The Puerto Rican Julia Child: Carmen Aboy Valldejuli

So US, have Julia Child and We have Carmen Aboy!  I think every women from my time have a copy of Carmen's Book!  As her books are the Bible of Puertorican Cooking!!  I grew up with her recipes and even today(at least 40 year later)  I still look at her book for inspiration of for a Classic Puertorican recipe!! So in her honor and for those who desent know her here is a little biography of her!  Her books still available at many on-line stores such as Amazon....later I will share some of other Basic Recipes and some others more Traditional! Maybe it will give some inspiration to cook some Old and with a new twist!

Carmen Aboy Valldejuli

Carmen Aboy Valldejuli is, according to New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne, “the foremost authority on Puerto Rican cooking,” whose cookbooks are “the definitive books on island cooking.” A daughter of one of Puerto Rico’s most distinguished families, Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, born Aboy Ferrer, is niece of the late Monsita Ferrer, the well-known pianist and composer, and cousin of actor/director Jose Ferrer. Brought up in old Spanish traditions that deemed cooking a menial household chore, Valldejuli did not have the opportunity to discover the joys of creating a meal. Her husband, Luis Valldejuli, was a mechanical engineer by profession, but a gourmet at heart. Their marriage in 1936 launched a lifelong adventure of collecting and developing recipes representative of Puerto Rican cookery. Mrs. Valldejuli hoped that all readers would eventually wend their way to Puerto Rico to sample the island’s delicacies in the land of their origin. In the meantime, she was certain that the recipes in her books will bring the flavor of the island to the reader’s table. The author offers this toast to accompany a Puerto Rican meal: “Salud, amor, dinero, y tiempo para gastarlo!” Mrs. Valldejuli died in 2005.