by Cristina |
Last Updated: May 11, 2021 I have posted two recipes for picadillo on this very blog. If you haven’t checked them out please do. They are both great, one is a bit fancier and technical than the other, but the taste in both is great. There are links at the bottom of this page.
There are a few things I am a traditionalist about. Since a lady never discloses what she is a traditionalist about, I will get right to it. When you are making picadillo you include raisins. Period. Punto final. No questions asked. You throw the raisins in and you keep going.
Why?
I have no idea. You do it because that is what the recipe calls for obviously. In an effort to work my research muscles, so you don’t have to, I am putting my crack research skills to work. Watch out google, here we come.
Not surprisingly, there is not much information about why there are raisins in picadillo. I know there is a controversy here and I am going to stir it up. Get it?
Anyways. The first few results in google talk about the ingredients of a classic picadillo. Ground beef. Easy. Tomatoes, or tomato sauce. Potatoes. Then from there we get regional differences. I had no idea picadillo was popular in the philippines. But guess what, it is.
All of the top recipes include raisins. However, there is no reason why we are including this somewhat random ingredient in one of our most favorite foods of all time.
I decide to expand my search. Instead of focusing on why raisins are included in one of my favorite dishes, I expand my criteria a bit.
What are Raisins?
Dried grapes. Not too complicated. Why do these things even exist? It turns out the history of the raisin dates back to 2000 BC. One of nature’s happy accidents. Grapes would stay on the vines too long and they were naturally dried out.
One curious ancient dude took a bite and noticed these things are sweet and they don’t go bad. Boom! Raisins are born.
Then between 120 – 900 BC the Phoenicians started colonial vineyards in the areas of Malaga and Valencia. These growing areas have the perfect climate for making raisins. Picadillo is a natively spanish dish, so we are starting to get a better understanding of how raisins worked their way into picadillo.
Another Controversy?
On a side note, another random Cuban tradition is eating 12 grapes at New Years. Are these grape / raisin traditions related? I think so.
Back to why we include raisins. It is a spanish dish, spaniards have the perfect climate for making raisins. Ok. I am starting to understand.
But why are we throwing a sweet component into an otherwise savory dish? Back to google. The search term, “why do we put raisins in savory foods.”
Now we are onto something. The first result. I Beg You, Please, Give Raisins a Chance. Tell me more.
The takeaway from the article, raisins add sweetness and a depth of flavor to the sauce, and they actually rehydrate while they cook, transforming into delightfully-squishy deflated grapes. Ok. Not sure if I am sold on the squishy deflated grape aspect. However, the sweetness and depth of flavor do make sense. Instead of just adding sugar to the dish, which many savory dishes call for, we add raisins.
In a beautiful rustic dish that is a call back to our mediterranean roots, we have meat, tomatoes, potatoes, olives and raisins swirling around together. I can connect back directly with the 900 BC Phoenicians who were mincing (picar) their meat and throwing it into a bowl with their sun dried raisins and freshly picked olives. It’s in my blood. It’s in my heritage. The raisins belong in that dish.
If the taste and heritage aspects of throwing raisins into a savory dish don’t do it for you, then I will leave you with possibly the most important reason to include raisins in your picadillo.
If I Had To, So Do You
I ask you to take a trip down memory lane with me. We are not going back to Phoenician times, now we are going back to your childhood. You were a cute little thing, I know I was. Carefree little Cristina, those were the days. If there is one thing I remember eating as a kid it was picadillo. Guess why? That’s right. I remember the very raisins we have been discussing.
You might think that little Cristina loved the raisins and loved the depth of flavor they added to the dish. You would be dead wrong. Little Cristina hated those raisins. I would pick each one out of the dish and curse my grandmother for including them in the picadillo. It makes no sense. Abuela, why are there raisins in the picadillo? They are gross!
Guess what little Cristina, I get it, but if you think I am going to let my kids get away without having to pick their raisins out of my picadillo you have another thing coming. It’s a right of passage. Welcome to the unfair world of adult food! Pick out the raisins just like I did. Then one magical day, you will either be too tired or too old to care any longer and you will accept, just as I did, that the raisins go in the picadillo!!!
Want to torture your kids with raisins? Here are two picadillo recipes for you.
First, is a more millennial version of picadillo. Some substitutions and shortcuts were taken.
Second, is a more traditional version, and like most traditions it calls for a little bit more work.