Cuchifritos refers to various fried foods prepared principally of pork, in Puerto Rican cuisine. They include a variety of dishes including but not limited to morcilla (blood sausage), papas rellenas (fried potato balls stuffed with meat), chicharron (fried pork skin), and various other parts of the pig prepared in different ways. Cuchifritos vendors also typically serve juices and drinks such as passionfruit, pineapple

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...

, and coconut

Coconut

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...

 juice, as well as ajonjolí, a drink made from sesame seeds.

Origin

The term originally referred to small, fried parts of a pig. It derives its name from the word "cuchí" short for "cochino" or pig and "frito" which describes something that is fried. "Cuchifritos" may also be used to refer to restaurants that serve this type of food.

In New York City

In New York City, vendors advertising cuchifritos are particularly notable because they tend to make use of colorful external lighting and big flashy signs that quickly catch the eyes of passersby. These establishments have dotted the Puerto Rican and Dominican areas of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 for the past fifty years, particularly Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights

Washington Heights, Manhattan

Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...

, South Bronx

South Bronx

The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....

, Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, and other primarily Puerto Rican and Dominican neighborhoods.

Dishes

Dishes served in a cuchifrito:

• Alcapurria
  Alcapurria
  Alcapurria is a fritter dish from Puerto Rico, a culinary dish that found its way to the Dominican Republic and Cuba.- Preparation :An alcapurria is made from a doughy mixture of mashed up tubers and root vegetables that grow on the island surrounding a center of heavily seasoned meat...
  
  
• Bacalaíto
  Bacalaíto
  Bacalaítos are salt cod fritters filled with minced cod fish and garnished with cilantro, tomatoes and onions, they are a traditional Puerto Rican snack that typically is eaten with an entire meal. Bacalaítos are served at the beach, cuchifritos, and at festivals...
  
  s - a pancake-like batter containing salted codfish, flour
  Flour
  Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
  
  , water or beer
  Beer
  Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
  
  , sofrito
  Sofrito
  Sofrito is a combination of aromatic ingredients which have been cut in very small pieces, and slowly sauteed or braised in cooking oil for 15-30 minutes....
  
  , spices, and herbs.
• Beef Pattie
  Jamaican patty
  A Jamaican patty is a pastry that contains various fillings and spices baked inside a flaky shell, often tinted golden yellow with an egg yolk mixture or turmeric. It is made like a turnover but is more savory. As its name suggests, it is commonly found in Jamaica, and is also eaten in other areas...
  
   - Puerto Rican beef patties are filled with picadillo
  Picadillo
  Picadillo is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines that is similar to hash...
  
  and cheese.
• Chicharron
  Pork rind
  Pork rind , is the fried or roasted skin of a pig. Frying melts most of the fat from the pork rind...
  
  
• Empanadas - flour or yuca
  Cassava
  Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
  
  dough stuffed with cheese
  Cheese
  Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
  
  , chicken
  Chicken
  The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
  
  , seafood
  Seafood
  Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
  
  , Turkey
  Turkey (bird)
  A turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species...
  
   or picadillo.
• Morcilla
• Relleno de papa
  Papa rellena
  Papas rellenas is a traditional dish in Peruvian cuisines. The earliest appearances in cookbooks are from the late 19th century. It has now spread to other parts of Latin America...
  
  - mashed potatoes stuffed with picadillo or cheese then deep fried.
• Plátano relleno - mashed sweet plantain
  Plantain
  Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
  
  s stuffed with picadillo or cheese then deep fried.
• Pasteles
  Pasteles
  Pasteles are a traditional dish in several Latin American countries. In Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and Panama, it is similar to a tamale. In Central American cuisine, it more closely resembles a British pasty or an Italian calzone.In...
  
  - in a cuchifrito they are done in a traditional manner with green banana
  Banana
  Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
  
   masa
  Masa
  Masa is Spanish for dough. In the Americas it is often short for masa de maíz, a maize dough made from freshly prepared hominy. It is used for making corn tortillas, tamales, pupusas, arepas and many other Latin American dishes. The dried and powdered form is called masa harina, masa de harina,...
  
  and boston butt
  Boston butt
  Boston butt is a cut of pork that comes from the upper part of the shoulder from the front leg and may contain the blade bone. In the US, smoked or barbecued Boston butt is a southern tradition...
  
   filling. There are extra fillings such as raisins, chickpea
  Chickpea
  The chickpea is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae...
  
  s and other meats.

Other uses

In Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, cuchifritos are a typical dish from Castilla-La Mancha,
Castile and León

Castile and León

Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...

 and Extremadura

Extremadura

Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...

. Also called cochifritos, the dish consists of lamb or goat meat cooked and then fried with olive oil

Olive oil

Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...

, garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...

, vinegar

Vinegar

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

, basil

Basil

Basil, or Sweet Basil, is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum , of the family Lamiaceae , sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort in some English-speaking countries....

, rosemary

Rosemary

Rosemary, , is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs, and is one of two species in the genus Rosmarinus...

, bay leaves, and spearmint

Spearmint

Mentha spicata syn. M. cordifolia is a species of mint native to much of Europe and southwest Asia, though its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive early cultivation. It grows in wet soils...

. This rural dish is served hot.

In Media

New World Cuchifritos and cuchifrito establishments have appeared regularly in the Bronx Flavor television series hosted by Baron Ambrosia

Baron ambrosia

Baron Ambrosia is the alter ego of Bronx-based underground filmmaker Justin Fornal. The character is a self-proclaimed "quaffer of culinary consciousness" and travels around New York City, mostly in The Bronx, documenting various ethnic cultures and their indigenous cuisines, represented typically...

. Episodes such as 'Cuchifritos of Love' document the history of the food and its distinct role in Nuyorican cuisine and identity.

External Links

• Traditional recipe of cuchifrito. Take a taste of Extremadura, Spain