Take A Tasting Tour Of Latin America This Thanksgiving With This Curated Menu
Thanksgiving is right around the corner so we should be getting all of those Thanksgiving menus ready. We all know the usual playbook but why not do something a little different this year and make Thanksgiving everything you want. After all, Covid already changed everything so take a tour through Latin America with these dishes to replace your Thanksgiving menu.
Enjoy some pernil as your centerpiece protein.
Pernil is a classic dish that can change any Thanksgiving. The Puerto Rican pernil is our recommendation. The juicy meat combined with the crunchy skin will drive your senses wild. Make sure you leave a lot of time for this recipe as you will spend about three days if you really want a delicious and flavor pernil. Don’t worry. It is not a hard recipe, just time-consuming but so worth every minute.
A chile relleno casserole will be the talk of the town.
Chiles rellenos are everything and in casserole form they are somehow elevated. These chile relleno casseroles are guaranteed to pack a punch in the best way possible. Imagine a regular chile relleno and then turn that into layers of cheese and chiles that gets better with every bite.
Yuca frita is the perfect starch to mingle into your menu.
Yuca frita is one of the best starch dishes you can eat. It is very important that you remember to boil the yuca before you fry it. Frying yuca without boiling it will not work. Trust us from personal experience. You also need to make sure you remove the fibrous core. Yuca takes a little extra work but it is such wonderful food.
No menu is complete without rice so try out this congri recipe.
Congri is one of Cuba’s many culinary gifts to the world. The mix of the rice and beans create a unique texture to the dish that can be found in different ways around Latin America. Be warned that seasoning your beans to abuela-level is elusive. It is hard to match abuela’s skills that she spent years perfecting. However, it never hurts to try.
Your stomachs will thank you for some pão de queijo.
Pão de queijo is a Brazilian cheese bread and will make dinner rolls seem so obsolete. The bread is light and airy and is a perfect vessel to transport cheese to your mouth. The texture will excite you, especially if you have never had this bread before. There’s a reason these are world-famous.
Don’t forget the arroz con leche for dessert.
Iconic. Show stopping. Important. Arroz con leche is the most recognizable, and beloved, dessert of Latin America. Every country has a way to make it and you can’t really go wrong. Give it a shot if you’ve never had it. It will change your life.
