Saborea Puerto Rico Festival at Isla Verde
Savor Puerto Rico in Caribbean Culinary Extravaganza
Apr 3, 2008
Savor Puerto Rico
The first ever Saborea Puerto Rico (meaning Savor Puerto Rico) is a gastronomic feast at the renowned blue flag bathing beach of Isla Verde in Carolina. The programme includes rum and wine tastings, culinary and lifestyle seminars, cooking demonstrations kids’ kitchens, celebrity appearances and a Tasting Pavilion.
Saborea Puerto Rico: A Culinary Extravaganza
Saborea Puerto Rico celebrates both Caribbean culinary traditions and world-class, world-wide flavors by bringing together celebrities, master chefs of international repute and signature events.
The Culinary Extravaganza kicks off Friday with visits to a coffee plantation and a local Plaza del Mercado where fresh local ingredients are available for purchase. On Saturday and Sunday, Saborea Puerto Rico is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Isla Verde Beach.
Events are also scheduled at nearby hotels and restaurants, notably a Rums of Puerto Rico Pairing Dinner at the Holiday Inn San Juan on Saturday evening featuring a five course rum inspired menu to pair perfectly with some of the finest sipping rums.
Local and International Chefs
The event’s local spokespeople are the distinguished chefs of island cooking: Augusto Schreiner, Ariel Rodríguez, Nelson Rosado and Giovanna Huyke.
Well known tv host and Puerto Rican cooking personality, Cielito Rosado, will also participate.
Among the renowned international chefs are Lachlan McKinnon Patterson (2005 Best Chef for Food & Wine magazine) and Michel Richard (winner of the James Beard Best Chef award).
Cocina Criolla: the Cuisine of Puerto Rico
The mixture of ingredients and cooking principles traditional to the island's diverse culture has evolved into the sophisticated blend that is contemporary Puerto Rican cuisine.
The island's fertile soils grow high quality tropical fruits and plants, including mango, banana, avocado, star fruit, mamey sapote, sapodilla, sugar apple, and Spanish lime.
Puerto Rican’s culinary fusion features traditional African, Indian, and Spanish cuisines, incorporating such indigenous seasonings and ingredients as coriander, plantains, papaya, cacao and taro, as well as the abundant seafood from local waters. Locals call their food cocina criolla.
Coffee was introduced to Puerto Rico by Spanish immigrants in the 1730s. It thrived in the Central Mountain Range, where the tropical climate tempered by trade winds and generous rain makes it one of the great natural coffee growing regions of the world.
Puerto Rican dining can be a neverending adventure: from snack shacks on the beach to classic steak houses and from boutique restaurants serving the latest fusion to traditional Puerto Rican mesones, Puerto Rico offers a culinary diversity worthy of a metropolis.
The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association
The Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association is the organization that represents the private tourism sector in Puerto Rico. Founded in 1950, PRHTA has 550 corporate members including large, medium and small accommodation facilities, restaurants, tour operators, airlines and other businesses serving the Puerto Rican tourism sector. PRHTA is also a member of the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism.
With Saborea Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association aims to launch Puerto Rico as a world-class culinary destination.
