I'm tired of clarifying my little marinade secret so I decided to blog it! It may look like a pesto but it's really a spicy, aromatic and herbaceous marinade— a universal marinade for meat and seafood on my little island.
In our family, simply using salt and pepper to season meat results in loss of kitchen credo. In the islands, big flavor and heat have become our signature tastes and those start with a great marinade made from the various abundant herbs that grow like weeds. This green seasoning has many iterations in other cultures, my Puerto Rican friends call it a soffrito. You can use it to spice up your Sunday BBQ or your weekday stew, it's very easy to make and stays in the freezer while awaiting your next meatfest.
This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2009.