Lechonera de Apa, Puerto Rico Research Trip 2019, Puerto Ricans in Hawai'i

Tending the coals at Lechonera de Apa in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Thanks to everyone who contributed to my research trip to Puerto Rico last year. I know people tend to throw around the phrase, "I couldn't have done this without you." But...I TRULY could not have gone with the financial support of my followers.

Three stories came out of the trip, all meant for my column. Above you can see a photo of the fire being tended by at Lechonera el Rancho de Apa. Apa Ramos has been cooking pigs to perfection for decades, taking after his father. His popularity gained like wildfire when he caught the attention of Eric Ripert. The handful of lechon spots we had visited along the famous Ruta de Lechon in Guavate didn't cook their pigs on site. Cooking their pigs elsewhere, they had pre-cooked pigs on the premises, ready for tourists and locals to take a photo with the pig on the spit. Apa's lechonera was the first place we had seen the pig cooking action happening before our eyes.

As you may or may not know, I no longer have my column at the moment. Fortunately, one of my stories has finally found a home with WaPo. And another is in a queue. But, I have to move forward and continue to produce content even if they no longer have a home with my column.

Will you help me get to Hawai'i?

Click here to contribute anything you can spare!

With that being said, I'd love to document some of the diaspora in Hawai'i. I want to visit a monument erected in memory of the first Puerto Ricans that landed on the big island in search of better opportunities in the sugar cane fields. There's an annual Puerto Rican Day at the Plantain Village in April. Through the Puerto Rican Heritage Society of Hawai'i we can learn about some of these nameless Puerto Ricans and how they fared the trip from "San Juan harbor to New Orleans, Louisiana, then rode the train all the way to either Los Angeles or San Francisco, California. From there, they sailed to Hawai'i on the steamship named Rio de Janeiro."

Gandule Rice via Family Ingredients

Just as the West Coast Puerto Rican diaspora gets no love, you hardly ever hear stories of the Puerto Ricans that landed on the big island. But, they're just as important in the way Puerto Rican recipes evolved once they settled into life in Hawai'i. After watching an episode of Family Ingredients, they highlighted Puerto Rico's unofficial national dish, Arroz con Gandules. Except in Hawai'i, they call it gandule rice. And like every Puerto Rican that has written in to me after reading my column entries, I quickly passed judgment when I saw that they used black olives instead of the green Spanish olives. But, hold up. I had to check my inner-monologue and recite my motto, "Is it better that the recipe evolved in order to exist, or if it just goes away entirely?"

Now I find myself immersed in hours of rabbit hole research trying to justify the actions of those Puerto Ricans that called/call Hawai'i home.

And I want to meet this woman. Elizabeth is one of the owners of The Pastele Shop. Click here to find out more information.

Click here to contribute anything you can spare!

YOU: Why the fuck are you asking for so much?

ME: Because Hawai'i is expensive af! RT tickets are in between $500 - $700 per person. Plus lodging and rental car.