On the shelves of refrigerators in Latino homes lies a glass jar, filled with an aromatic sometimes green, sometimes brown, sometimes dark orange-red, but always packed with highly concentrated flavor mix- softiro. Sofrito is a seasoning sauce blend of peppers, garlic, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, salt, and other herbs and spices. Quantity of ingredients varies from recipe to recipe. Instead of using salt and separate seasonings, many foods from Latin America are flavored with sofrito alone. Sofrito is great for soups, steaks, chicken, eggs, or any dish you want to enhance with robust Latin flavor. Because it’s so densely concentrated with flavor, after making a jar, sometimes all you’ll need is a dash of sofrito to season a dish. Sofrito exists in Mediterranean, Portuguese, Filipino, and Caribbean cuisine as well.
Homemade sofrito usually doesn’t use exact measurements, as most culinary escapades in la cocina, ingredients are eye-balled and taste tested rather than carefully measured and trusted. Due to the variety in preparation and ingredients that differ sometimes from person to person, there are probably millions of unique sofrito recipes in the world. As well as being made from scratch, sofrito can be store bought for the lazy and kitchen clumsy. A popular store brought variety is Goya’s sofrito; however it’s also filled with preservatives and lacks fresh ingredients. Sofrito is incredibly easy to make, but if you’re still wary about making it at home and don’t want Goya’s preservative sofrito, try Chulita’s Famous Sofrito. Chulita’s Famous uses fresh all natural ingredients and comes in Sofrito Verde or Sofrito Con Spices variety. They can be purchased in gourmet grocery stores in New York City. For a full list: click here.
Now if you really want to get hands on with sofrito, here’s a simple recipe straight from my kitchen to yours:
Ingredients:
- 3 Green peppers
- 2 Red peppers
- 2 Garden fresh tomatoes
- 2 onions
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 bunch of cilantro
Peel and chop all the ingredients and mix them in a blender or food processor. The consistency should be somewhat smooth: not liquefied and not too chunky. Add sea salt, parika, and cumin to taste. Store in the refrigerator in a glass jar.
After you’ve made your sofrito, grab some tacos from Pinché Taqueria and add some sofrito to them for an even more delicious meal.
Catherine, Hudson County Community College, Read my blog
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