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The Joy of Nuevo Criollo Cooking

Author: Richard Brunelli and Steve Blount
It wasn't long ago, maybe five or six years, that the vast majority of restaurants in Puerto Rico geared their menus around local staples. Foods such as yucca, plantains, rice and beans and the tamale-like pasteles made up the tasty and hearty fare in many eateries. But these local favorites -- and their presentation -- could hardly be confused with haute cuisine.

Enter the Puerto Rico All-Star culinary team and nuevo criollo cooking. The award-winning team is made up of executive chefs at the top resorts and restaurants in and around the island's cultural hub of San Juan. Their collective method of expression, nuevo criollo (noo-WAY-vo cree-O-yo), is a heady blend of the traditional and the contemporary.

And whatever it is, it's working. At the recent "Taste of the Caribbean" competition sponsored by the Caribbean Culinary Federation, not only did the team of chefs from Puerto Rico capture top honors, but Jeremie Cruz-Ramos of the El Conquistador resort was named Caribbean Chef of the Year.

Roberto Treviqo, the chef at The Parrot Club in Old San Juan and a new member of the culinary team, typifies this approach to pleasing palates. At a recent dinner showcasing the team's talents, Trevino's course began with a dish that can be found in hundreds of Caribbean restaurants: conch salad. But Trevino broke from the expected when he chose to first smoke the conch, then place the salad over a cornmeal tortilla made with sweet plantains.

To the chefs of the All-Star culinary team, nuevo criollo is more than just great food. It's become a source of nationalistic pride -- and many Puerto Ricans do consider themselves residents of a semi-autonomous nation.

The good news for gourmands is that nuevo criollo is being served in eateries that are as fun and stylish as the cuisine.

At The Parrot Club, Emilio Figueroa and his staff have taken a centuries-old building at 363 Calle Fortaleza in Old San Juan and turned it into a place that's both casual and upscale. The theme colors are citrus yellow, palm green and macaw-wing blue, a perfect reflection of the tropical locale and the flavors on the menu: tamarind, mango and avocado are used to give a unique twist to ribs, beefsteak, fish and chicken.

In the continental U.S., the on-going wars between barbecue purists of one stripe or another (mustard vs. tomato sauce, pork vs. beef) would probably leave a fruit-based barbeque on the sidelines as a casualty that flies in the face of the Grand Tradition. Well, those of you from Georgia, Texas, Memphis and Kansas City better sit down now -- the truth is that barbecue originated in the Caribbean, so The Parrot Club's ribs are grandfathered in. Even without a millennium's worth of heritage, they would still rank with the best ribs I've ever tasted: succulent and moist, meat falling off the bone, and the tamarind-chili glaze adds just the right notes of sweet and heat. The ingredients are completely unexpected, but they hit the tongue just right.

The main dishes, too, feature combinations that are unexpected, but never leave the impression of a shotgun marriage.

Blackened tuna in a dark rum sauce with essence of orange is one of the Club's signature dishes and there's also a wonderful pepper-crusted seared salmon. The hearty tuna stands up to the strong flavors of the rum and orange very well, and the pepper is just enough to spice the salmon without overwhelming it.

For those with more terrestrial taste buds, there's a killer seared loin of pork with a barbecue sauce of chipotle peppers and mango. Like the ribs, the mixture of hot and sweet is plenty tasty, yet mild enough to let the natural flavor of the seared pork shine through. Throughout the Caribbean, flank steak is a staple wherever beef is available. It's not a naturally tender cut of meat, but at the Parrot Club, it's grilled tender to the fork and served up with mushrooms in a way that would make Morton's or Smith & Wollensky marvel. Braised lamb with mashed yucca and vegetables in roasted garlic sauce and seared chicken served with a unique mofongo (mashed fried plantains, mashed garlic and pork bits) round out the topside treats.

There's even a vegetable platter for the meatless gourmet and a lunch menu featuring many of the same dishes, though with the addition of picadillo (spicy ground beef), tortelloni with a tamarind cream sauce and a grilled chicken breast sandwich with sweet onion and mango barbecue sauce.

The Club won't neglect your thirst, either. The wine list runs heavily to classic California labels such as Silverado cabernet, Ravenswood zinfandel, Gundlach Bundschu merlot, and a sprinkling of Italian, Spanish and Chilean wines.

More intriguing is the fact that the Club has an entire menu devoted to martinis. There's the namesake Parrotini -- Bacardi Limon and Blue Curacao with a twist of orange and a pineapple slice - the Floridatini (Stolichnaya orange vodka with a dash of Cointreau and a twist of orange), Berrytini (Absolut Kurrant, Absolut Citron, Chambord and cranberry juice with a twist of lemon) and the Peppertini (Asbolut Peppar with an olive and a jalapeno slice). For the traditionalist, there's also a plain Bombay Sapphire or Stoli Cristall martini, or, recommended for beginners, the Dirty Martini -- vodka or gin with extra vermouth and some olive juice plus three olives. There are even martinis for dessert: a Chocotini (Godiva liqueur with a splash of Stoli and a cherry) or the Cafetini (Tia Maria, Bailey's Irish Creme, a splash of Stoli and sprinkled with cinnamon).

Both food and beverages rotate on the menu, so there may be additional choices when you visit.

The Parrot Club's menu is pretty easy on the wallet: Most dinner entrees are less than US$20, martinis check in at US$5 and you can have a terrific light lunch for two for less than $US25.

The Club is open for lunch and dinner and is about three blocks north of Pier 3 near the corner of Fortaleza and O'Donnel, just down from the Plaza de Colon; phone (787) 725-7370.

Posted online 02/01/98.

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