Suspicious, but Delicious Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stomach

Cuajito is a traditional Puerto Rican dish made by slowly simmering pork stomach until it becomes tender. The organ meat is thoroughly cleaned, boiled, and cooked in a rich, fragrant sauce made with herb paste, garlic, tomato sauce, and spices like oregano and achiote for color.

Suspicious? Pig stomachs. The thought of eating pig stomach, along with its chewy raw texture before cooking, can intimidate uninitiated eaters.

Delicious? Gentle simmering for hours turns the meat very tender, allowing it to soak up all the savory, garlicky, and herbal flavors of the broth. It's typically served steaming hot from roadside food kiosks across the island.

Answer: Blood

Morcilla is a famous Puerto Rican sausage traditionally made by creating a mixture of pork blood, cooked rice, garlic, chili peppers, fresh herbs, and cilantro. That savory mixture is loosely stuffed into cleaned pig intestines, gently simmered in seasoned water so it doesn't burst, and then pan-fried or grilled until the outer casing snaps crisp.

Suspicious? Blood. The idea of eating blood, combined with its very black color, causes immediate hesitation for first timers.

Delicious? Unlike sweet or metallic tasting European versions, Puerto Rican morcilla has a fiery herbal kick, and when grilled or fried until the casing is crispy, the rice filling inside is smoky, moist, and deeply flavorful. It's a prized centerpiece at holiday celebrations.

Answer: Unripe green bananas

Guineitos en escabeche is a Puerto Rican cold side dish. Peeled green bananas are boiled in salted water with a splash of milk to prevent discoloration until they are tender, then sliced into bite-sized rounds. Sliced onions, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns in olive oil and vinegar are simmered to create the marinade, then poured hot over the bananas and chilled in the fridge before serving cold.

Suspicious? Most people expect bananas to be sweet, yellow, and eaten fresh - not green, cooked, sour, and served chilled with onions.

Delicious? Raw green bananas taste nothing like fruit and instead have a mild, potato-like starchiness that perfectly absorbs the zesty marinade, making it a great counterpoint to rich roasted meats.

Answer: Tree bark

Mavi (also called mauby) is made by boiling the inner bark of the mavi tree. The bark is mixed with ginger, cinnamon, and star anise and boiled to extract a dark, bitter tea base known as el pie (the foot). This concentrated tea is then diluted with water and sugar, poured into large glass jug containers, and put in a warm, sunny spot for 1 to 2 days to naturally ferment and build up its signature frothy foam and fizz.

Suspicious? To many newcomers drinking fermented tree-bark tea, which looks dark and foamy like beer, can feel a bit like a survivalist dare.

Delicious? The natural fermentation gives it a gentle, refreshing bubbliness with a complex taste profile that balances rich molasses sweetness against a crisp, slightly bitter finish (similar to an artisanal root beer).

Answer: Taro root

An alcapurria is a cylindrical fritter made from a dough of grated green plantains and taro root filled with savory seasoned meat or land crab, and fried. Raw green plantains and taro root are finely grated into a paste, seasoned, and mixed with achiote-infused oil for color and flavor. A spoonful of the dough is flattened onto a banana leaf, stuffed with a flavorful filling, folded closed, and slid directly into hot oil to fry until crispy and golden brown.

Suspicious? Raw taro root dough is sticky, slimy, and intimidating to handle. In addition, raw taro contains sharp chemical crystals, so eating it causes immediate burning, pain, and swelling of the lips, tongue, and throat.

Delicious? Frying not only gets rid of the irritating enzymes but creates a golden, crackling crust on the outside with a warm, soft, savory center packed with garlic, herbs, and rich (often seafood) flavor.

Answer: Ears

Sancocho is a thick, comforting Puerto Rican meat and root vegetable stew. For the orejas de cerdo version, pig ears are thoroughly cleaned, chopped into strips, and boiled with garlic, citrus, and herbs to soften them up before joining the stew pot. They are then simmered over low heat for hours with a heavy seasoning base, beef or pork stock, and an array of chopped root vegetables until the broth thickens into a stew.

Suspicious? Floating pig ears complete with crunchy inner cartilage and a gelatinous skin texture can definitely give people pause.

Delicious? As the pork ears simmer for hours alongside yuca, plantains, pumpkin, and corn, the natural collagen breaks down to give the broth a silky, velvety richness, while the tender meat and mild crunch deliver a savory bite.

Answer: Quenepa

Bili is an infused rum liqueur native to Vieques, which is an island municipality off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. Fresh quenepas are slightly cracked open to expose the pulp inside and packed in containers along with brown sugar, vanilla beans, cinnamon, and high-proof white rum or sugarcane spirit. The jars are tightly sealed and left to steep and ferment in a dark spot (or buried in warm beach sand) for anywhere from several weeks to over a year, allowing the fruit juices to naturally blend into the liquor.

Suspicious? It is traditionally made using home-distilled moonshine (craft sugarcane spirit) and buried underground or hidden in dark closets for months.

Delicious? The fruit's tangy, bittersweet juice cuts through the harsh burn of the alcohol, mellowing it into a smooth and citrusy tropical liqueur with a serious punch.

Answer: Cod

Serenata de bacalao is a traditional Puerto Rican cold salad made with desalted codfish, eggs, and vegetables, drizzled with plenty of olive oil. The salt cod is soaked in water and boiled through a few changes of water to remove excess salt, then drained and flaked into bite-sized pieces. It is then tossed with thinly sliced raw onions, olive oil, and white vinegar, then served cold or at room temperature alongside boiled tropical root vegetables, fresh avocado slices, and hard-boiled eggs.

Suspicious? The raw, leathery, heavily salted cod looks unappetizing before prep, and the idea of mixing cold fish with avocado, eggs, and boiled roots and green bananas sounds like a strange combination to outsiders.

Delicious? Soaking the fish renders it flaky and perfectly seasoned, while the creaminess of the avocado, sharp crunch of raw onions, and rich olive oil tie the root vegetables together into a deeply satisfying meal.

Answer: Pigeon peas

Gandules en escabeche is made with tender green pigeon peas which are boiled and drained. They are then tossed into a pot with a warm marinade made by simmering sliced onions, garlic, bay leaves, olives, capers, olive oil, and vinegar. The mixture is cooled and placed in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 24 hours, so the peas soak up all the flavors before being served cold alongside crackers or plantain chips.

Suspicious? Most people are used to eating pigeon peas warm, cooked into heavy rice dishes, not served chilled, sour, and swimming in olive oil on a cracker.

Delicious? The nutty, earthy flavor of the pigeon peas absorbs the salty and garlic infused marinade, transforming them into a tapas-style snack that disappears instantly at holiday parties.

Answer: Cornmeal

Guanimes is an indigenous dish made by forming a dough based with yellow cornmeal wrapped inside banana or corn leaves. The cornmeal is mixed with warm coconut milk, brown sugar, salt, and butter to form a smooth dough. A portion of the dough is wrapped tightly inside a softened piece of banana leaf, tied into a small packet with string, and boiled in salted water for about 20 minutes until firm.

Suspicious? The boiled dumplings look like strange green-leaf-wrapped packages, with a sweet taste served with a salty fish.

Delicious? The rich, coconut flavored cornmeal balances the sharp saltiness of the fish perfectly.