Category Archives: Travel Guide

IxaRiveraCooks: Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

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I think my parents are trying to drive me crazy.  You don’t send people pictures of you wearing shorts and hanging out in beautiful places in the middle of winter…..not cool.   Can’t wait to go visit!.  Anyway, here is my mom.

“Today Dad and decided to take a short trip to the next town over to La Parguera.  The name of the town is Cabo Rojo.  Beautiful little town on the southwest of the island.  Cabo Rojo is well know for the beautiful beaches, lighthouse, seafood, etc., etc., etc.


We first stopped at the lighthouse.  What a beautiful place and what a view of the ocean.  The lighthouse is beautiful inside and it is very well kept.

Then we headed down town to have something to eat and drink. We had some delicious lobster empanadillas, shark skewers and some medallas.  What at nice day.

It was the first trip for Martita Chin in the open public and she was very good.  She went with us every place in her carrier and she didn’t complain not even once.  She loved the smell of the food and was enjoying it.  No table food for Martita Chin.  We had a great day enjoying our island treasures and now we are all tired and watching super bowl.  Oh, I forgot, yesterday I went on my first lesson of standup boarding.  I LOVE IT.  Few falls, but overall I was good.  The best part is that the lessons are free for me.  I won’t tell you the secret.  Wonderful weekend.


Eric I took some pictures of the food and also the stand where you can buy a dozen of fresh raw oysters for $5.50.  The guy will provide lemons, ketchup and hot sauce.  Cabo Rojo is well know for that.  One good thing is that the guy will open the oysters for you and you just have to enjoy the rest.  Yum!!!  Oh, I forgot.  Look at the chupa cabra drinking medalla.

LYA,

Mom

Ixa

Eric’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Next Time!

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Mindy and I in front of the Serralles Mansion in Ponce, Puerto Rico

My Puerto Rico Travel Guide isn’t finished! There are still places to go that we didn’t have a chance to visit so we will be going back as many times as we can of course. My parents live there, so there’s reason #1! Reason #2, it’s awesome there and we didn’t even get a chance to taste a lot of fruits that are in season around July and August.

Where will we visit next time?

Vieques (where the best beaches are), El Yunque (the rainforest),  a few Lechonera’s (they’re open during the weekends only and we didn’t have time to visit them….that’s where they cook a whole pig, the best pork in the world…..no doubt about it).  So yeah, it’s already planned in my head, we just have to get there! You should go there too, soon!

Stats for the trip:

5 days, 4 nights, 910 pictures taken (with 55 lost to a backup error), lots of food eaten, lots of drinks, and lots of fun with Mom, Dad, and Grandma.

If you would like to see my other sections for this incomplete travel guide then just scroll over to the right and find the word Puerto Rico or Travel Guide in the Category section.

Eric

Eric’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Grocery Stores!

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I’m probably one of the only people that gets off a plane and the first things I want to do is go to a grocery store. I know, it’s weird but there are so many different things in Puerto Rican grocery stores that I don’t have access to here in the states.

Like what?!?!?!??!

Oh, I don’t know…..how about different types of peppers for making Sofrito, recao leaf (coriander leaf), pre-marinaded Pernil (slow cooked pork), different varieties of baccalao (dried cod fish), herb and spice stands, and fresh bread next to the check out stands. Did I mention that rum is about $5.99 for a fifth and is sold in the grocery stores?  Did you hear that Washington State, not $19.99 for a fifth………$5.99…..Oh crap, I complained, time for a new tax on liquor!

Which grocery stores should you shop at?

Ponce Cash and Carry and Mr. Special….that’s it. Don’t waste your time anywhere else. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there then go to the street vendors, roadside vendors, and markets. ta-da!

What did I buy there? Spices of course! A big bag of Annatto Seed, some flank steak for the Churrasco I made and a few other necessities.

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: San Juan

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If you have been to Puerto Rico then you have probably visited San Juan. This is the capital of Puerto Rico and it is where the highest concentration of the population of Puerto Rico lives. It’s a very busy city that balances the business class of Puerto Rico along with the major amount of tourists that pass through the streets. This is where the cruise ships and main airport are so of course, this is where you go first! But, this is where we went last on our trip to Puerto Rico.

Save the best for last? Not really. If you truly want to go on a vacation to Puerto Rico then visit the other places I have already suggested (ER’s PR Travel Guide). We had about four hours to kill before our plane left so we dashed around San Juan like a Tommy Bahama wearing flip-flop running too much sun tourists.

Go to El Morro first and visit the fort that was built in 1539 in order to protect Puerto Rico from just about everyone until the U.S. came around in 1898 and said, “enough, these Puerto Ricans are ours” (ok, they didn’t say that). We spent about 35-40 minutes there, I’ve been there a few times before so between my dad, me, my mom, and a few pamphlets, Mindy had a good idea of what was going on there.

Next, we went straight into Old San Juan. Old San Juan is the historic district of San Juan. There you will find blue cobblestone roads, colorful buildings, and a lot of restaurants catering to the tourist industry. Margaritas, Tacos, and Burger King are not Puerto Rican food….sorry to disappoint you. If you want to eat like the working Puerto Ricans eat then go to Cafe Manolin, by far it’s the best restaurant in Old San Juan…..no bullshit, no frills or gimmicks, just great food. The place has been there for 75 years and has been serving the same style of food for that entire time.

This is where you can buy all your awesome souvenirs that will take up space on your refrigerator, boxes in your closet, and become future shirts you wear when you do yard work. Oh, how fun!

I’m serious, save San Juan for last and get to the other part of the island first in order to experience what Puerto Rico is and isn’t.

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Cannons

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I was on lookout duty and at approximately 13:34 hours I noticed a large ship moving across neutral waters, a cruise ship full of tourists that love to order Corona, wear stupid tropical shirts, and ask if they could get a tortilla with their food. I ran up the triangle staircase to move myself into position on the artillery deck. There it was, 11 stories of culture ruiners waving back at me and smiling. I couldn’t take it anymore so I manned the main cannon and the first shot sank them, must have been the excessive weight on board.

Music to listen to while shooting a cannon:

Click
Click Part 2 Play louder!!!! Loved being a trumpet player
Click
Click
Click

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Ponce

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It has recently been said that Ponce is the only city in Puerto Rico and the rest is just parking space. I couldn’t agree more! If it wasn’t for the city of Ponce then I wouldn’t be here today because that’s where my parents met in college. I spent many summers in Ponce as a little kid so it was a little amusing to watch my dad get lost in the streets and I knew exactly where we were headed the entire time because of car trips with my grandpa.

While we were in Ponce we visited the Serralles Mansion. This was the family mansion for the people that created Don Q rum. They pretty much owned the entire city of Ponce at one time  and as they grew they sold off a lot of their land for the city to develop into what you see today. We didn’t go on the tour of the mansion because I have been on it a few times and I could pretty much give you the story of the Serralles family in my sleep. I recommend taking the tour because it really does show you that you’re in the wrong business……you should start a rum company! :)

In the same area you can visit take an elevator ride on a gigantic cross that will give you an amazing scenic view of Ponce. If you make your way up the parking lot then you will visit a very nice Japanese garden, it’s not something you would expect in Puerto Rico but it fits! One of my favorite trees is the Flamboyan, they have a bonzai version of this tree that is worth the trip.

Making our way to the town square we took a few pictures in front of the Parque de Bombas or the Firehouse. The firehouse has been kept in immaculate shape with it’s original colors, black and red, since 1883. In the same townsquare the are many sculptures, fountains, and colorful buildings that will make you feel like you’re in a time machine. You will truly feel like you are seeing Ponce the way it was 100+ years ago. I took a bunch of pictures of the cathedral that my grandparents were married as you can see.

The night we were there the town was having a festival of dance showcasing the national dance of Puerto Rico, La Danza. It’s almost like a waltz with a quick step mixed in. One of the dancers pulled my mom in and danced with her. It was fantastic to see because you can really tell that everyone in the city embraces the culture of Puerto Rico at all times. I can’t think of the last time I saw that in Seattle on a Tuesday night.

Oh, did I forget to talk about food? The first place you should go to in Ponce to eat is Pito’s Seafood. We named our 13 year old chihuahua after that place so it’s easy to see that’s one of our favorites. They specialize in local caught fish while giving you traditional Puerto Rican favorites meals. Next, visit Cabuqui. Their food is Puerto Rican Food 2.0. They take the traditional and add a touch of modern cuisine. Try the pork tenderloin, it’s amazing.

Go to Ponce!! Go to Puerto Rico!!

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: La Parguera

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This was my first visit to La Parguera. My parents bought a little townhouse there for the weekends and they freely admit that this was the best purchase they ever made. If you are looking to get away from the tourists in San Juan, the congested Ponce, and the always busy Mayaguez then this is the place where you might spend your entire vacation.

La Parguera is a sleepy little fisherman’s town on the southwestern part of the island which is about 45 minutes from the much larger Ponce. When we drove into town my parents stopped at a look-out point so we could check out the entire view. A few boats, kayaks, and not much else….my kind of place.

When I got off the plane one of the first things I wanted was an empanada, my dad told me to wait until we got to La Parguera and, wow, was he ever right. Blue crab stuffed empanada found at La Tarraya. The place is only open from Thursday through Sunday and is run by two elderly women. If one of them can’t work for some reason then they just close down for the day. You order and wait for a little bit but the wait is totally worth it. Best empanada on the planet. What makes it the best? I’ve been eating these for 27 years and even make my own, I need to go back to the drawing table because of this.

Do you like to swim in the ocean at night while the water glows around you? Well if you do then La Parguera is the place to go! Glowing what? Eric, what the hell are you talking about? Vieques is the tourist destination for swimming in the biolumescent bay (click here) but La Parguera does this on a much smaller scale (I’m giving you the insider scoop here so listen up).  At night, especially really dark overcast nights with no moon in sight, a little phenomenon happens in the water near La Parguera and in Vieques. There are little micro-organisms in the water that glow bright blue when they are agitated. I jumped in the water and I was swimming around and with each stroke I took the dark water would glow blue and green, it was amazing. It’s something that my dad has told me about and he said he hasn’t gone there in over 33 years so it was awesome to jump in and do something like that with my dad.

What else can you do in La Parguera? Relax………….. There is no time there, just treat it like you’re on a deserted island on the island. You can rent a kayak and just float around all day or you can just eat the catch of the day from the local fishermen or you can get a nice book or take 250 pictures and think about your blog and culinary school. Whatever floats your boat!

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Drinks

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(Click each picture to make it larger, the clear bottle with the floating stuff in it is the devil, moonshine)

RUM:

You’ve heard it a thousand times by the various marketing agencies that tell you that the best rums come from Puerto Rico, they’re right. You believe that Bacardi is the best and Captain Morgan is another great rum brought to you by the great rum distributors or Puerto Rico. You are wrong. The best and most consumed rum in Puerto Rico is Don Q, by the Serralles Family in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

This was my first time visiting Puerto Rico being a legal drinker (legal age is 18, by the way), and I made a tourist mistake my first night out with my parents. “Oh, I’ll have the captain and coke please”. Immediately, the waiter looked at me like a Gringo and treated me a little different. It’s not a rude thing, it’s more of something like, “damn, we thought you were one of us”.

What to order? Don Q on the rocks or with a coke. They’ll ask you, “white or gold”? I’m allergic to white rum and coke so I always stick to gold and coke. You can’t really taste a difference unless you’re going to drink them straight then at that point you’re just getting snobby if you can tell a difference so just stop treating it like a wine tasting and just drink and relax.

My new favorite? Fresh cut coconut with a little Don Q gold poured in.

SANGRIA:

Go to the local bakeries, Panaderias, and you will find a few different styles of Sangria, bottled and ready to be consumed immediately. This system works like the pique (hot sauce) because from town to town or bakery to bakery you will find a different vendor pushing their product. It’s pretty good stuff but I’d suggest keeping it to the basics of rum and beer. This is another way of me saying, my recipe is better (click).

BEER:

Yes, Puerto Rico makes fantastic beer. Say it with me now, Me-DA-YA or Medalla for you spanish speakers. What makes this beer good? It’s local, inexpensive, and will make you look like “one of them” when you ask for it. You’ll get the instant nod of approval from the locals when you order one. Go ahead, be the dumb ass  Tommy Bahama shirt, sandals with socks, red burned faced tourist that orders a Corona just because you think Puerto Rico is Mexico and see how things will shut down around you. When you’re visiting somewhere, do as the locals do. I’m helping you out here! Medalla all the way, it’s a damn good beer and it won’t hurt your pocket like one of those fine microbrews   that will be there when you get back from vacation (mmmmm Mac and Jack).

NON-ALCOHOLIC (If you must):

Malta India. This is a malt drink made by the people who make Medalla. When they’re not busy cranking out their beer they use the same center to make this malt drink. I’m not a big fan of this stuff because it’s really syrupy tasting and non-carbonated. It’s a sensation on the island though, lots of people who grew up drinking this stuff as little kids love this and don’t get the wrong impression here, I’m just a carbonated beverage freak.

Don’t drink water. Not because the water quality is bad for you, just because there is a bottled water called, Cristal, that is so good and made by the same people that make Don Q Rum. Just be sure to drink lots of water, becoming dehydrated is something that can happen very easily because the temperature is so humid and you’ll be sweating constantly.  DRINK MORE, even if it isn’t water :)

DON’T:

Think that Puerto Rico is all about Pina Coladas. Yes, it was invented there and you can find a few places that will make a fine Pina Colada for you, but don’t be fooled, this drink is a tourist trap. It’s meant to make you pay $7-10 per drink in order for you to feel like you’re doing as the locals do. Leave the fancy umbrellas and huge serving glasses for your next cruise vacation.

Want to do as the locals do? Find some Pitorro a.k.a. Moonshine. Buried in the ground and made a billion different ways, this stuff will send you into a coma if you’re not too careful. I placed this in the don’t section because this is something the locals will offer you the first day you come to visit, they’ll even flavor it with coconut to take the edge off (oh, how nice of them) but this will sneak up on you faster than a camouflaged ninja cheetah. Drink a cap full of this stuff and you’ll be good to go. Get into a macho cool guy tournament then you’ll end up like a certain person I need not mention (who could that be????).

As always please be careful while you drink.

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Enjoy,

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Restaurants

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Restaurants in Puerto Rico:

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You’ll never see me review a restaurant on this blog. It’s just something that I will never do. I ate at some great restaurants while I was in Puerto Rico. None of them were expensive and none of them served hamburgers on their menu. My advice for eating restaurant food in Puerto Rico is, if you see a lot of locals eating there then go in, if there are a lot of people who look like they’re lost (tourists), inside the restaurant, then stay away.

I recommend (just from this trip):

Pito’s Seafood in Ponce, Puerto Rico.   We named our 13 year old chihuahua after this place so it’s my first recommendation. NO PICTURE FOR THIS ONE

Cabuqui in Ponce, Puerto Rico. New meets old in Puerto Rican cuisine

Cafe Manolin in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.   This is where the locals eat lunch in the busy city, it’s been there for 75 years so you can’t go wrong there. Traditional food, inexpensive, and you’ll hear great stories.

La Tarraya in La Parguera, Puerto Rico. Blue shell crab empanada, enough said.

King’s Cream Helados in Ponce, Puerto Rico. 12 different flavors of ice cream with natural ingredients such as, coconut, mango, rice, and almond. Definitely a must.

Notice a trend here? Spend a small amount of time in San Juan, it’s like flypaper for tourists.

There are a lot of other places you can find food that aren’t clearly marked. Like I said before, Panaderias serve food and you’ll find a few scattered home/restaurants. Street food and roadside highway food are also worth a try….however, if the stand or roadside food place looks empty then stay away, that is usually a sign that the locals won’t even eat there.

Side note: Don’t expect your food to get to you fast, anywhere. In Puerto Rico good food takes time and if you’re in a huge rush there is a Burger King on basically every corner so you can always go there if you’re in that much of a rush. Relax, have a Medalla or two, and listen to the fantastic music playing in the background.

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Panaderia (Bakery)

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Panaderia (bakery), the start, middle, and end of everyday in Puerto Rico.

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Panaderia (bakery), the start, middle, and end of everyday in Puerto Rico.

I used to spend my summers in Puerto Rico when I was a little kid. School was out and my parents gave me the choice of staying home in Washington to wait for the two nice weeks of weather or I could go stay with my grandparents in Puerto Rico and enjoy an actual summer…….wow, ummmmm…..I’ll uh….when does school end and when does the flight leave?!?!!??

My grandparents would pick up my sister and I from the airport and on the hour long drive from the San Juan airport to Ponce we would stop halfway to eat at any Panaderia. If we came in the morning then we would eat pastries, a cup of coffee and some orange juice (Yes, I’ve been drinking coffee since I was about 5 years old. None of that mocha latte choco crazy stuff, just a simple espresso or plain drip coffee……black, no sugar….just like my soul).  Come in around lunch time then it’s a steak sandwich with cheese and french bread with a little mayo and lettuce and some coffee. Later in the night? Go stop at anyone’s house and they will have fresh bread that was made at 3:00PM, ready for you to eat with a little butter along with dinner.  When my parents moved back to Puerto Rico a year or so ago they came in around 3AM, my mom’s old neighbor when she was growing up had dinner, bread, and some coffee ready for them. This wasn’t a nuisance at all, I was just over there two days ago and she had a four course meal ready for us at 1PM served with bread we purchased, it’s the way things go in Puerto Rico……….it’s all about food and it starts and ends in the Panaderia.

What to buy?

Try it all, I’m serious, don’t be the fool that thinks the Hotel has the best restaurants or the heavily marketed restaurants have the taste of Puerto Rico nailed. There is so much stuff there that it will boggle your mind. Pastries, orange juice, coffee, bread, rice and beans, breakfast, lunch, and even a light dinner.  Everything you see there is made fresh, daily!! The bread is made once in the morning at 6AM and again at 3PM. Can’t make it to the Panaderia? A few grocery stores have convenient bread warmers next to the check-out stand with local bread from the neighborhood Panaderia.

If you are visiting someone in Puerto Rico then make sure you stop by the Panaderia and pick up three things, bread, a few pastries, and some Medalla.

Which pastries do I like the most?

Mallorca, Merengue, and Pastelle de Guayaba. These are three pastries that you can find in any Panaderia that is worth a damn. The mallorca is my favorite by far. It’s sugar sweet bread with lightly caramelized top finished with powdered sugar, diabetics need not apply. The merengue is another sugary treat that is  whipped up egg whites and a ton of sugar, get these fresh in the morning and you will have a nice crusty outside with a gooey egg white and sugar inside similar to a Cadbury egg. The pastelle de Guayaba is my dad’s favorite. I get a kick out of watching him eat one of those things because my mom gets so pissed that he leaves powdered sugar everywhere and his face looks like someone threw a snowball at him once he’s done. The guava filling is amazing and should be bottled so I can drink it straight.

These are my three go to pastries but like I said, there are others and you should find your own. When you go to the store to order them they are not marked, so just point at a few that look good and go from there. Don’t like one? Oh well, you’re out a dollar and there are many others to choose from. Buy 4-6 different kinds at a time when you go. Buy 1 and you’re wasting your time and the person behind the counter’s time if they’re busy.

Click here for my Merengue recipe
Click here for my Pastele de guayaba recipe

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric

Eric Rivera’s Puerto Rico Travel Guide: Pique (hot sauce)

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Pique (hot sauce)

While I was in Puerto Rico I was amazed at the different varieties of hot sauce available for the taking. Every restaurant, food vendor, and/or home we visited had their own style of hot sauce. Think Tabasco sauce is the end all says all hot sauce, then you’re in the wrong place. Are you the type of person that thinks hot sauce ruins food by taking away the taste of what you’re eating, again, you’re in the wrong place.

Hot sauce in Puerto Rico isn’t something that is traditional to every meal but it is something that is gaining a place as a staple in every day food conquests. With all the varieties available you can really get a taste of the island. Like I said, there are many varieties. I don’t think we went to a restaurant that had the same hot sauce as another restaurant, this is a little frustrating when you actually want to purchase some of the hot sauce. The response I would get over and over is, “there is a phone number on the bottle or e-mail and you can just call them.” I would ask, “do they carry this in the grocery store?”, and before I would finish that sentence I would get a grin and the word, “no”. It seemed to me that every restaurant would seek out their favorite pique in order to bring out the taste of their food and the harder to actually obtain the pique was the more likely you would come back to that restaurant to have their pique/food combinations.

I tried a few different kinds,  BOHIO, Steven’s Cuisine Hot Sauce, Pique Criollo (jalapeno and lemon), one at Cafe Manolin that I forgot to take a picture of, another one at Cabuqui that wasn’t bottled (it might have been their own, and finally my own pique made from ingredients located in my parents backyard. Some are sweet, some are insanely spicy, some just work as a nice vinaigrette, and some will make you drink it straight (I’m looking at you Steven’s Cuisine).

Are there more? Oh, you bet your ass off. The brilliant part of this whole pique market is that  you will probably never be able to taste them all. Your friend Carlos knows this guy that has his own pique mixture that is the best in Ponce, but he’s out of town right now so you won’t be able to taste it.

What makes each pique different? The ingredients of course! Some will use local ingredients, some won’t. Others will use preservatives, others don’t have easy access to or won’t even think about deviating from a family recipe passed down through generations. Cayenne, Recao, Aji Dulce, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Black Pepper, Culantro, Cilantro, Lemon, Water, Vinegar, Paste, Sliced, Ground, Whole, left in the sun to get better, buried in the ground to get a little more kick, you name it…..it’s all a work in progress and if something gives you a little different taste then it’s all worth it. That’s what I love, there isn’t a Pique Police that is going around telling someone that their Pique doesn’t meet a certain standard set forth by some delirious foodie that doesn’t even know how to boil water. It’s all about the people, let the people decide what is good and what isn’t, and even if it isn’t good then you can just try a different kind out of the possibly thousands of different Piques.

Honestly, I could make an entire blog about the different varieties of piques and not even begin to scratch the surface. What’s the point of even talking about it? My point, go try it for yourself. Go to Puerto Rico. NOW!

(Click here for my pique recipe)

(Click here for more of my Puerto Rico Travel Guide)

Eric