Puerto Rican Festival, Humboldt Park

This afternoon, the spouse and I headed over to the Puerto Rican Festival in Humboldt Park. We usually go on a Sunday around noon, before things get too crowded or too hot.

This time we arrived to find clear skies, a cool breeze, and what seemed like about a quarter mile of grilling kababs, piles of empanadillas, heaps of arroz con gandules, shimmering racks of grilling "country steaks", and pyramids of golden brown plátanos.

We outfitted ourselves with some real lemonade -- made with lemons, limes, and love as the vendor explained -- and checked out the rides. But our decision to consume some grilled pork skewers, plátanos, and an arepa the size of a flapjack ultimately kept us away from the tilt-a-whirl and the Feuerball (an imported German ride? a Humboldt Park classic?).

We finished up with some coconut ice cream, full of pieces of grated coconut, and then set off for home, completely content.

A footnote: I've never seen that many Chicago police officers at any festival in the city with the exception of last year's Puerto Rican Festival (or the year before, or the year before that . . ). We strolled through the festival and around to the boat house and were never out of shouting distance of at least two police officers. In retrospect, I should have asked some of them where the best food was, since many of them were clearly enjoying it. They did not appear to be more successful than the average citizen, however, when it came to the games.

Does anyone else have a report from the Puerto Rican Festival?

I did not make it out to the PR festival this year, sadly. However, my girlfriend went on Thursday afternoon and evening for the Reggaeton night. She found the one beverage vendor who was spiking the pinas. His sign said "Everybody Loves Raymond"... now we know why!

I hope your girlfriend was born before your username

I was there Sunday around noon as well, and was happy for the minimal crowds and almost non-existent lines at the food stands.

Had a delicious plate of lechon, arroz con candules, beans, and buttery yucca. My vegetarian husband enjoyed his arepas, but we suspect he may have been charged a gringo price of $5 for what amounted to little more than a quesadilla. No matter -- it was more than compensated by an ear of corn roasted in the husk, kernels slightly underdone (in a good way) and bursting with sweetness: just a buck, which brought the complete price of his lunch to only $6. Not too shabby for homemade fairway food.

The best part was taking a stroll behind the food stalls and watching all the attendants prepping plantains and swirling them through amazing cauldron-like cookware. We left shortly afterward to avoid the heat, and also passed troops of police officers enjoying plates of food (is it true officers in uniform eat almost universally for free? A somewhat unrelated question: we've always noticed small groups of officers faithfully supporting independent eateries a bit off the beaten path. Can anyone speak to this phenomenon? It certainly dispels the donut myth--or is possibly an interesting extension?)

ChristyP wrote: (is it true officers in uniform eat almost universally for free? A somewhat unrelated question: we've always noticed small groups of officers faithfully supporting independent eateries a bit off the beaten path. Can anyone speak to this phenomenon? It certainly dispels the donut myth--or is possibly an interesting extension?)

Official policy forbids Chicago police officers from accepting gratuities, and that includes meals and coffee. Still, some business owners offer free meals because they think they ought to, some do it because they mistakenly think that they have to, and others offer freebies because they want to encourage a police presence in their business or on their block (and each of these points of view is reflected among some officers). How this translates into practice, I can't say.

I also noticed all the plantain peeling going on. If this guy had been there, I think he could have sold crates of his magical kitchen implements!
http://www.lococonlosplatanos.com/

Note: I've never used the device myself, and am not related to anyone who sells them. I just marvelled at the amount of work that went into peeling all those plátanos!

MariaTheresa wrote:Still, some business owners offer free meals because they think they ought to, some do it because they mistakenly think that they have to, and others offer freebies because they want to encourage a police presence in their business or on their block

When my father ran our diner downtown 1962-1997, officers got free coffee and pie, $1-$1.50 off of sandwiches, and $2-$2.50 off of dinners. For example, he'd round $5.28 down to $3. He did it, because he thought it was the right thing to do, because most of the officers were on foot patrols and needed a place to get away from the elements for a few minutes, and of course he didn't mind the police presence.

As a teenager who usually ran the restaurant for a few hours at a time in the summer, I know I appreciated them whenever a con man from the Greyhound station next door would come in and start hustling people. More than once, an officer who was lingering over the end of his coffee would just walk by the front and escort the gentleman out of the store without breaking stride, and give me a nod and a smile as they were leaving.

ChristyP wrote:is it true officers in uniform eat almost universally for free?

A somewhat unrelated question: we've always noticed small groups of officers faithfully supporting independent eateries a bit off the beaten path. Can anyone speak to this phenomenon?

1) No, it's not true that offices in uniform almost always eat free.
2) The independent eateries you see them probably have low prices. See #1.

ChristyP wrote:We left shortly afterward to avoid the heat, and also passed troops of police officers enjoying plates of food (is it true officers in uniform eat almost universally for free? A somewhat unrelated question: we've always noticed small groups of officers faithfully supporting independent eateries a bit off the beaten path. Can anyone speak to this phenomenon? It certainly dispels the donut myth--or is possibly an interesting extension?)

ChrisyP,

I have a number of police officers in my immediate family, brother in-law and a gaggle of law enforcement nieces and nephews. I used to meet one my nieces who was* a Chicago PD detective, and often her partner,** once a month or so for lunch, never saw them so much as get a discount, much less a free meal, unless I was buying, of course.

Of the police officers I've met some have been foodies, some not, just like any other occupation. For example, one of my nephews, a Sergeant with the Los Angeles Sheriffs dept, carries a copy of Jonathan Gold's Counter Intelligence in both his personal and work vehicles, another, who lives in Chicago, thinks Applebee's is top notch.

Enjoy,
Gary

**She decided a career change was in order and just graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School.
**As in the detective she worked with, not significant other.