Puerto Rican

Four centuries of Spanish rule layered rice, pork, olives, capers and sofrito over a Taíno base of cassava, annatto and the barbacoa, while enslaved Africans brought plantain, pigeon peas and the pounding method behind mofongo. The sugar and coffee economy shaped a cuisine of filling rice dishes and fritters. After 1898 American goods arrived and so did emigration; by the 1950s the standard cookbooks had fixed the canon and New York had its own Puerto Rican kitchens. Lechón roadside roasts in Guavate and beach kiosks in Piñones remain the island's culinary pilgrimages.

Garlic and oregano forward, coloured orange with annatto, briny with olives and capers, and rarely hot. Plantain is pounded, fried, layered and grated. Rice is cooked by absorption in a heavy caldero and judged by its pegao. Meats are marinated overnight in adobo and roasted or stewed slowly. Fritters are a food group. Desserts are coconut, cinnamon and condensed milk, with Christmas bringing coquito, tembleque and pasteles.