Gus Toribio, 43, and Yissel Acevedo, 42, are far from where they grew up.
But the couple’s South Wilkes-Barre kitchen transforms into a slice of the Dominican Republic when they make the country’s national breakfast, mangu.
Dominicans have been eating mangu for decades.
“It’s been on our dinner table since the early 1900s but I believe [it could be] even earlier than that,” Toribio said.
Toribio and Acevedo met in high school in New Jersey after each immigrating to the United States from the Dominican Republic and have been together ever since.
Toribio came to the United States at 9 and Acevedo at 12, but the smells from their kitchen make it seem like they never left.
They miss the sea, the sun and the tropical fruits of their home country but making the breakfast spread gives them a taste of home.
Mangu is made from smashing boiled plantains. It is served as a side dish to a much more elaborate breakfast spread, complete with fried eggs, cheese, salami and sausage. However, it is the centerpiece of the meal and what people look forward to eating most on the plate, comparable to the fan favorite mashed potato in American meals like Thanksgiving dinner.
“The mangu will become basically like your mashed potato,” Toribio said.
Families eat the traditional breakfast daily back on the island, and mothers and grandmothers are up as early as 5 a.m. to start the meal.
In the United States, Toribio and Acevedo make the meal as often as they can, which is most weekends and holidays, but they wish they could still eat it everyday like they did as kids.
Cooking mangu is a tradition that has been passed down through generations of their families, but they’ve had to alter the morning ritual to fit their family’s American lifestyle.
“A lot of the tradition changes because of the routine,” Toribio said.
Growing up, children were part of that routine, helping to gather eggs from the chickens and peel plantains. Toribio reluctantly fed the animals on his grandfather’s farm while growing up in the Dominican Republic. Now, he wishes he could go back and appreciate those chores more.
“Now I go up to Hillside Farms because I miss having to feed the chickens and cows,” he said.
The couple wakes early when preparing the meal for holidays and family gatherings, bustling around the kitchen before the rest of the house is even awake to fill the house with delicious smells and a plentiful breakfast spread. Because they make the meal so often, the steps have become muscle memory.
Making mangu is an event, no matter how many times the couple has made it.
Latin music plays softly in the background while they move in tandem around the kitchen, somehow anticipating each other’s next step. Acevedo hums along to the song while handing Toribio the next ingredient before he can even ask for it.
“Even though you’re sleepy, you still sort of do this stuff automatically,” Toribio said of making the meal in the early mornings.
The meal’s heartiness carries people through their long days at work.
“This is your everyday breakfast,” Toribio said. “This is like a must have before heading to work.”
While the eggs, salami, sausage and cheese are being fried in a pan of oil, Acevedo still jumps away from the crackling and popping oil.
“The funny thing is that my mom and his mom, they will do things like nothing,” she said, saying they will just reach into the pan with bare hands to retrieve the fried foods.
Acevedo grew up being cooked for by her family members, and Toribio taught her the basics of the breakfast when they started dating. Now, she glides around the kitchen, grabbing ingredients without looking and smashing plantains like a pro.
“I taught Acevedo how to cook some of this stuff,” Toribio said while proudly looking at his partner.
The couple’s three children love this meal, even though they are reluctant to learn the recipe from their parents.
For us, they made a huge pot of mangu, and when asked if they would eat the leftovers through the next few days, they laughed.
“There will be no leftovers!” Toribio said.
“Remember, I don’t make this everyday,” Acevedo joked, saying her children would devour it as soon as they got home.
They work hard to preserve these traditions, both out of honor for the family members that came before them and to remind them of their childhoods.
“As grandparents get older, they let us be the one to continue the work,” Toribio said.
With the amount of work that goes into the meal, which takes about an hour from start to finish, everyone is expected to sit down and eat together.
Mealtime is an important time of day for Dominican families, and the mealtime expectation is something Toribio and Acevedo have carried into their own family, even if they can only have the meal on weekends and special occasions.
“At 7:30/8:00 [a.m.] everyone has to be right there,” Toribio said.
“Ready for work, ready for school, whatever it is, but everyone together,” added Acevedo.
When asked if making and eating mangu reminds them of home, Toribio and Acevedo replied in unison: “All the time.”
Toribio joked it has become “a battle of who makes it better” among the couple and their family members.
They serve the colorful and fragrant breakfast spread after an hour and a half of boiling, smashing, frying, chopping and seasoning.
To wash it all down, Acevedo makes another Dominican classic, morir soñando, which is a drink made of orange juice, sweetened condensed milk, sugar and vanilla. Acevedo artfully arranged the plate, topping the creamy mangu with crescents of bright purple fried pickled onions.
The food steams, making mouths water and stomachs grumble. While a staple in their family, it’s something they will never get tired of eating.
“I never wanted it so bad [as] today,” Acevedo said before digging into her own overflowing plate.
They take a bite of mangu, savoring the taste of a longstanding tradition preserved.
Mangu
Ingredients:
- 6 to 8 green plantains
- Salt
- Butter or margarine
- Cream cheese (optional)
- 1 red or white onion
- Vinegar
- Chicken bouillon
Onions:
1. Fill a small container with ½ cup of vinegar and 1 chicken bouillon cube.
2. Slice 1 onion in thin strips.
3. Put the onion slices into the vinegar and bouillon mix.
4. Leave overnight in the fridge to pickle.
Preparation:
1. Fill a pot with water, add 1.5 tablespoons of salt to the water and bring to a boil.
2. Peel 6 to 8 plantains and cut them in half.
3. Add halved plantains to boiling water.
4. Reduce stove to medium heat .
5. Cover the pot and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the plantains are soft.
6. After plantains are soft, add a cup of cold water or ice to the hot water/plantains.
7. After 5 minutes, drain the water from the pot while the plantains remain in the pot.
8. In the same pot, add one stick of butter and one cup of ice or cold water to the plantains.
9. OPTIONAL: Add 1 tablespoon of cream cheese, or add cream cheese to your taste.
10. Smash mixture with a masher until it turns into a pasty/smooth pudding consistency.
11. Top with pickled onions (optional to fry the pickled onions).
12. Serve with fried eggs, fried cheese, fried salami, fried sausage and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
