A Taste of Puerto Rico

5/31/2015
A Taste of Puerto Rico
Last night I was invited to a dinner party. Of the attendants, I knew only my husband and one of his coworkers well.  I had met one of the hosts only once before at a pool party. His wife is from Puerto Rico. When we arrived my husband and his coworker promptly went outside by the grill.  I found myself in the kitchen with half a dozen Puerto Ricans.  They were making tostones and beans and rice. I was promptly welcomed as they transitioned from their quick spanish to english to accommodate me. Apparently, tostones are served with everything in Puerto Rico, even spaghetti.  Picking out green plantains is important to keep them saltily instead of the yellow that bring with their color a sweetness. They taught me how to fry the slices briefly to soften the plantains, then smash them with the tostonera (http://www.budgetearth.com/imusa-bamboo-tostonera-review/) before frying them again. When golden fried they were sprinkled with what was explained to me as the hispanic version of an all purpose seasoning. While I was busy learning to make tostones another member of the party was mixing together what they called mayo-ketchup, which was just about what it sounds to be, a mix of mayonnaise, ketchup, fresh garlic and the same all purpose spice. The frying, smashing and re-frying was time consuming. We all stood around talking, me learning all about how they all went to the same engineering college in Puerto Rico. Apparently, companies in the United States recruit about fifty percent of the university's graduates. As the basket slowly filled with tostones, one of the party guests took a tostone and covered it with the sauce.  She was given a hard time in spanish, presumably for taking the first tostone. She laughed and said "It's not for me, its for her!" as she handed me the morsel. It was delicious! In our time together in the kitchen the conversation never lulled. They transitioned seamlessly from spanish to english and back again.  The very sweet host often took time to stop and translate for me. I felt like I had been transported, if only for a short time, to another country. Everyone there was so warm and welcoming. It made me hope and fear for my time in Cambodia. I hoped to meet such kind and warm people and longed for the feeling of being welcomed into a world that is not my own. I worried about being an inconvenience and having to always be translated for. I feared of taking away from their own experience since they were constantly having to concentrate on speaking english or translating for others. I don't want to be a hinderance on my hosts.  Will my contribution be worth their effort?