Hip Hip Gandules!

I recently visited with a dietician after struggling with various food tracking apps that claim that 1,200 calories a day is healthy and feasible for a short-statured woman to sustainably lose weight (spoiler: it’s not).

She wanted me to keep a food journal to see my current patterns, and last week’s repertoire of meals included arroz con gandules.

The lady looked at me like I was crazy. She had no idea what it was.

A few months ago, I was equally as clueless to this excellent one-pot meal.

Arroz con gandules roughly translates to rice with pigeon peas. These little legumes have nothing to do with actual pigeons. They are like extra swollen lentils.

Close up images of gandules aka pigeon peas. They look like regular peas but taste exponentially better.

A can of pigeon peas, some cooked ham, some manzanilla olives, and some rice all cooked together in a pot and you’ve got a hearty, soulful meal. I like to eat this with a side of tostones fritos OR some adobo-coated chicken. Or both. I’m a hungry person, and this is a meal with lots of possibilities that keeps on giving.

Arroz con gandules servido con tostones fritos. Arroz con gandules servido con tostones fritos.

I still think the toughest part about cooking Puerto Rican food is having to order ingredients from across the country. The wait is long, the items often out of stock, and the price WAY over inflated.

That being said, it’s so worth it. The connection I feel to my grandma when I cook Puerto Rican food is irreplaceable. I know the connection is only a quarter of what I would have felt had I gotten to actually meet her, but it’s a much better alternative than knowing nothing and having nothing Hispanic.

The best part of this dish? I get to share it. Two months ago, my parents came to drop off Christmas presents (socially distanced and masked of course). I had some gandules in the fridge, and I gave some to my dad to take home.

He stared at it in awe. He hadn’t eaten or even seen arroz con gandules in almost 50 years.

Despite the costs and the emotions behind the Puerto Rican cuisine I’m learning, there is no price to attach to nostalgia, comfort, and home. This is a dish I’ll never stop making, and one that I hope to make fresh for my parents some day.

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