TAMPA, Fla. — For Hispanic Heritage Month, we visited En Mi Viejo San Juan, a Puerto Rican food truck owned and operated by a professional chef and proud Boricua.
Chef Ariel Rivera serves up classic Puerto Rican cuisine from his location at 7657 W Hillsborough Avenue in Town ’n’ Country.
“It’s passion; its love that’s what I have,” Rivera told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska.
And that makes sense because food is the heart and soul of Hispanic Heritage. Rivera said his passion for cooking started when he was young, cooking breakfast for his brothers and friends. Then, he learned more traditional dishes.
“My aunt and grandmother and my mother teach me how to cook rice being, you know, the more typical plates that we do in Puerto Rico,” Rivera said. “The most popular food we sell here is the bacalaitos and alcupurria.”
Bacalaitos are salted cod fritters; alcupurrias are also a Puerto Rican fritter, made with taro, masa, yucca, plantains, sofrito, stuffed with picadillo and fried to perfection.
Every order of mofongo, a classic plantain dish made of fried plantains, mashed and mixed with garlic, butter, and seasonings like sazon, are handmade to order.
“I always get the plantain fresh. I cut it in pieces into a nice size and deep fry it. It’s easy to make, but many people don’t know how to make mofongo; you have to make the right balance with the ingredients,” Rivera said. “I put garlic butter and season it, then mix it and mash the plantain, and I like to make the mofongo soft. A lot of people make it a little dry; I make it more soft.”
Rivera is open Wednesday through Sunday, sometimes cooking all by himself and getting help from his girlfriend, Anica Rivera, when she gets off work in the afternoon. The team dances to Latin music, navigating the tiny kitchen and preparing meals that bring the comforts of the Isla del Encanto (Island of Enchantment) to the streets of Tampa.
“I always wanted to do my own food trucks. So I decided to put my food truck and bring my food so people can learn more about the culture,” Rivera said.
“What’s the pride you get from being Puerto Rican and sharing that culture with people here?” Paluska asked.
“I feel so proud of myself when I cook, and I see people who enjoy my food,” Rivera said. “They come by and tell me, ‘I love the food. I like your mofongo; your mofongo is very soft.’ All these comments make me feel very proud of myself the way I cook.”
