Dominican Republic Sports & Education Academy

My mother was a great cook and one of her many secrets was tossing a bullion cube into rice, soups, stews and gravy, among other things.  The addition made food snap, crackle and pop with flavor.  I would later learn that the main reason for the added zing was that the cube contained a healthy dose of monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer often used in Chinese food.

Packets of sopita

Here in the Dominican Republic, that magic touch to food is achieved with sopita, which is actually the name of the soup base created by this Latin American bullion cube.  The literal translation is “little soup.” It comes in a variety of flavors, but most people stick with chicken.

Sopita is put into just about everything here; it is a basic for just about any recipe.  I have learned to cook a lot of Dominican food and sopita has become a staple in my cupboard.  I have taken to adding it to spaghetti sauce, and make a broth of it to baste roast chicken.  I even stir a crushed cube into mashed potatoes, turning them from bland to a flavorful side that can stand on its own.

My mom would have been proud.