La mejor cocina / The best cuisine : ABOUT CUISINE AND AN EXCELLENT RECIPE

The term cocina in Spanish and French cuisine that was adopted by the English, is very old from the Latin coquina, which in turn comes from conquere finish, which means cook food. This has been used over the years and it seems if the technology does not change things, it will remain for many more. With it we can refer to many things such as:

Place where food is prepared, either at home or in a restaurant.
Machines and apparatus used for sewing food, it can be grilled, fried or boiled them.
The manner in which food is produced in each region or country.

This last issue is that I am referring to, because we can use our sense of taste or palate to categorize.

It's clear that each region, island or country has certain cultural characteristics and among them is precisely the culinary arts or cooking, which many can know these days thanks to different phenomenon such as migration, the Internet and globalization. In countries where there is a high percentage of immigrants know chances are the kitchen of different places, which helps develop our culinary knowledge and better diets. One example is Chinese cuisine. Where there is not Chinatown with Asian food restaurants? They have been the quintessential precursor spreading their kitchen in the world.

What it makes a different food to another? That question has many answers and is given by the following.

The regional weather greatly influences the way each country lives. This causes the food from the land are different. For example in the Tropic fruits are juicier and need more sun and moisture to grow, unlike temperate or cold areas where they are drier or nonexistent. Similarly affects animals that serve as food, depending on temperatures that live in some areas and not in others.

Another important aspect is the roots of each country. As you know the Old continent had its history when the encounter occurs with the New continent. Americans Native Indians cultivated land and used their products for food, but Colonization greatly influenced who we are today and what we eat, just as happened in other continents.

The economic situations of the countries also caused to some extent the modification of eat or cook. In a place with many shortages may not have the quality or variety of tastes in a dish as in a developed country, where food is imported from the rest of the world.

Notwithstanding this, each family has been preparing their own meals throughout history. Those who enjoy elaborate have created their own recipes passed down through generations initially and today thanks to technological development we can take it from the radio, television, internet by some specialists or chef.

It's amazing how many things we can do with the same product or food, but what is the best cuisine? This question is titled our blog I think that can only be answered by each of you. For this we'll let know different recipes, books, web pages and comments cuisines from different places in my writings and you will be able to comment which seems better. I hope that yours roots will not influence your decision when you choose which you like more.

On this day I will make known a recipe very typical of my country. As a Cuban I'm no better start could delight them with Congri recipe, also known in restaurants as Moros y Cristianos by the color of their content. His name appears as the stage of remembrance Muslim power in the Iberian Peninsula and the battles that were alternating power between Muslims and Christians, as they finished the dish you can clearly see the rice and beans separate.

"CONGRI RICE" RECIPE

Ingredients:

Black or red beans cooked, not too soft, with the cooking broth
Rice
1 laurel leaf
1 onion, chopped
1 chopped bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
Black pepper
Ground oregano
Comino
Salt
2 pork chops
2 slices of bacon

Preparation:

Cook beans reserving the broth as much as rice cups you are going to cook.

We fry using chops frying oil (add if necessary) with onion, pepper and garlic. Put the broth with the sauce, laurel leaf, a tablespoon or two of drained beans, cut meat into cubes and salt (for 2 cups of broth and rice, 1/2 tablespoon low) in a heavy-bottomed pot and tape perfectly. As it begins to boil, toss the rice (if you wash, wash just before pouring), cover the pot and lower the heat to low, uncover any way within 20 minutes.

Stir with a fork to check this threshing and perfect, if not, leave semi covered a couple of minutes more. Some fried bacon and then poured on top of the fat; others poured in a dish with the raw bacon for the bacon over distill taste.

Congri usually comes with roast pork, yuca and salad, being the most typical Cuban recipe. In upcoming posts I will write some of these recipes for you to delight eating the typical Cuban food.

AN INTERESTING STORY

About this recipe I have an interesting story to tell. Here it goes.

When my mother was married at 21, she could not cook and she moved in to the capital of the country with my father, away from the family. A few months after they married, my father spoke to my mother to do something good to eat as a congri for lunch because of a visit. In this way she would change every day's recipe, it was white rice. She had never prepared a congri in his life, so she made white rice as always she did and she added beans and species. She really stressed by the mission decided to sleep because she had a headache. When guests left the house, she asks my father, How was the food? Commented that the guests? That's when my father said that everything had been very good but the congri beans a little hard. That does when my mom knew that she needed first beans soften to make a congri before you throw it with rice.

I hope that you are enjoying this real and comic story and you properly prepare congri before delight.

Here are some other interesting recipes :