AARP Hearing Center
Key takeaways
- Puerto Rican cooking builds flavor with sofrito instead of relying on salt.
- Healthy recipe updates can preserve tradition while reducing added fat.
- Cooking and sharing meals together can strengthen family and social connections.
Summary
Puerto Rican cuisine is at the heart of a conversation between Chef Giovanna Huyke and Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan about healthy eating, cultural traditions and connection. While preparing arroz con gandules, plantains and local fish, Chef Giovanna demonstrates how ingredients such as sofrito, gandules and fresh produce can create rich flavor without sacrificing nutrition.
The discussion highlights practical ways to make traditional dishes healthier, including using less oil and focusing on nutrient-rich ingredients. It also explores how cooking and eating together can help people stay connected with friends and family, turning everyday meals into opportunities for community and belonging.
The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
Full transcript
[0:00:00] Chef Giovanna: Food is not about just giving food to somebody.
[0:00:02] It’s about caring, telling them you care.
[0:00:15] Chef Giovanna: Bienvenida a Puerto Rico.
[0:00:15] Myechia Minter-Jordan: Gracias, gracias.
[0:00:16] Mucho gusto.
[0:00:16] Chef Giovanna: OK, I’m so excited to show you some of the flavors
[0:00:20] that we have in Puerto Rico.
[0:00:21] Myechia Minter-Jordan: So excited.
[0:00:22] Everything smells amazing in here.
[0:00:24] The colors are beautiful.
[0:00:25] Chef Giovanna: Thank you.
[0:00:25] Myechia Minter-Jordan: I can’t wait.
[0:00:25] Chef Giovanna: Well, let me tell you.
[0:00:25] We’re gonna do my favorite dish.
[0:00:27] We’re gonna do arroz con gandules.
[0:00:29] And we’re gonna do some ripe plantains, and then we’re gonna have a big
[0:00:33] fish because I heard you like fish.
[0:00:35] Myechia Minter-Jordan: I love fish.
[0:00:35] This sounds fantastic.
[0:00:36] Chef Giovanna: First, let’s start with the base of Puerto Rican
[0:00:39] cooking, which is the sofrito.
[0:00:40] Myechia Minter-Jordan: OK.
[0:00:41] Chef Giovanna: And as you see, I have it here.
[0:00:42] Most of the people blend it, but I like the little pieces of the
[0:00:46] onion, the sweet peppers, the green peppers and a little bit of culantro,
[0:00:51] because it caramelizes in the pan,
[0:00:53] it actually gives more flavor.
[0:00:55] Myechia Minter-Jordan: OK.
[0:00:55] Chef Giovanna: We’re gonna heat the oil, chop the cilantro ...[0:00:58] Myechia Minter-Jordan: OK.
[0:00:58] I’m on it.
[0:00:59] Chef Giovanna: So we can start cooking.
[0:01:00] Myechia Minter-Jordan: OK.
[0:01:01] So chef, you’ve spent decades teaching people about amazing Puerto
[0:01:06] Rican food through your television shows, through your recipe books.
[0:01:12] How do you make sure that traditional Puerto Rican dishes are healthier without
[0:01:17] losing what makes them so special?
[0:01:20] Chef Giovanna: Well, you know, good flavor and healthy eating
[0:01:22] is just about the ingredients.
[0:01:24] Cooking healthy does not have to mean you have to sacrifice flavor.
[0:01:29] Myechia Minter-Jordan: And that seems to be incredibly healthy
[0:01:31] in terms of flavoring, right?
[0:01:32] There’s not a lot of salt?
[0:01:34] Chef Giovanna: Yes.
[0:01:34] Ingredients in the sofrito give you the base of any flavor that you want.
[0:01:39] I could have added more fat to cook this, but I add a little bit of
[0:01:43] water, and I still have all that amazing flavor from the sofrito.
[0:01:47] We’re doing gandules today because they’re full of potassium, of iron,
[0:01:52] and protein, so it’s a good way to really add healthy foods and healthy
[0:01:58] ingredients to what you’re cooking.
[0:02:00] Now I’m gonna add the rice.
[0:02:02] See, it’s premade rice.
[0:02:09] Let me get this plantain out of the oven.
[0:02:12] You see, sweet plantains, when they are ripe, are very sweet,
[0:02:17] and we usually deep-fry them.
[0:02:20] And this, you’re just gonna cut them.
[0:02:23] And I just wanna brown them on each side.
[0:02:26] Myechia Minter-Jordan: Because they’ve already been cooked in the oven.
[0:02:26] Chef Giovanna: Yeah, they’ve already been cooked.
[0:02:28] Myechia Minter-Jordan: So you eliminate some of the oil.
[0:02:29] Chef Giovanna: Yes.
[0:02:31] Well, check if they’re already browning.
[0:02:33] Myechia Minter-Jordan: Oh, oh, this is, that’s nice and brown.
[0:02:33] Chef Giovanna: See, that one is already perfect.
[0:02:35] Myechia Minter-Jordan: That’s perfect, yes.
[0:02:35] Chef Giovanna: I premade fish.
[0:02:39] It’s local sama, and I made some criolla sauce for the fish.
[0:02:44] There’s such beautiful fresh fish in Puerto Rico.
[0:02:47] And now put the sauce on top.
[0:02:50] Myechia Minter-Jordan: OK, fantastic.
[0:02:52] I am saucing the mess out of this fish.
[0:02:54] OK.
[0:02:56] How have you used your love for cooking to remain connected to friends and family?
[0:03:02] Chef Giovanna: Well, when my kids left my house, I realized
[0:03:05] I was a little bit lonely.
[0:03:07] So I said, “You know, there must be some friends that are feeling the
[0:03:11] same way that I’m feeling right now.”
[0:03:13] So I asked everybody, “Come and have dinner with me.”
[0:03:18] And the first time I cooked.
[0:03:19] The second time I said, “Uh-uh.
[0:03:21] Next time we’re doing everything together.
[0:03:23] Let’s go to the market together.
[0:03:25] Let’s look for ingredients together.”
[0:03:29] And that way we all get home, we all sit by the kitchen, we start cooking together, and it’s a whole evening.
[0:03:34] And it’s not trying to add time that you don’t have.
[0:03:37] It’s actually using the time that you have and adding some friends to it.
[0:03:43] OK, now let’s finish everything and serve it.
[0:03:46] Could you serve the rice?
[0:03:47] Myechia Minter-Jordan: Yes.
[0:03:47] Chef Giovanna: I’m gonna work on the avocado.
[0:03:48] Myechia Minter-Jordan: OK.
[0:03:54] Chef Giovanna: I think we’re set.
[0:03:55] Myechia Minter-Jordan: I think we are ready to eat.
[0:04:02] So excited.
[0:04:05] This feels exactly like home, being with family and friends
[0:04:09] and having that connection.
[0:04:11] Chef Giovanna: And actually, you can do it every day of the week.
[0:04:13] Everybody thinks it has to be the weekend, but no.
[0:04:16] Sit down and enjoy good company like we’re doing.
[0:04:19] Myechia Minter-Jordan: Everything, as you mentioned, is healthy,
[0:04:22] healthier, but still retains the traditions of Puerto Rican cuisine.
[0:04:26] At AARP, we talk a lot about healthier lives.
[0:04:31] Being connected, having amazing food, focusing on our health, and
[0:04:35] not losing tradition, those are all of the things that make life what it
[0:04:39] is, makes life enjoyable, and makes you feel like, “This is exactly where
[0:04:45] I need to be, having a meal at this table with you,” and I’m so grateful.
[0:04:49] Chef Giovanna: So thanks a lot for sharing this time with me
[0:04:53] and the flavors of Puerto Rico.
[0:04:55] Thank you.
[0:04:56] Myechia Minter-Jordan: Oh, gracias.
[0:04:57] Buen provecho.
[0:04:58] Chef Giovanna: Perfect.
