Yet another “triumph” of the revolution is that it has done a good job destroying our cuisine over the last 50 years.
Particularly hard hit are the regional dishes.
In a large island like Cuba, different parts naturally cook dishes differently, each claiming to have the better dish. Those were the days when we could argue about whose abuela made the best beans.
Nowadays, a few generations of Cubans don’t even recognize traditional Cuban dishes since they lack the ingredients to prepare the dishes properly, courtesy of 20th Century castrism.
Thanks to serious Cuban cooks like our very own cocinera, the lovely and talented Marta, our rich and varied recipes are being kept alive (and put to good use) until the day until we can again enjoy them were they were meant to be enjoyed.
In this article Maricel E. Presilla shares some Culinary Cuban Mostalgia:
For Cubans, rice is a blank canvas for the imagination. My father’s favorites are arroz prensado (pressed rice), a layered rice casserole cooked in beef broth with grated Gouda cheese, and arroz con quimbombo (rice cooked with okra). He remembers how his cousins would dive into the dark waters of the Jauco River and emerge with handfuls of soft-shell crabs, to be cooked with rice (arroz con toninas prietas) tinted yellow with home-grown achiote seeds (bija).
I know it’s not Thursday, but ..buen provecho….read the rest of the article here
This is so true.
If you want to taste authentic Cuban food, Miami is where you’ll most likely find it. (or at my house, of course. =D)
What I found interesting is that Ms. Presilla is concerned that only the “real” Cuban food, that is Labana style, is what is going to survive because that’s what the Miami restaurants offer. The “fake” Cuban food from down your way in Oriente is at risk of vanishing forever. So your mission is to safeguard ALL the Oriente recipes as they were made BC.
Marta,
I know some people in Ybor City who will disagree with you. They take it as a point of honor that their version fo Cuban dishes is the “true” version.
LittleGator-
I think everyone one of us will argue that NOBODY makes Cuban food better than their abuelita or their mami or tia. Or their favorite Cuban restaurant in their neighborhood in whatever corner of the world we live in.
The whole reason I cook Cuban is because there are no Cuban restaurants in my area code. (sad for me)
Rei-
I’m up to the challenge. =D