foolano's food blog

it's fitting that my first post is close by, both to my heart and where I live. there's a puerto rican lunch counter on 70th street between 1 st and york avenue in manhattan. it's called espinal's and it's clearly a throwback to an earlier new york, at 4 to 8 bucks per plate the prices aren't bad either. especially recommended are the pollo fricasse (stewed chicken), and the bistec encebollado (steak and onions). for the uninitiated, puerto rican food is simple and earthy, meat and potatoes (or actually plaintains which look more like big bananas but taste like potatoes).

here are some pics of their pescado en salsa (fish in sauce) ordered with arroz amarillo (yellow rice) and maduros (riped plaintains). i'm not sure what kind, probably kingfish. due to spanish colonial heritage and a deep-seated collective fear of endemic fish poisoning known as ciguatera, the seafood options are largely limited to imported north atlantic commercial fish like bacalao (cod) or kingfish (some kind of mackarel) with the occasional snapper or shark; a shame since I've dived in carribean waters and have seen the myriad of colorful species of fish, most of which are shunned as table food except by the most intrepid of old timer subsistence fishermen.
on another visit I got the bistec encebollado (beef steak with onions):