Sonia’s Favorite Puerto Rican Dish

I was delighted and touched when I read over at La Vida de Daisy Martinez that one of Sonia Sotomayor’s favorite Boricua dishes is Patitas (Trotters) with Garbanzos. It’s funny because in my home, pork and red meat are both barred forever but I dally into my roots once in a while. Very often, it’s for this dish, which I have been begging Mami to make for me for quite a while now. Some of you may find the idea of eating Pig’s feet a bit gross but ‘gross’ things have rarely had any effect on me (or my stomach).

Interestingly enough, I often get random cravings for weird things – out of nowhere, like a pregnant woman, except not pregnant. Today, it was the saltiness of a piece of fried salchichon and crackers, which of course, I just ignored because I don’t know where I would be able to find that in downtown Manhattan. Very often it’s seafood, like Blue Crabs or Mussels, sometimes it’s just a piece of bacon or fresh baked bread other times it’s pasteles or vianda.

Anyhow, my mom hasn’t made Trotters and Garbanzos recently because she likes to buy the pig’s feet straight from the butcher shop and those along with the bakeries have sadly diminished in El Barrio.

If you want to learn how to make this dish and see what Daisy has to say about Sonia, check out Daisy’s blog.

Viva Daisy! Viva Sonia! Y Que Viva Puerto Rico!

*** (My apologies in advance to my Vegan readers – I love animals too! I just can’t help being a carnivore sometimes)

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