Contents

Sofrito

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Sofrito is a Spanish word for a well cooked and fragrant sauce. A cognate with Italian soffritto, "sautéed", it can refer to any of the following:

• InSpanish cuisine, it contains garlic, onions, and tomatoes cooked in olive oil and is used as the base for many dishes.
• InCatalan cuisine le "sofregit" has olive oil, tomatoes and onions, and may at times have different vegetables such as peppers or mushrooms.
• InCaribbean and Latin American cuisine, it is a sauce of tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, garlic, onions and herbs.
• InCuban cuisine, it is a base for beans, stews, rices, and other dishes, including ropa vieja and picadillo. The main components for Cuban sofrito are onions, garlic, tomatoes and peppers. Chorizo, tocino (bacon), and ham are added for specific recipes, like beans. Other secondary components include, but are not limited to, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, cilantro, and culantro.
• InPuerto Rico it is mostly used when cooking legumes, rice dishes, sauces, soups and stews. The two main ingredients that give Puerto Rican sofrito its characteristic flavor are: recao (also known as culantro) and ají dulce but cubanelle peppers, roasted red pepper, onions, garlic, tomatoes and cilantro are also added . Sofrito is traditionally cooked with olive oil or annatto oil, tocino (bacon), salted pork and cured ham. Spices are also added such as bay leafs, cumin, sazon and adobo.
• In the Sephardic cuisine of the eastern Mediterranean, it is a method of cooking rather than a sauce. Chicken sofrito is chicken sautéed with garlic, turmeric, and cardamom and simmered in a small volume of water or stock with lemon juice. The same method can be used in cooking veal, calves' brains or fish.
• InGreek cuisine it is a dish native to, and almost exclusively to be found on, the island of Corfu. Sofrito is a veal steak slow cooked in a white wine, garlic and herb sauce and is usually served with rice.
• InItalian cuisine soffritto is a sautéed mixture of chopped onions, celery, carrots, seasonings, etc.
• InPortugal it is called "refogado".

• InHaiti it is referred to as Epis.

References

• Roden, Claudia, A New Book of Middle Eastern Food: London 1986 ISBN 0-14-046588-X
• Roden, Claudia, The Book of Jewish Food: New York 1997, London 1999 ISBN 0-14-046609-6

See also

• Sauce
• Salsa (sauce)
• soffritto

External links

• Sofrito Recipe as made in Cuba

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