A Taste of Home: Hurricane Maria One Year Later
A local Puerto Rican talks about hurricane Maria one year later
ON A PARK BENCH IN WASHINGTON SQUARE, Nilmary twists noodles onto her fork from a plastic Tupperware container on her lap. The fettuccini with marinara and grilled chicken wasn’t leftover; Nilmary doesn’t like to eat the same dish two days in a row. “I do a lot of meal prep,” she laughs.
She uses the app Tasty to find meals she can make in 30-minutes or less. The marinara fettuccine was one of the few recipes that actually took under 30 minutes, she notes. She’s also made Chinese dishes like pepper steak and chicken and broccoli. “I’m trying to branch out in my cooking.”
Nilmary knows Spanish food best—she often prepares rice and beans or chicken stew seasoned with sofrito. She moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico five years ago for better opportunities, she says.
When she was young, Nilmary helped take care of her sick grandmother in Puerto Rico. “The nurses were terrible,” she says. “I always wanted to go into the [health care] field and make a difference.” Now, she’s a medical assistant in the cardiology department at Penn Medicine. Many of her patients are elderly, and she enjoys getting to know them and their families.
Earlier this year, she traveled back to Puerto Rico to help her own family; their entire neighborhood was destroyed last year by hurricane Maria. “It was devastating to go, but worse to leave.”
Her family didn’t have water or electricity for months. Nilmary’s younger brother stayed with her in Philadelphia until living conditions back home improved. But there are still parts of the island without power or water, she says.
Her favorite Puerto Rican restaurant in Juniata, El Coqui Panaderia y Reposteria, sent donations after the Hurricane last fall. The restaurant, known for traditional foods like mofongo (stuffed, fried plantains) and morcillas (blood sausage), and sweets like tembleque (coconut pudding) and besitos de coco (macaroons), is a hub for Puerto Ricans living in Philly. Nilmary goes to El Coqui almost every Sunday and always orders alcapurrias—green plantains mashed, stuffed with seasoned beef and fried.
When she visited Puerto Rico in the spring, a family friend sent her home with a batch of frozen handmade fritters. But until Nilmary gets a deep fryer, she’ll probably keep getting her fix at El Coqui. “It’s a taste of home.”
FIVE SPOTS TO GET CARIBBEAN FOOD IN PHILLY
El Coqui
3528 I St.
215.634.5508
elcoquipanaderia.com
Restaurante y Lechonera Principe
327 Cecil B. Moore Ave.
215.235.9048
Brown Sugar Bakery
219 S. 52nd St.
215.472.7380
Mixto Restaurant
1141 Pine St.
215.592.0363
mixtorestaurante.com
Homestyle
6051 Woodland Ave.
215.729.0404
