- Mofongo
- Mofongo Dressing with Salami
- Maisonet’s Cornbread and Salami Dressing
Sweets and Drinks
- Persimmon Cookies
- Coconut Soda-Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
- Brazo Gitano with Burge Road Cherry Cream Filling
- Strawberry Shortcakes
- Ron del Barrilito Rum Cake
- Pastelillos de Yellow Peaches
- Quesitos de Queso y Guayaba
- Apple Empanadillas
- Cazuela
- Flan de Queso
- Budin with Walnuts
- Arroz con Dulce
- Mallorcas
- Tembleque
- Coquito
- Mavi and Hibiscus Cooler
- Roasted Piña Colada
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