Cuchifritos: The Puerto Rican Snack Beloved By Anthony Bourdain

If there is anyone to trust wholeheartedly for food recommendations, it's the late Anthony Bourdain. His passion and style changed the trajectory of food media forever, and his show "Parts Unknown" stood out for celebrating cuisines and cultures from every corner of the world. One 2014 episode led him to the Bronx, where he explored the vibrant Puerto Rican food scene, which wouldn't be complete without cuchifritos.

The snack's name derives from the Spanish dish cochino frito, translating directly to "fried pig." Cuchifrito has become a common label for Puerto Rican fried street food, including a variety of meat-filled bites like alcapurrias and pastelillos, but it originally referred to fried pork dishes. As Bourdain learned on his Bronx tour, the most traditional cuchifritos are various cuts of juicy pork that have been chopped into bite sized pieces and deep fried.

"What's not to like?" Bourdain rhetorically asked after discovering what was for lunch. After tasting it, Bourdain declared, "It's amazing. It's amazing." Cuchifritos typically include every bit of the pig, from the belly to the ears, and up on 188th street, Bourdain happily accepted anything put on his plate. He feasted on juicy chunks of deep-fried pork shoulder, skin, and belly alongside some other beloved cuchifritos: ​​morcilla (blood sausage) and cuajo (hog maw).

Bourdain was lucky enough to get the inside scoop from Justin Fornal, better known as his bold gourmand TV persona, Baron Ambrosia, who is defined as the "Culinary Ambassador of the Bronx." Fornal was quick to bring Bourdain to a neighborhood favorite: 188 Bakery Cuchifritos up in Fordham Heights. The old-school restaurant may look like just another bodega with its glowing neon signs and battered lotto banner, but that's part of the charm. Like Fornal told Bourdain, the establishment "oozes and emulates the flavor of the Bronx." It only took one whiff of all the sizzling meats for Bourdain to agree, seeming to enjoy every bite more than the last.

Fornal described a perfectly tender piece of pork as, "A little meat candy bar." And Bourdain concurred without hesitation. The magically crispy and fatty pieces hold so much flavor that they hardly need any accouterments, but 188 Cuchifritos finishes off its heaping pile of meats with a ladle of gravy before passing it over the counter. Bourdain was almost speechless when admiring the restaurant's gigantic spread, dubbing it the "center of the pork universe." He was so blown away that he even placed an order to go on his way out. Bourdain grabbed every opportunity to express his love for the NYC food scene, but discovering this unexpected eatery surely deepened his appreciation for Latin American cuisine.