{"id":1264,"date":"2009-09-10T18:29:01","date_gmt":"2009-09-10T22:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=1264"},"modified":"2009-09-10T18:29:01","modified_gmt":"2009-09-10T22:29:01","slug":"the-magical-mofongo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=1264","title":{"rendered":"The Magical Mofongo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Readers will remember that last month I had been anticipating trying mofongo<\/a>, which had fallen through but introduced me to Goya Malta. Well folks, this little lady finally got herself some mofongo, and it was magical.<\/p>\n

For those of you unfamiliar with it, mofongo is a popular Caribbean dish. It’s made from frying up plantains, smashing them, and frying them again. Yes, twice fried my friends! Then, while they’re still warm you mash them using a mortar and pestle, incorporating pork fat, broth, and whatever goodies the chef includes. As I was sitting with Jim in the restaurant we heard some loud banging. “That’s our lunch,” I told Jim.<\/p>\n

Jim tried the mofongo de pollo, which is the dish with chicken. It came out as a dense ball surrounded by chunks of chicken and broth. I ordered the mofongo de queso, which is it with cheese. My logic being, fried starch and cheese must be good. I was right. We were given extra broth and homemade hot sauce to go with them.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t tried plantains before, I should explain. Plantains, although looking just like a banana, are actually not very sweet. They are like a dense starchy thing. My dish was chunky, fried, mashed starch, mingling with a salty white cheese, molded into a ball. It was a dish made for having a beer with, so we each had a Presidente, which is the only beer brewed in the Dominican Republic. Since we were eating at a Dominican restaurant, it seemed appropriate. If you like a pilsner, give this one a try if you can find it.<\/p>\n

It was a hearty delicious lunch. I think I summed it up when I told Jim, “Mofongo. It’s flavor may be Dominican, but it sits in your stomach like it’s German.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"