We're adding Cuban roast pork, wild shrimp to our Christmas menu

Cuban Sandwich master Belarmino Rico, 76, at the plancha, the heated grill that transforms an ordinary ham, pork and cheese sandwich into a hot, crispy Cubano.

On Wednesday, Rico checked the pork he roasts for five hours in a pizza oven at La Pola Restaurant, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York. Today, in an annual holiday ritual, he will be waiting on hundreds of customers who will flood into the small luncheonette to pick up Christmas orders -- including whole butterflied pigs, ribs and hams, plus all of the Cuban side dishes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Wednesday morning, when we pulled into the tiny parking lot of La Pola Restaurant in West New York, we witnessed the calm before the storm.

Belarmino Rico, who justly deserves the title of "King of the Cuban Sandwich," was roasting pork and waiting on an occasional customer in preparation for today's onslaught.

As my wife enjoyed a hot, crispy Cuban Sandwich or Cubano and I sipped a cafe con leche, Rico explained that he had stopped taking orders for Christmas.

Today, three generations of his family and his loyal employees are greeting hundreds of customers who come in to pick up whole pigs, roast pork, ham and ribs, which will be displayed on racks and tables.

They'll also take home such Cuban dishes as congris, rice cooked with black beans; yuca with garlic, chicharrones or pork rinds, and a tortilla Espanola, a Spanish potato omelet. 

Rico named his Cuban sandwich shop for La Pola, the small town in Spain where he was born before he emigrated to Cuba.

We had a prior commitment today so on Wednesday, we picked up roast pork for our Christmas dinner on Friday.

On Wednesday, La Pola Restaurant was experiencing the quiet before the storm.

At La Pola, a Cuban Sandwich is made with a 12-inch section of water bread filled with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, moistened with a garlic sauce called a mojito and heated until crispy in a press.

La Pola's own Plaintain Strips are delicious and low in salt.

La Pola, on Palisade Avenue and 54th Street in West New York, is cash only.

Wild Gulf Shrimp are on sale today at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Going wild for shrimp

The roast pork from La Pola Restaurant in West New York is for the meat eaters in the family.

This morning, I went to Whole Foods Market for another main dish, Wild Gulf Shrimp, which were on sale for $14.99 a pound.

That's about what Costco Wholesale charges for farmed Black Tiger shrimp from Vietnam. Customers are told nothing about how they are raised.

On Friday, we'll also have a wild Red King Crab Salad dressed with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice, seasonings and fresh chopped cilantro.

Side dishes include mashed Kabocha Squash and Organic Carrots, Organic Quinoa with Garlic and a salad of Organic Spring Mix. 

Whole Foods Market in Paramus has the best fresh seafood counter in North Jersey. One of the employees, left, gladly deveined the 3 pounds of wild shrimp I asked for.

As I waited for the shrimp to be deveined, I munched on samples of cheese, nuts and dried olives.

These bunches of Organic Cilantro are about twice as big as the conventional cilantro sold at the nearby Paramus ShopRite for 99 cents.

From Alaska to Cuba, our huge Christmas dinner will be global

A butterflied whole roasted pig at La Pola in West New York, a Cuban-sandwich shop that is a magnet for pork lovers at the holidays, below. A whole pig is $300.

Belarmino Rico named his shop after La Pola, the town in Spain where he was born. Few would argue with his claim that he is "The King of the Cuban Sandwich," which he learned to make in Havana after emigrating to Cuba.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I've lost count of how many courses we are planning for our Christmas dinner.

We've been gathering food since Monday, and this afternoon, my wife went to the ShopRite in Paramus for four live lobsters ($8.99 a pound).

Meanwhile, I brought home more than a pound of fresh spinach, which we plan to cook with extra-virgin olive and garlic.

Earlier, my wife visited a family friend who prepared five whole fish for our dinner on Thursday.

They will join king crab legs from Alaska ($17.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack), and Cuban-style roast pork with all the trimmings from La Pola in West New York.

The tip jar at La Pola.

Tortilla Espanola is a Spanish potato omelet.

A tray of steaming Cuban tamales.

We join the pork pilgrimage 

Every year on the day before Christmas, hundreds of Cuban-Americans and lovers of their garlic-rich cooking make the pilgrimage to La Pola, a Cuban-sandwich shop at 54th Street and Palisade Avenue in West New York.

Proprietor Belarmino Rico -- with the help of sons Tony and Joe, his wife and his loyal employees -- does a 24-hour marathon of preparing roast pork and side dishes for customers who stream into the small shop to pick up what they pre-ordered.

The day before Christmas is the busiest, but Rico also prepares Cuban holiday dishes for Thanksgiving and the new year.

This morning, my son joined me for the drive to La Pola, where he had a crispy Cuban sandwich and I sipped cafe con leche as I caught up with the Ricos.

We took home a roasted pork leg, a small Tortilla Espanola, a tray of Yuca with Garlic and another of Aroz Morro or congris, which is white rice cooked with black beans.

A couple of bags of Plantain Chips and a small plate of Chicharones or fried pork rinds completed our order.

Yuca with garlic is true comfort food.

The classic Cuban Black Beans.

A glazed ham.

The Ricos and their employees work tirelessly to fill Christmas orders.

Today, Belarmino Rico, center, waited on a steady stream of customers who had pre-ordered roast pork and side dishes for Christmas.

All of the legs, shoulders and whole pigs are roasted in a pizza oven, above.

La Pola's Cuban Sandwich ($7) is prepared in a heated press or plancha: The classic ingredients are roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles.

Joe Rico.

The six provinces of Cuba, above, and the Spanish flag, below, are painted on La Pola's plate-glass windows.

If you missed ordering roast pork for Christmas, La Pola will be taking orders for New Year's Eve.

La Pola, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York; 1-201-867-6028. Closed Christmas Day. Closed Sundays. Cash only.

Recipe in Costco magazine is needlessly complicated

A five-cheese-and-garlic frittata starts out on the stove and finishes cooking under a low broiler setting. There is no need to turn this 10-inch stuffed Italian omelet or the Spanish potato omelet described in a recipe in the April 2014 issue of Costco Connection magazine.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale is spooned on top of the frittata once it is out of the oven.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Reading instructions in the Costco Connection magazine on how to turn a Tortilla de Patata (Potato Omelet) is like watching a high-wire act:

You fight the urge to close your eyes to avoid seeing an accident.

The Potato Omelet recipe in the lifestyle magazine for Costco Wholesale members is too complicated, and likely discourages a lot of home cooks from trying it (Page 49).

I've been making frittatas, the Italian version of this omelet, with sliced sweet potatoes and other ingredients, and have never turned them.

Don't try at home

In the Costco recipe, Christina Mendez provides the following instructions:

"When the edges are cooked and the center is still moist, place a plate over the pan and invert it, so the raw side of the tortilla flips face down onto the plate.

"Carefully return the tortilla to the pan by sliding it off the plate and continue cooking for another minute."

That's a cooking disaster waiting to happen.

With my frittatas, I don't bother trying to turn them. I just put them in the oven or under the broiler to brown and finish cooking.

Boil and save oil

Another shortcut for the Spanish omelet recipe is to boil water to cook the recommended 8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, which you have to peel and cube.

I'd leave the peel on, and wouldn't follow the recipe's instructions "to cover" the potatoes, onion and Anaheim pepper in expensive Spanish extra-virgin olive oil, and cook them in a covered pan.

The recipe calls for more than 2 cups of oil. That's just wasteful.

I usually put sweet potato slices for my frittatas in cold water; leave the cover slightly ajar to vent steam and bring the water to a low boil. 

They are usually fork tender in about 30 minutes.

Or get one to go

Of course, if you don't want to go to the bother of preparing a Spanish potato omelet at home, head on over to La Pola, a Cuban sandwich shop in West New York.

Sandwich master Belarmino Rico, who emigrated to Cuba from Spain, makes an excellent version of the omelet, also called Tortilla Espanola.

Try one of his authentic sandwiches with a cup of cafe con leche, and get the tortilla to go.

La Pola, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York; 201-867-6028. Cash only. Call for hours.

A reheated wedge of frittata made with five cheeses, including the two found in Costco's prepared pesto, and lots of garlic.

For garlic mashed sweet potatoes, I boil peeled garlic and unpeeled potatoes, both from Costco; drain them in a colander and return them to the pot, where I add extra-virgin olive oil, a little salt and other seasonings, including cinnamon and curry powder. Potatoes for a frittata or omelet also can be boiled.

A couple of shortcuts woul make a Tortilla de Patata much easier to prepare at home. This recipe appears in the April 2014 issue of Costco Connection magazine.

A slice of sunny Cuba chases away winter

Straight from a heated press, a classic Cuban sandwich -- layered ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard -- is $6 at La Pola Restaurant in West New York, "El Rey de Sandwich Cubano."

Joe Rico, who has been working in his father's shop since he was 5 years old, builds a sandwich with Cuban water bread, hand-sliced roast pork and other ingredients.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

You'll forget the bone-chilling weather after just a few minutes inside La Pola in West New York, listening to the machine-gun Spanish and sipping a cup of freshly pressed sugar-cane juice.

Belarmino Rico, the owner of La Pola, calls himself "The King of the Cuban Sandwich," and it's no idle boast.

He roasts the pork in a pizza oven, and sells hundreds of the freshly made sandwiches each day, along with a limited menu of Cuban and Spanish dishes, cafe con leche and sugar-cane juice.

A friend loved his Cuban sandwich, but as someone who doesn't eat meat, I was happy with coffee and the delightfully sweet juice.

La Pola is named after the small town in Spain where the elder Rico was born before he emigrated to Cuba, where he learned to make Cubanos at his uncle's bodega in Havana.

A heated press or plancha compresses the sandwich and turns it crispy.

Rico's hands are a blur as he assembles the sandwich, above and below, before spinning around to put it into the heated press.

Sugar cane is pressed to order, producing a pure, sweet drink that is a powerful reminder of the sunny island of Cuba. The split cane is kept on ice, below.

A big cup of sugar-cane juice or jugo de cana is $4.50 without ice.

The Ricos offer more than a dozen sandwiches.

La Pola Restaurant, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York; 201-867-6028. Open 5 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Closed Sundays. Small parking lot. Cash only.

'Feliz Navidad' from a Cuban sandwich master

Cuban sandwich master Belarmino Rico of La Pola in West New York.

Editor's note: The original post said "On Saturday afternoon" and "Saturday" in places, but it was written today, the day before Christmas, and I've corrected it.

This afternoon, Belarmino Rico, wife Maria, their children, grandchildren and the employees of the Cuban sandwich shop known as La Pola were in the final lap of their annual holiday marathon.

"Rico," as everyone calls him, had taken orders for hundreds of hams, ribs, whole pigs and all the tradtional Cuban side dishes, and customers were coming by to say hello and pick up their Christmas dinners.
  
Rico had a big smile on his face as he wished everyone, "Feliz Navidad."

When the shop closes late this afternoon or evening, the entire Rico family and their employees will collapse into bed after nearly a week of frantic preparations.

The small shop at Palisade Avenue and 54th Street echoes with holiday greetings.

Hams were prepared on the bone, above, and glazed, below.

Whole butterflied pigs.

Cuban tamales, front, are among holiday side dishes.

Joe Rico made the Cuban sandwiches today.

The regular breakfast special.

A Cuban sandwich or Cubano at La Pola.

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