To each his Lechón

Warning: this post may not be suitable for herbivores, vegans, vegetarians... read at your own risk!

One of the most delicious foods of Puerto Rico is lechón, a whole pig that is slowly roasted over charcoal. Scattered along rural roadsides, you are likely to come across something called a Lechonera. This is where they prepare and serve the delicious slow roasted pork. 

Ethan and I first noticed these restaurants on our way to El Yunque one afternoon. As we were driving down one of the back roads, we noticed a huge line of people outside a building with someone out front furiously chopping up cuts of pork served alongside amarillos or sweet plantains, and arroz con gandules, also known as rice served with pigeon peas. And the cooks are there bright and early 6am to get ready for the day! 

After asking our landlords about these restaurants, they recommended a place nearby - Los Piñones - and we had to go check it out. When we first got there, it was not so easy figuring out where to place our order, where to pay, or where to pick up, since they display their food outside right next to the front door. However, this makes it easy to point at what you want because we didn't know the names of the dishes! Most of the Lechoneras also have a dining area, but we wanted to takes ours home since it was just around the corner. 

We also enjoyed some lechón at a different location after exploring the Camuy caves outside of Arecibo. Ethan overheard a tour guide informing his group that an excellent place to have lunch after visiting the caves was at "Rancho T" just down the road. We heeded his advice and it was quite delicious indeed. We even caught a glimpse of one of the cooks preparing to serve up some pork, hot off the skewer. Check out his sweet machete!

For more information on this famous Puerto Rican specialty, this article describes eating lechón in Puerto Rico quite eloquently: http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/travel/eating-roast-pig-in-guaynabo-puerto-rico.html

¡Buen Provecho!