José Arias,
El Inmobiliario
The main municipality of Moca, in the province of Espaillat, is the birthplace of mofongo in the Dominican Republic.
A popular dish made with mashed fried plantains seasoned with garlic and other spices, and whose designation of origin is attributed to the sister island of Puerto Rico.
And you find out by trying it. For that reason, El Inmobiliario visited Moca and selected one of the leading and most emblematic mofongo establishments in the beautiful and fertile province.
We're referring to the Creole food restaurant, Las 4F, located on the Professor Juan Bosch highway that connects the province of La Vega with Espaillat. For more precise directions, it's near the community of El Caimito, very close to the City of Viaduct, as the urban center of Moca was formerly known.
Las 4F is a beautiful country house built of wood. Ideal for escaping the city routine on a Saturday afternoon. It has ample parking and a children's play area.
Why the name 4F, the dear readers of El Inmobiliario, Útil y Veraz might ask?
The answer lies with the restaurant's operations manager, Francis Acosta, who points out that family unity is the driving force behind the business and his brothers' ability to provide quality and good service to visitors.
Operations Manager, Francis Acosta. Justo Feliz/El Inmobiliario.
The four siblings whose names begin with f: Frankely, Frankelina, Franklyn, and Francis.
The 4F brothers united in family quality. Justo Feliz/El Inmobiliario.
“We, the four brothers, founded the company ten years ago. We are all originally from this area of Caimito,” Acosta said.
He clarified that initially the idea was not to establish a gastronomic space specializing in offering mofongo to its visitors.
“Nothing like that. We started by offering spicy goat dishes, tripe, chicken, beef and fish soups. On the recommendation of our chef we started offering mofongo and since then the demand has not stopped.”.
Acosta reported that 4F is one of the companies integrated into the Espaillat Province Ecotourism Cluster (ProEspaillat), which allows the restaurant to be visited by the large number of tourists who visit the northern region of the country, not only Puerto Plata, but also Santiago and the province, through tour operators.
“Our membership in the Ecotourism Cluster gives us the opportunity to be part of the gastronomic and historical route of the Espaillat province. We receive tourists from all over the world, and they all love the mofongo we prepare,” the businessman emphasized.
Likewise, the restaurant is affiliated with the cultural and gastronomic activities carried out by the Ministry of Culture in the Cibao region and in Santo Domingo.
“In the near future, we want to focus on establishing a food fair in Moca, primarily dedicated to the local mofongo. To that end, we are in talks with establishments similar to ours, with the goal of making this project a reality,” he explained.
Crispy and hot
The quality of the dishes and the customer service are the key to the success of 4F. Justo Feliz/El Inmobiliario.
The businessman from Moca emphasized that the 4F mofongo is served at his establishment crispy, hot and delicious.
Acosta offers us the recipe for this Mocan and Cibao delicacy: plantains (of course), garlic (which gives it the special touch we all know), olive oil, chicken broth and pork rinds.
The menu
Mofongo at 4F isn't just about garlic and plantains. The variety is delicious and diverse. You can order it with pork rinds, cheese, chicken, or sausage.
You can also order it mixed (with two ingredients of your choice) or triple with three components, shrimp and complete.
And where does mofongo come from?
According to data collected on Wikipedia, mofongo is a traditional Puerto Rican dish with roots in the cultures of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic), West Africa and the remnants of the Taíno culture.
These wonderful and delicious Afro-Caribbean cultural blends resulted in the creation of a dish called fufu in West Africa. A distant cousin of mofongo, very similar to our beloved mangú.
In each country, fufu developed its own unique dish from its origins and cultural influences that were very different from the original native dish, such as Trinidad and Tobago (plantain pong also known as tum-tum), Cuba (plantain fufu and machuquillo), Dominican Republic (mangú), Haiti (tomtom) and Puerto Rico (mofongo), Colombia (cayeye), Ecuador (bolón), Costa Rica (angú) and the Amazon region and Peru (tacacho).
Crispy and flavorful, mofongo is best enjoyed with an ice-cold beer. Treat yourself to a taste of this proudly Cibao and Dominican dish.
The property is a beautiful country house. Justo Feliz/El Inmobiliario.
Text originally published in the 7th edition of El Inmobiliario print.
