Sofrito: a Quick, Go-to Flavor Booster

Anyone interested in finding an easy shortcut to cooking tasty dishes should familiarize themselves with a wonderful condiment available at C Town supermarkets in the Hartford area. Instead of spending the time to make your own, you can purchase ready-to-use sofrito in various sized containers and from various manufacturers. Sofrito forms the basis of many dishes in Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean and elsewhere. Sometimes it goes by other names, and the ingredients vary. C Town carries various Puerto Rican varieties which contain an assortment of sweet peppers, culantro (broad leaf cilantro or shadow benni), garlic, onions, tomatoes, etc. Sofrito is not spicy. Add to any stew, rice dish, egg dish, beans or soup. Keep some in your fridge and you won’t regret it. Gaspar recommends most any brand, just be aware that Sofrito Ponce has a lot of salt in it, unlike the other brands. It’s sold refrigerated, in the vegetable section.

By the way, Sofrito Puerto Rico (the one on the bottom in the photo) is excellent and made locally, in East Hartford. Read about the company in this Hartford Courant article.
While Gaspar always procures sofrito at C Town, the Courant article says Sofrito Puerto Rico is sold at Whole Foods.

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