October 2015
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A Cultural Publication for Puerto Ricans From the editor . Rafael Hernández (October 24, 1892 December 11, 1965), is considered by many to be the greatest composer of Puerto Rican music. Hernández (birth name: Rafael Hernández Marín) was born in the town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, into a poor family. As a child, he learned the craft of cigar making, from which he made a modest living. He also grew to love music and asked his parents to permit him to become a full-time music student. When he was 12 years old, Hernández studied music in San Juan, under the guidance of music professors Jose Ruellan Lequenica and Jesús Figueroa. He learned to play many musical instruments, among them the YOUR AD clarinet, tuba, violin, piano and guitar. However, according to many Puerto Rican music historians, it was when he learned how to write music that his life and the history of Puerto Rican music would change forever. FITS HERE In 1937, Hernández Marin wrote "Preciosa", while in Mexico. Years later, in 1947, he returned to Puerto Rico and became orchestra director at the government-owned WIPR Radio. His music became an important part of Puerto Rican culture. Hernandez formed Cuarteto Victoria with Pedro Ortiz Dávila, Rafael Rodríguez, and Franciso López Cruz with whom he recorded the song. A Puerto Rican group led by Manuel Index Page A. Jiménez (“Canario”) recorded Hernández’s Preciosa, which, together Credits 2 with Lamento Borincano became unofficial national anthems of Puerto Rico. Restaurant Review 2 Visit Puerto Rico/Trivia, Refranes 3 Yo sé lo que son los encantos, de mi Borinquen hermosa Taínos - Calendar - Don Guillo 4 por eso la quiero yo tanto y siempre la llamaré preciosa Diego el Tavernero 5 Primos/Nicaragua 6 Isla del Caribe Isla del Caribe, Food Blogs – Velez/Jaime in the Kitchen 7 Borinquen. 8 Nuestra Cocina Criolla More recipes 9 Betty Nieves-Ilyas Column 10 Siempre Boricua, Ivonne Figueroa OCTOBER 2015 OCTOBER 2015 EL BORICUA PAGE 2 C R E D I T S El Picoteo Tapas Bar ©1995-2015 All articles and photos are the property of El Convento Hotel of the writer or photographer. 100 Calle Cristo Viejo San Juan Staff Ivonne Figueroa Executive Editor & Gen. Mgr. Lisa Santiago Brochu Javier Figueroa Restaurant Reviews Publisher Anna María Vélez de Blas, Chef Recipe Tester and Writer Jaime Garibay Rivera, PhD Jaime in the Kitchen, Food Blog Guillermo ‘Don Guillo’ Andares, PhD Gardening Tips for Puerto Ricans Elena Cintrón Colón Primos Editor Diego Matos Dupree Tavernero You could make a meal of the small dishes that dominate the menu at this tapas Joe Román Santos restaurant on a mezzanine balcony at the Hotel El Convento, once a Carmelite Travel Editor Convent. Lisa Santiago Brochu, Chef It is open air eating at El Picoteo where you will enjoy a beautiful view of the Restaurant Reviews hotel, your eye always landing on something interesting to look at under the shade of fully grown trees and table umbrellas in this picturesque courtyard Luisa Yaliz Alaniz Cintrón, MD restaurant. Guest Writer Betty Nieves-Ilyas You won't go wrong ordering the grilled cuttlefish or the pistachio-crusted Guest Writer salmon with a Manchego-cheese sauce and passing them around the table. If Sally Rubio Canales you're not into sharing, there are several kinds of paella that arrive on huge plates. Guest Writer Amazing antipastos, pinchos and paella. A lolling, extravagantly drawn out tapas dinner set in the courtyard of one of the oldest, most beautiful hotels ever. Support Staff Everything was great! The service was also very good! Fernando Alemán Jr - Web Consultant There's a long, lively bar inside; one dining area overlooks a pleasant courtyard, José Rubén de Castro -Photo Editor and the other looks out onto Calle Cristo. Even if you have dinner plans María Yisel Mateo Ortiz -Development elsewhere, consider stopping here for a nightcap or a midday pick-me-up. Special Thanks to . * Lisa Santiago Brochu, is a trained professional Chef and a former restaurant owner in New York. She travels to Puerto Rico on business often. Her island Tayna Miranda Zayas of MarkNetGroup.com roots are in Caguas. EL BORICUA is a monthly cultural publication, There are three Puerto Rico's you need to learn established in 1995, that is Puerto Rican owned and about; the old, the new and the natural. Learn about operated. We are NOT sponsored by any club or our little terruño. Subscribe to EL BORICUA, a organization. Our goal is to present and promote our monthly cultural publication for Puerto Ricans. "treasure" which is our Cultural Identity - “the Puerto Rican experience.” EL BORICUA is presented in http://www.elboricua.com/subscribenow.html English and is dedicated to the descendants of Puerto Ricans wherever they may be. OCTOBER 2015 EL BORICUA PAGE 3 San Juan is the largest hub in the Caribbean and the second largest cruise port in the western hemisphere. It is a major port of call for almost every cruise ship heading that way. As further incentive for the cruising crowd, Puerto Rico offers a Fun Card which gives disembarking passengers discounts on shopping, dining and lodging at participating businesses on the island. Those from San Juan are known as sanjuaneros. Speaking Puerto Rican . Mi Puerto Rico In Puerto Rico, Spaniards arrived from many Joe Roman Santos, Editor regions within Spain and brought with them their own regional dialects/accents. However, the Joe is a schoolteacher in Houston and spends most of his holidays and summers in great majority of European immigrants to Puerto Puerto Rico. Rico throughout its history came from the Hispano-Arabic area of Spain known La Capilla de Cristo is perched atop the ancient wall that once protected the old as Andalusia. Another great majority arrived from city at the very south end of Cristo Street and just a short walk from the San North Africa, most notably the Canary Islands. Juan Cathedral, next to el parque de las Palomas. The chapel, which is now a When visiting Tenerife or Las Palmas (Islas Puerto Rican landmark, was originally built in 1753 and is a fairly small but Canarias, Spain), Ricans are usually taken at first quaint and historic chapel. The entrance has a large wrought-iron gate and a hearing for fellow-Canarians from a distant part small single church bell adorns to rooftop. of the Canary archipelago. It is the accents of Before the Chapel was built in the these regions which served as the basis of the mid- to late-1700’s, anyone venturing style of Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico. toward this end of Cristo Street needed to be careful, or else they El Viejo San Juan or San Juan Antiguo, is the might fall off the towering wall to their oldest settlement within Puerto Rico and is the death. In fact, just such a fate once historic colonial section of San Juan, Puerto Rico. seemed assured of the man who built It was listed on the U.S. National Register of the Chapel. Historic Places in 1972 as "Zona Histórica de San Juan" (San Juan Historic Site), and declared According to the local legend related a National Historic Landmark District in March to me by the guy in the photo, the builder found himself one day riding 2013. aboard a runaway horse heading straight toward the end of the street. Try as he might, the man just could not get the horse to stop. As the steep drop drew closer, the man prayed to God, begging for salvation. Suddenly, at the very last instant, the horse stopped… directly on the spot where Cristo Chapel now sits. The event was seen as a miracle, which was marked by the construction of the Chapel. It took 23 years to build the small and simple structure that today, some 230 years later, remains an enduring symbol of faith… and one of Old San http://www.elboricua.com/CCNOW_Calderos.html Juan’s most unique attractions. As for the guy in the photo, his name is Antonio. Born in a private home just a few blocks from Cristo Street, this 70 year-old man comes to this spot just about BORICUA . every day to play his accordion for anyone who happens by. If you have the is a powerful word. time, he’s good for an interesting story or two as well. It is our history, it is our cultural affirmation, Entrance is free of charge, however it is only open on Tuesdays from 8am to 5pm. The phone number for Capilla del Cristo is 787-722-0861. Be sure to call it is a declaration, ahead. it is a term of endearment, it is poetic . it is us. OCTOBER 2015 EL BORICUA PAGE 4 Oct. 2 Rafael Hernández writes ''Lamento Borincano'' in New York City - copyright 1930 Oct. 4, 1919 René Márques, author of La Carreta and short stories writer is born. Oct. 6, 1822 Manuel A. Alonso, doctor, writer, and journalist is born in San Juan. He is known as ''el padre del costumbrismo puertorriqueño''. Alonso wrote El Gíbaro (old spelling) the first book on Puerto Rican folk customs and traditions. Oct. 7, 1899 José Dávila Morales, son of famous Puerto Rican poet Virgilio Dávila, was a medical doctor, published poet, and writer. He The Taino pantheon of spirits, called cemís, was divided according was honored by the Ateneo Puertorriqueño for his poetry. to the dichotomies of gender and cultural/noncultural. There were Oct. 12, 1492 Cristóforo Colombo discovers America. principal male and female spirits of fruitfulness, Yucahu, the giver of manioc, and Attabeira, the mother goddess.