Los Angeles Hispanic Restaurants

Barbacoa originates in Mexico and generally refers to meats or a whole sheep slow-cooked over an open fire, or more traditionally, in a hole dug in the ground covered with maguey leaves, although the interpretation is loose, and in the present day and in some cases may refer to meat steamed until tender.

Barbacoa de cabeza is a specialty of slow cooked cow head that arose in the ranching lands of northern Mexico after the Spanish conquest. Except for cochinita pibil, one of the common characteristics of Mexican barbacoa is that marinades are not used and sauces are not applied until the meat is fully cooked. Pork cooked in this manner is generally referred to as carnitas rather than barbacoa.

Throughout Mexico, from pre-Mexican times to the present, barbacoa (the name derives from the Caribbean indigenous Taino barabicu) was the original Mexican barbecue, utilizing the many and varied moles (pronounced “mol-ehs”, from Nahuatl molli) and salsa de molcajete, which were the first barbecue sauces.

A traditional Mexican way of eating barbacoa is having it served on a warm soft taco style corn tortilla with guacamole and salsa for added flavor, the meat or the tacos are often served in the banana leaves they were cooked in. It is also eaten with onions, diced cilantro and a squirt of lime.

You can find authentic Hispanic Barbacoa on many Hispanic Restaurants in Los Angeles.

In cooking, a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavored stock or bouillon that has been clarified usually through a fining process involving egg protein.

A consommé is made by adding a mixture of ground meats, or mousseline, together with mirepoix, tomatoes, and egg whites into either bouillon or stock. The key to making a high quality consommé is simmering; the act of simmering, combined with frequent stirring, brings impurities to the surface of the liquid, which are further drawn out due to the presence of acid from the tomatoes.

Consommés are usually served piping hot because they tend to cool down more quickly than other soups and form a gel . They are most often served with garnishes which vary in complexity from a simple splash of sherry or egg yolk, to cut vegetables, to shaped savory custards called ‘royales’. Consommés are ideal for whetting the appetite of the diner, especially in the traditional seven-course meal format, as they are very rich and tasty in flavour, but are neither filling nor heavy-feeling after consumption.

Consommés are both expensive and difficult to make, as a large amount of meat only yields a small amount of consommé; in some recipes, as much as a pound of meat can go into a single 8oz serving. Also, because of the complex clarification process, it is difficult to make, which can often fail the novice or impatient cook.

Despite, or perhaps because of, these limitations, consommé has maintained its place as one of the most highly regarded and appreciated soups in the world.

You can find authentic Hispanic Consomme on many Hispanic Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Pasta (Italian pasta, from Latin pasta “dough, pastry cake”, from Greek παστά (pasta) “barley porridge”) is a generic term for foods made from an unleavened dough of flour and water, and sometimes a combination of egg and flour. Pastas include noodles in various lengths, widths and shapes, and varieties that are filled with other ingredients like ravioli and tortellini. The word pasta is also used to refer to dishes in which pasta products are a primary ingredient. It is usually served with sauce or chocolate to enhance the flavour.

There are approximately 600 different shapes of pasta. Examples include spaghetti (thin rods), maccheroni (tubes or cylinders), fusilli (swirls), and lasagne (sheets). Two other noodles, gnocchi and spätzle, are sometimes considered pasta. They are both traditional in parts of Italy.

Pasta is categorized in two basic styles: dried and fresh. Dried pasta made without eggs can be stored for up to two years under ideal conditions, while fresh pasta will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. In preparation for consumption, pasta is generally boiled.

Pasta is made from a simple combination of water, eggs and flour. Pre-packaged specialty pasta often includes spices, cheese or added coloring from spinach, tomatoes or food dye.

You can find authentic Hispanic Pasta on many Hispanic Restaurants in Los Angeles.

A bolillo is a type of salty bread traditionally made in Mexico, where it originates. It is a variation of the baguette, and is often baked in an horno de piedra.

It is about 15 cm (six inches) long, in the shape of an oval, with a crunchy crust and a soft inside, known as migajón. It is the main ingredient for tortas and molletes. A variation of the bolillo is the telera, which is very similar, though it has a more rounded shape, is divided in three sections, and is usually softer. Other variations include bolillos made of alternate ingredients such as whole wheat, wheat germ or flax.

The bolillo is a variation of the baguette, and thus often has names in the local language reflecting this. In Yucatán they are known as barras. In Guadalajara and Sonora they are called birotes which are often made with sourdough. In northern Mexico they’re known both as bolillos and pan blanco, whereas in Northeast Mexico it is known as pan francés. In Sinaloa they are called torcido and birote. In Brazil, a similar bread is made and known as pão francês or pão de sal.

Bolillo is a slang term used in some parts of Latin America and the United States to refer to members of the Caucasian race, due to the white interior of the bread.

You can find authentic Hispanic Bolillo on many Hispanic Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Spanish rice is a side dish made from white rice, tomatoes, garlic, onions, parsley, cilantro and other ingredients. Although it is called “Spanish rice” this side dish is unknown in Spain. One common preparation is to sauté the rice until golden brown and cook it in chicken broth. Vegetables such as peas, carrots, or corn may also be used depending on the recipe.

It is a popular dish in the American Southwest, where it often features generous chunks of grilled and stewed vegetables in a Tex-Mex style. The version of the dish cooked throughout South America tends to be a more homogeneous character, often with just enough tomato and chile to give the distinctive red-orange color and a smoky, garlic and onion-laden flavor. It is usually served as a side dish alongside other Mexican cuisine.

Mexican rice (Spanish: arroz mexicano) is white rice roasted in a skillet with garlic and onions until light brown, then steamed or simmered with tomato sauce and chicken stock. It is served as a side dish with entrees, but is also a major ingredient in burritos. Mexican rice is also commonly known as Spanish rice, however, the dish is not traditional to Spain. The term “Spanish rice” is not used by Mexicans or Mexican food enthusiasts, and its use probably stems from the fact that the Spanish language (Castilian) is spoken in Mexico, and the dish is usually simply referred to as “arroz” (translation: rice) in Mexico.

You can find authentic Hispanic Rice on many Hispanic Restaurants in Los Angeles.

Calabaza (or Calabasa) is an old Spanish term that can be applied to a variety of gourds and melons. It is derived from the Persian term for melon (kharbuz). The French term “calabase”, and hence “calabash” is based on the older Spanish. In common use the French term “calabash” refers to a gourd native to the African continent, while “calabaza” refers to a gourd native to the Americas. In North America, the word “calabaza” refers to any of several species of tropical gourds of the genus Cucurbita. Two common species native to the Caribbean are C. moschata and C. maxima. The widespread species C. foetidissima specifically identifies “calabaza” as one of its common names. The Spanish “calabacera frasco” [literal translation; bottle-shaped gourd] refers specifically to C. foetidissima. Local names for “large green or yellow gourds” include “auyama” (Venezula), “ayote” (Central America), “abóbora” (Brazil), and “zapallo” much of South America.

Cultivated species produce gourds in a variety of shapes. However all are creeping, annual tropical vines with large lobed leaves and branching tendrils. The skin color reflects hybrids, varying from dark green to light yellow. The flesh can also vary in color, but most common is bright orange or yellow. Varieties differ somewhat in taste and texture, but are generally slightly sweet with a firm but soft texture. Farmer’s markets in South America offer varieties of calabaza in a fashion similar to the variety of apples that might be present in a North American market.

You can find authentic Hispanic Calabaza on many Hispanic Restaurants in Los Angeles

Ropa vieja, which is Spanish for “Old Clothes,” is a popular dish of the Canary Islands, Greater Miami and the Caribbean, especially Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. It is a shredded flank steak in a tomato sauce base. The origin of ropa vieja is from the Canary Islands (Spain), which were the last place ships from Spain would stop on the way to the Americas. They were also the first place that Spanish ships coming from the Americas would stop en route back to Spain. Due to this, Canarian culture is very similar to the Caribbean as well as Spain. The Canarian Spanish dialect of Spanish spoken there is very similar to the Caribbean and sounds extremely close to the Cuban dialect, due to heavy and continuous immigration to Cuba. This is how ropa vieja arrived in the island; with the Canarian immigrants.The original version of Ropa Vieja contained leftovers, but later became a shredded meat dish with garbanzo beans and potatoes in the Canary Islands. Some versions in the Canary Islands contain beef or chicken or pork, or a combination of any of the three. The dish is a national feature of Cuba, and does not have garbanzo beans or potatoes in Cuba; it is just the shredded meat in sauce. Various shredded meat in sauce version of the dish are prepared in Venezuela and are called carne mechada. This is a part of the Venezuelan national dish, pabellon criollo, which includes the carne mechada, caraotas negras (black beans), platano maduro frito (fried ripe (sweet) plantains), arroz blanco, (white rice), and sometimes arepitas (small arepas). There are many theories as to how the dish was named. One of the more popular ones is a story about a man whose family was coming to his home for dinner. Being very poor, the man could not buy them enough food when they came. To remedy his situation, he went to his closet, gathered some old clothes (ropa vieja en español) and imbued them with his love. When he cooked the clothes, his love for his family turned them into a wonderful beef stew.

Bara Bith, sometimes known as ’speckled bread’ (the literal meaning of the original Welsh-language name), can be either a yeasty bread enriched with dried fruit or something more like a fruit cake made with self-raising flour (no yeast). It is traditionally made with raisins, currants and candied peel. In Argentina bara brith, which was brought to the country by the Welsh settlers who started arriving in Chubut province in 1865, is known as torta negra (“black cake”) and is a traditional food item there. There are many different recipes for this bread, which is baked and sold commercially in some parts of Wales. The yeast version of bara brith has a limited shelf life and is best eaten as soon as possible. The version made with self-raising flour can be kept for a long time. Welsh recipes favour soaking the dried fruit in tea overnight before the baking.

Sancocho is a traditional soup (often considered a stew) in several Spanish and Latin American cuisines. Variations represent popular national dishes in the Canary Islands of Spain, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Argentina, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It usually consists of large pieces of meat and vegetables served in a broth. Similar dishes exist in other countries, such as Bouillon in Haiti. In the Canary Islands of Spain, the dish is usually made with fish. The fish is usually cooked whole. Sancocho in Latin America, especially the Caribbean, evolved from both Puchero Canario and Sancocho of the Canary Islands, which were brought with “Canarios” — Canary Islanders who emigrated to Latin America. In the Caribbean, Sancocho is considered a fairly rustic dish. Ingredients usually include chicken, fish, plantains, yucca, cilantro , yams, corn, and potatoes. Sancocho made with chicken is called Sancocho de gallina. In Colombia, Sancocho is made with almost any kind of meat, along with large pieces of plantain, potato, yucca and/or other vegetables depending on the region. In Ecuador, Sancocho is a comfort food made with or without meat. It has the typical ingredients: yuca, plantain, and corn “choclo.” (Note that “yuca” (or manioc or cassava) used for preparing this dish, comes the root of shrub native from South America, and “yucca” is an ornamental plant native to North and Central America). In the Dominican Republic, there is a variant called Sancocho cruzado or Sancocho de siete carnes which includes chicken, beef and pork along with other meats. “Sancocho de siete carnes” means “Seven meat Sancocho,” and represents the seven islands of the Canary Islands. In the Dominican republic, Longaniza (a type of pork sausage) is also used. Sancocho de gallina is common as well, often made for special occasions or on weekends. In Costa Rica, there is a similar dish, although it is called olla carne (meat pot). In Panama, it is made with name, which is a type of tuber. In El Salvador it is a stew made with the left over parts of the cow, such as gizzards, stomach lining, and whatever else is not used. Sancocho is the word used in Cuba to describe what is fed to pigs. This is a mixture of all of the left over foods.

Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish, African and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish and African cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. A small, but noteworthy, Chinese influence can also be accounted for, mainly in the Havana area.

For historical reasons, the Cuban population was not equally distributed along the island. African slaves were a majority in the sugar cane plantations, but in most of the cities they constituted a minority. Tobacco plantations were inhabited mainly by poor Spanish peasants, mostly from the Canary Islands. The eastern part of the island also received massive quantities of French, Haitian and Caribbean immigrants, mainly during the Haitian Revolution, as well as seasonal workers for the sugar cane harvest, while the western part did not, receiving instead European, mostly Spanish, immigration well into the 1950s. Thus Cuban cuisines developed locally, from the influences and demographics specific to each area.

Cuban cuisine has almost nothing in common with Mexican cuisine, which is a surprise for many visitors from the United States or Europe. Cuban cuisine closely resembles that of other Caribbean nations such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Panama in Central America.