Vegetarian Eating in Orlando: Ask About Lard and Sofrito

Vegetarian eating in Orlando is easiest when you know where meat hides in the Latin and Caribbean cooking that fills much of the city's menus. Beans, rice and fried fruit look meatless, but they may be cooked with ham, lard or meat stock. Here are the questions to ask and a way to keep notes.

No dish is suitable by default, so ask the kitchen each time.

How do you manage vegetarian eating in Orlando?

Start by deciding your rule. Some vegetarians avoid meat but accept fish or animal fat. Others avoid every animal product. Say your rule in plain words, and ask the server to confirm with the cook.

Orlando's tourist menus are broad and many kitchens will adapt a dish if you ask early, but the city's Cuban and Puerto Rican restaurants and trucks have their own habits. Those cuisines are built on rice, beans, fried fruit and root vegetables, which are plant foods, and also on pork, which flavors many of them. The Cuban and Puerto Rican guide describes the dishes, and this one covers the questions.

What is sofrito, and does it contain meat?

The seasoned base of many Puerto Rican dishes is a saute of garlic, yellow onion, culantro, cilantro and peppers, according to Wikipedia. Traditionally it is cooked with tomato, oil or lard and cured pork. Cuban kitchens have their own seasoning bases, so ask any cook directly, whatever the cuisine.

The practical question is short: is your sofrito made with lard or ham? Many kitchens use oil and no meat, and others use both. You cannot tell by looking.

Are beans and rice vegetarian?

Not always. Wikipedia reports that beans in Puerto Rican cooking are often cooked with ham or salchichon, and that sofrito, pigeon pea rice and other staples may include pork. Cuban rice and black beans are described as a typical meal, cooked together or separately, and cooks may season them with pork too.

Ask whether the beans are cooked with meat, whether the rice is cooked in a meat stock and whether annatto oil, which Wikipedia says may be steeped in lard, is used. If the answer is that everything is cooked in oil, you have a good base. If the cook is unsure, choose another dish.

What about plantains and root vegetables?

Fruit and root vegetables are the vegetarian heart of the cuisine. Tostones are twice-fried green slices, sweet ones are fried ripe, and yuca is a root vegetable served fried or with a garlic and citrus sauce. Wikipedia lists cassava, yautia, sweet potato and plantain among the viandas, the starchy staples that are plant based.

The questions here are about frying and seasoning. Ask whether the fryer is shared with meat items, whether the garlic sauce is made with any broth and whether any dish is finished with pork. Cooks can usually say, and the answers are useful notes. A cook who is proud of a dish is usually glad to explain it, so a polite question tends to open a conversation, and the conversation often turns up a better dish than the one you first asked about.

Which dishes should you ask about?

Alcapurrias and pasteles often have meat fillings, according to Wikipedia. Guisadas, the braised stews, may include ham or pig's feet to thicken the sauce. Mofongo may be served with a stew or with fried pork. A salted cod stew is pork free but not meat free of fish.

If the menu is long, find the sections that list rice, beans and sides, and build a plate from those. A plate of rice, beans, fried ripe fruit and a salad can be a full meal, depending on how it is cooked. Ask every time, since recipes vary by kitchen.

How do you ask about cross-contact?

Shared fryers, grills and pans can carry meat into a plant dish. If your rule is about belief, decide how much that matters to you. If it is about allergy or medical need, say so clearly and let the kitchen decide what it can do. Treat the answer as information and never as a guarantee.

How do you keep vegetarian notes with Mosey?

After a meal, open the Mosey app and rate the dish, not only the place. Write what you asked and what you were told, such as beans cooked in oil, no meat stock, and add a tag that fits and a photo of the menu line. Tag the people you dined with.

Make a list called Orlando meat-free plates and invite a friend by link to add theirs. Follow friends who share your rule to see what they rated and saved. A tag shows what the person who rated it chose, so confirm every detail with the place. The ratings page covers rating by the dish.

Where else can you read about Orlando?

Related reading: the citrus guide, the finding good food guide and the family friendly guide. See the Orlando page, the Florida page and the US food guides.

At your next rice and beans, open the Mosey app, write down what the kitchen told you and rate the plate.