CUBA II.

Cuba continues to be an interesting experience, like any other country except for in this country the black market of ingredients for cooking is huge; did you ever imagine that buying potatoes could be illegal? I did not…


Notes for cooking beans.
I continue in my search for recipes to cook beans and although the recipes are alike some of the suggestions or recommendations may make the difference in the original recipe written in VIVA LA REVOLUCION...

Olguita for example, a lady who we met at a rental room in Artemisa, told me that:
-By adding “vino seco/dry wine” the flavour of the beans is enhanced. This addition occurs after the “sofrito” is added to the beans. I tried it and it works well.
-By pressing on the beans with a strong spoon after adding the “sofrito” you can get a better consistency, better flavour since it is extracted from the beans as well as they become softer.
-By adding a bit of sugar the bitterness of the beans (if any) will go away. I think Cubans simply like sugar but oh well, I tried and it adds some flavour.
-By frying the garlic and onions to a brown colour more flavour is added. It works!!!

Another lady, Mayda Rodriguez Lafita who works at the Campismo Dos Hermanas in Vinales, added bell peppers in the sofrito. She recommended adding anything you may want, also any spices you may like e.g. oregano or pepper.


Papaya candy-Vinales.
This is a fantastic way of cooking papaya if you do not like the flavour of it, like Brian. At a Casa Particular called Villa Noel in Vinales, the best so far in our stay in Cuba, Mercedes cooked this dish.
It is basically papaya previously peeled and without the seeds, cut in squared pieces and cooked for 15 minutes in a pressure pot with the addition of sugar; how much sugar? It depends on the amount of sugar you like to have in this mix and the amount of syrup you want to end up with. Mercedes recommended equal portions of papaya and sugar which means a cup of papaya for a cup of sugar.
Later on when I had the opportunity I tried reproducing this recipe but I used half papaya, some fresh grated coconut and about ¼ cup of sugar, almost nothing and of course it was not as tasty but healthier. We then ate this mix in our morning hot cereal breakfast.
She cooked many other things that were delicious but for this recipe thanks Mercedes!!!




Green tomatoes.
I never imagined that green tomatoes could be eaten until someone on the road approached us and gave us three tomatoes for a salad to which I said: -Thanks, I will use them when they are ready; the gentleman told me that I did not have to wait at the same time that he took a bite.
I made a wonderful salad with the three tomatoes and from now on I am able to eat green tomatoes. It is easier to find green tomatoes in Cuba than red tomatoes… Problem solved!!!



Guava candy, Peanut bar and Coconut…
Three sweet wonderful things. The first one, guava candy, is a bit too sweet but good if you have a little piece as a dessert on its own or in a piece of bread with melted cheese (common in Cuba, this is called Timba de guayaba or Bocadito de guayaba or simply Pan con guayaba y queso, price = 5 Cuban Pesos or 0.20 CUC). The price of a bar of guava ranges from 12-18 Cuban Pesos = 0.83 CUC. I could not tell by the package how much in one bar but I would say about 250 grams.
A peanut bar is 3 Cuban Pesos = 0.15 CUC. Delicious snack although it has a lot of sugar.
Fresh grated coconut is great with hot cereal, it adds natural sweet flavour. For 0.42 CUC you can get a pound.



Cacique Beer.
Tasty and refreshing in the middle of the day. For 0.83 CUC you can get one and enjoy it at a bench in La Habana Vieja.



Coccinia Indica or Goccinia Grande or Papasan.
This strange fruit that we found in Cuba, originally from India, grows wild and apparently it reduces the glucose levels by 50%.
I do not have more information about it since I have limited access to Internet but you can find out more about it and let me know…
What I can tell you is that it tastes good, not very flavourful but good.



Thank Goodness for the Germans.
Germans are a positive addition to this world in many ways. When we are talking about food I am thankful to meet Germans because they know how to eat, they appreciate food and they share with us this appreciation.
In Cuba we met Horst and Osly, a nice German-Cuban couple, who shared with us real German beer (from Germany), a nice meal including potato salad and real German mustard.
It was a fantastic evening, our first real meal in Cuba. Thanks to both of you…





Products of crime.
I am not very proud of this discovery but also not ashamed since I did not put the dishes on the table and it is good to find out about these topics to be aware and make future choices. We went out with some people who took us for a “nice meal”. We had turtle soup (caguama) which I believe is illegal to capture and kill, I would not try it again for sure; it is tasty but not something worth a crime.
We also had crocodile which is legal and it was a good experience, it is soft and really tasty, almost like a mix of flavours between chicken and pork.
To finish this list of crimes, we had Cuban deer which is not a specie that exists in Cuba naturally but it was brought to feed the crocodiles in this island. I am not sure if I ate legal or illegal deer but I ate it and it was not as good as the Canadian deer I have had.