Mofongo!!!!

There is plenty to get excited about when it comes to meal times in Puerto Rico. When you have fresh plantains, pressed with mouth watering, delicately cooked meat, onions, and garlic it is difficult not to wear a grin from ear to ear.  (A typical mouthwatering mofongo recipe can be found by clicking here.)

However what really makes the meals so amazing is the passion and labor that goes into each dish.  Through my mission trip leading in Puerto Rico I have first hand seen the countless hours put in by teams of cooks for every mission trip. The Puerto Rican love language is cooking, and it is very obvious!

One of my weeks in Patillas is a great example of this.  As I was working with Elba (a 60 something church elder who puts the energizer bunny to shame) we started planning for the teams recreation day in a small city on the Southeast side of the Island.  Elba excitedly shared how their goal was for the team to experience the Puerto Rican culture while taking in some of the local beauty.  

The team was greeted in the morning with eggs, bacon, fresh rolls, and warm bread fruit hand picked from the cook's back yard ( he had come in at 5 am to cook the teams breakfast before heading to work), then there was a brown bag lunch with fresh cooked pork sandwiches (the bread was fresh baked in the morning and the meat had been slow cooking for most of the morning), fried cod fritters and sweet plantains were the snack. To finish the day was mofongo, braised pork, and home made pina coladas. 

Friends from Obispo Corsan in Ponce showcasing their masterpiece Mofongo. This side dish was part of celebration meal for our team of 30 last summer.

Over 15 people had been cooking throughout the day to bless this team on their recreation day.  What was amazing is all this work was done for a team of 14 students and teachers on their class missions trip!!

This type of extravagant love is not just saved for teams on their recreation days.  Like so many of our amazing countries that we partner in, this extravagant love is given with every meal.  If you have not served on a missions trip in Puerto Rico yet, I would strongly recommend taking the opportunity.  Your taste buds as well as your friends and family will thank you--you can't help but leave this amazing island without the desire to serve others the way you were served.