Black-eyed pea fritters, the peas soaked and ground raw with garlic, onion and scotch bonnet, then dropped into hot oil. A Cuban street snack that Key West adopted and very nearly lost.
Bollos, or bollitos, came to Key West with the Cuban cigar-working community and were once cried through the streets from carts, the way they had been in Havana. Keys Weekly calls the bollo the most original Key West food. They are not a cooked-bean fritter: the peas are soaked and then ground raw, so the texture is light and slightly grainy rather than mashed. The vendors have gone and only a handful of counters still make them, 5 Brothers Grocery among them. Chef Norman Van Aken published a Key West version in My Key West Kitchen, which is the recipe most home cooks work from.
1 editor pick for Bollos in Key West, ranked by editorial score. All Key West signature dishes · Bollos across every city.