Picadillo

Caribbean minced beef braised with sofrito, olives, capers, and raisins, the filling for everything

Origin: San Juan, Puerto Rico & the Spanish Caribbean

From the journey of Caper.

Picadillo is the everyday meat dish of the Spanish Caribbean and the filling for most things that need filling: empanadillas, alcapurrias, pastelillos, stuffed plantains, stuffed peppers. It is also eaten simply over white rice with a fried egg on top, which is how most of it is actually consumed. What makes it Caribbean rather than merely a mince is alcaparrado: manzanilla olives, capers, and strips of red pimiento packed together in brine and sold in a jar. In Puerto Rico it is a pantry staple in the way that stock cubes are elsewhere, spooned in by the tablespoon without anyone thinking of it as a flavouring decision. Cuba and the Dominican Republic use the same combination assembled loose from its parts. Take the capers and olives out and what remains is a perfectly ordinary tomato mince; put them in and the dish is unmistakably from one part of the world. The history is legible in the jar. Capers and olives arrived on Spanish ships from the sixteenth century, they kept indefinitely in a hot climate with no refrigeration, and their salt and acid do something useful to slow-cooked beef and to a great deal of rice. What began as an imported European habit is now so thoroughly local that the imported half goes unnoticed, and nothing in it is grown within two thousand miles. The raisins are the point of contention. Cuban picadillo a la habanera nearly always has them, and the sweetness against the salt of the olives and capers is the whole balance of the dish; some Puerto Rican households leave them out and some regard leaving them out as vandalism. This recipe includes them and says so. Underneath it all is sofrito, the green purée of ají dulce, culantro, peppers, onion, and garlic that is made in batches and frozen, and which is the base of nearly everything in the Puerto Rican kitchen.

Ingredients

Base

3 tbsp olive oil
1 whole large onion, finely chopped
1 whole green bell pepper, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tbsp sofrito, homemade or good bottled

Meat

750 g minced beef, not too lean, about 15 per cent fat

Seasoning

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
2 whole bay leaves
1 tsp sweet paprika or achiote

Braise

3 tbsp tomato purée
200 ml tomato sauce or passata
120 ml beef stock or water
4 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
100 g green manzanilla olives, stoned and halved
60 g raisins
2 tbsp red wine vinegar or dry sherry

To Finish

2 tbsp coriander or culantro, chopped

Method

Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan and cook the onion and green pepper over a medium heat for eight minutes until soft. Add the garlic and the sofrito and cook for two minutes more, until the raw smell has gone.
Raise the heat, add the minced beef, and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has boiled off and the meat has begun to brown in the fat.
Stir in the cumin, oregano, bay leaves, and paprika and cook for one minute until fragrant.
Add the tomato purée and cook it out for two minutes, stirring, until it darkens from red to brick.
Pour in the tomato sauce and the stock, stir, and bring to a simmer.
Add the capers, olives, and raisins. Simmer uncovered over a low heat for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick and glossy with the fat separating slightly at the edges.
Stir in the vinegar or sherry, cook two minutes more, and taste. It should be salty, sweet, and sour all at once. Salt only if needed.
Remove the bay leaves, stir through the coriander, and serve over white rice with a fried egg, or leave to cool completely if it is to be used as a filling.

Notes

Alcaparrado, the jarred mixture of olives, capers, and pimiento, is the authentic shortcut and is sold by Latin American grocers; use about 150 g in place of the separate olives and capers. It is what a Puerto Rican kitchen actually reaches for. The raisins divide households. Cuban picadillo a la habanera nearly always includes them, along with a splash of dry sherry; some Puerto Rican cooks omit them. Try it once with them, since the sweetness against the caper salt is the architecture of the dish. Potato is a common addition: 250 g diced small, added with the tomato sauce and simmered until tender, which stretches the dish and is the usual family version. A Mexican picadillo uses the same name for a related dish with carrot and potato and no raisins. It keeps for four days refrigerated and freezes very well, which is much of the reason it is made in quantity. Leftovers go into stuffed peppers, over plantain, into a toasted sandwich, or under a layer of mash and cheese as pastelón.

The Gastrographer

Name: Picadillo
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Puerto Rico & the Spanish Caribbean
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 whole large onion, finely chopped; 1 whole green bell pepper, finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 4 tbsp sofrito, homemade or good bottled; 750 g minced beef, not too lean, about 15 per cent fat; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 whole bay leaves; 1 tsp sweet paprika or achiote; 3 tbsp tomato purée; 200 ml tomato sauce or passata; 120 ml beef stock or water; 4 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained; 100 g green manzanilla olives, stoned and halved; 60 g raisins; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar or dry sherry; 2 tbsp coriander or culantro, chopped

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control