Chicago restaurateur Juan "Peter" Figueroa[1] introduced the jibarito at Borinquen Restaurant, a Puerto Ricanrestaurant in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, in 1996.[1][2] The twice-fried plantain chip used as the base of the sandwich is inspired by Venezuelan patacones, also known in Puerto Rico as tostones. The name is a diminutive of jíbaro and means "little yokel".[3]
The sandwich's popularity soon spread to other Latin American restaurants around Chicago, including Mexican, Cuban and Argentinian establishments, and jibaritos now can be found in some mainstream restaurants as well.[4]
Related sandwiches
Other Latin American sandwiches served on fried plantains predate the jibarito. They include a Venezuelan specialty called a patacones and a 1991 invention by Jorge Muñoz and Coquí Feliciano served at their restaurant, Plátano Loco, in Aguada, Puerto Rico.[5]
Reception
The Daily Meal included the jibarito in their article "12 Life-Changing Sandwiches You've Never Heard Of".[6]Time Out called the jibarito an "ingenious creation", while National Geographic listed it as one of Chicago's most iconic dishes.[7][8]
