Sofrito
A slow-cooked aromatic base of onion, pepper, garlic and herbs, spiced with cumin, paprika or annatto.
Also: recaito, sofregit, soffritto, refogado
Sofrito means lightly fried. Spain, Italy, Portugal and Latin America each have a version: Catalan sofregit of onion and tomato, Italian soffritto of onion, celery and carrot, Portuguese refogado, Puerto Rican sofrito of peppers, onion, garlic, culantro and cilantro, with annatto oil, cumin or oregano. It forms the flavour foundation, cooked gently in oil before other ingredients join. In the Caribbean and Cuba, it seasons beans and rice. The idea parallels the Indian masala base and the Cajun holy trinity, showing how cooks the world over start with aromatics and fat. Spices are usually bloomed in the same pan.