Trans del Caribe.

Here you have the website to see what Trans del Caribe is: http://www.transcaribe.net/; for us essentially Trans del Caribe means Success to exit CUBA.

This Mexican company helped us to go back to Mexico, they are awesome and on top of that they fed us like kings on the boat and the cook Gustavo taught me a recipe that I will use as soon as I have access to an oven.

I am presenting several pictures of some of the meals offered while on board.

-Lentils-


-Spaghetti with chicken-


-Soup-


-Beef, rice and beans-


-Salad and dressings-


-Chicken-

-Queso Napolitano-
This is a sweet dessert, very tasty and simple to make.

Ingredients:
6-7 Eggs
1 Can of condensed milk
1 Can of evaporated milk
Vanilla to taste
½ Pack of cream cheese

Preparation:
1) Caramelize some sugar in a baking container. Not sure how big but we will fond out once we have the mix.
2) Mix all ingredients and pour into container.
3) Place the container in baño maría (water bath) inside the oven.
4) Bake for about 1 hour at a 275^oF.
5) Make sure that it is fully cooked by using a toothpick; if the toothpick comes out clean then it is done.
6) Take dessert out of the water bath and out of the container and enjoy!!!


Thanks so much Trans del Caribe for supporting us in our journey!!!

CUBA V.

Netsure.
This Vietnamese product we found in Cuba as a substitute for oatmeal is terrible. We were tired of looking for regular oats and decided to try this novelty. It costs 3.8 CUC for 20 little packages of 25 grams each. It is made out oats, whole wheat, rice, maize, soya protein and tons of sugar among other unnecessary things.
I would not recommend it at all.



Soroa Wine.
This paragraph is only to report on a previous blog. This Cuban produced wine is pretty young but tasty, I would recommend it.


El Bodegon del Asado.
This peculiar restaurant located in Calle 24 entre 23 y 25 Vedado La Habana Cuba-phone #831 3548, was recently opened January 6, 2012. His owner Pedro Brito has implemented a fun way to get clients to come back. At the end of the dinner whoever is going to pay the bill rolls 5 dices and if she/he gets 4 equal numbers then the bill will be reimbursed for the next meal.
We were invited by some German friends who had won in a previous meal; therefore our meal was for free.
The restaurant specializes in BBQ meat. I ordered a chicken and they literally brought a full chicken… Prices are reasonable and in Cuban Pesos, for example the full chicken I ordered was 150 Cuban Pesos or about 6.25 CUC, of course I had food for more than one day.
I totally recommend this place just watch the bill closely.








Pancakes with corn flour.
Brian discovered a recipe to make pancakes with corn flour in the back of the corn flour bag but it was wrong. He modified it and made it work. Here it is what we did.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of corn flour
¾ Cup of sugar (it can be less)
4 Eggs
2 Tsp of baking powder
¼ Cup of butter or oil
1 ½ Cups of milk
3 Tsp of orange peal (which we did not use)
Water to consistency

Preparation:
1) Mix all the dry ingredients first.
2) Add wet ingredients. Make sure to add water after milk to a point where consistency looks good to pour the mix into a pan for cooking.
3) Coat a pan with butter and start making the pancakes.
4) Pretty tasty and a good combination for chili con carne.
5) I love them and they are my favourite pancakes now.



Quinoa Salad.
I love quinoa and let me tell you, it is good in any shape or form. Alejandra, a lovely Mexican-Canadian girl, prepared this salad for us and I really enjoyed it.
The salad contained: quinoa (previously cooked), corn, cilantro, spicy peppers (grown by her in Cuba), bell peppers, tomatoes and beans; as a dressing she added: lemon, olive oil, cumin and salt…
So fantastic. It goes well with anything, a meat cut or a burger or by itself.



Bollywood.
Correct!!! Not Hollywood.
We went to this Indian Restaurant, the first one in Cuba ever. Food was good, prices were high and overall the best part of the evening was the company.
I have nothing especial to say about it because we have access to great Indian food in Vancouver but to be quite honest, this meal in Cuba is amazing… if you have been there, you will understand why.




Lionfish!!!
I never thought I would try extravagant foods in Cuba but we did. We had lionfish which is highly poisonous and quite tasty; it seems healthier than many other fish. I do not know much about it or if this is legal or illegal but what I know is that I have to thank our friend who shared this with us.
Excellent flavour and texture of this white fish.
-The picture does not look extravagant but look in the Internet how this fish looks like-

CUBA IV.

Food is something that makes us really happy like we have said many times; it is also a way to realize the culture of a country, the supply chain of that country and simply to know if we could happily live in that country. Of course, Brian can talk with authority more about the supply chain in Cuba but what I can tell you is that I can’t live in Cuba simply because the food I enjoy is not available here, perhaps I would be able to grow some things starting with hot peppers. We do not need much but we do need some things, especially when life has been so good to us that we have been able to grow with these things e.g. avocados, the good cholesterol in life.

However, our journey has taught us more and more that we do not have to accept but we do have to learn and learning in Cuba has given me a lot of headaches but good headaches. We have been able to find happiness in food, find items we enjoy (although normally in the black market), people have been very good to us and have shared what they have and generally speaking we have eaten well, although I am soooo looking forward to TACOS PASTOR IN MEXICO.


Los Dos Chinitos.
This is a “Chinese Restaurant” owned by two people with Chinese background (families that arrived to Cuba in the 1900’s); their names are Felipe and Magali. They opened this place on April 2011, taking the opportunity that the Cuban government gave to Cubans to open private businesses.
They offer a variety of dishes including Asian style fusion with Cuban dishes like Arroz Congri.
Prices are in Cuban Pesos and they are reasonable, portions are well served. One dish is good for two people but if you want to eat well then you can order your own dish, I have to say that I have never been able to eat an entire dish, I always end up with leftovers. My favourite dish is Cerdo Picante (Spicy Pork) for 40 Cuban Pesos (which equals to 1.67 CUC).

The address? Calle 52 #1709 entre 17 y 19 Playa, La Habana. Telephone? 202-5132.
They have delivery service for 24 Cuban Pesos within Playa and 48-72 Cuban Pesos if the delivery is further away.
I enjoy this place very much, the service is great and it is the spiciest food we have had in Cuba.
Good Job guys!!! Our best wishes!




Memories of a friend.
Experimenting and creativity go together. We have used raw sweet potatoes grated or in chunks to make a salad. Basically you can put anything in the salad although I suggest tomatoes and cucumber with the addition of a simple salad dressing: olive oil + lemon + salt.
Eating raw veggies brought me memories of a good friend. Thinking of you Annette…



Shall we move to Germany?
Oh my goodness!!! Germans have everything for everything. Here we are in an Island where finding eggs takes about a week but with some German friends who seem to magically make life better.
One more thing that Osly and Horst shared with us was Chili con Carne. I just found out this is a German dish although it is also a typical dish in Canada. However, in order to make it some spices are required. Osly opened a package with all these spices inside and poured it into the fresh ingredients: sauté onions with ground beef and kidney beans.
That evening was again fantastic!!! Thanks again.



What time left behind.
Being able to have a real glass of milk is just the matter of time or luck. When milk is extremely expensive that does not make it into the grocery list there is something wrong and we must leave.
While in Cuba we have not had milk not just because it is expensive but if we are able to get it, the source is questionable, it is in the newspapers!!!
We were fortunate to know some good caring people who shared with us some real milk and not just that they also shared with us brownies which we have not had for about 22 months and Malbec Wine which we have not had for about 6 months.
Thanks Kevin and Mel. We much appreciate it. You cannot imagine the psychological impact this had on us.



Soroa Wine.
We bought a bottle of Cuban wine for 2.85 CUC but still have not tasted it. We brought it to a reunion but there was better wine on the table so it did not get opened. We will get another bottle and report later.



Life is beautiful.
Have you looked around and wonder if life is beautiful? I have and it is.
Again, here we are, having a hard time finding our way to get what we need to cook and be happy but life smiles to us, we are invited for dinner and our good friend shares with us good food and great company.
This gentleman is not just a smart individual when at a desk or in front of people but also a creative person gifted with a particular skill that allows him to deliver happiness. That evening we had great lasagne, plated very nicely and fantastic Greek salad paired with a fine Spanish wine. To finish we had delicious cake brought to the table by other guests from the Melia Habana Hotel on 3^rd Avenue, my first delicious piece of Cuban cake.
Oh yes, Life is Beautiful!!!
Thanks Patrick, we hope to see you again and have the opportunity to cook for you… outside of Cuba.




Mexico Lindo y Querido.
I never imagined being so happy to see other Mexicans. Normally I am just happy to meet good people and I do not ask “Where are you from?” just to find out if I will like you or not but I experienced in Cuba some things I never experienced before.
We met some Mexicans who will be rescuing us from Cuba on a boat, I know it sounds funny but it is not. They will help us to get to Mexico.
They are in the same situation than us; they want to get to Mexico as soon as possible for other reasons than ours but one common reason: food. They were very kind to share with us some of the Mexican food items they have with them.
Thank you very much Ingenieros and Capitan!!!




El Palenque.
This is a place where you can eat but I have not eaten there, although whenever I go there it smells good. Anyway, this is a reference point to find a French Frozen Bakery. What I mean by this is that in the “Panaderia” you can find good real French bread from baguettes to great pastries but they all come frozen to Cuba and then they are put in the oven and this is how we are able to access good French baked items. But you may wonder why don’t they just import the flour and make the bread themselves, well I wonder that too. If you ask the Cubans working there for the last 20 years they’ll say, “I’ve wondered the same thing my whole life?” It does not matter, for 1.8 CUC you are able to buy a good whole wheat baguette, pricy but tasty.




Chocolate milk or rum in a box?
Walking on the streets I always see people drinking out of this white box and I thought it was chocolate milk but it is rum!!! A little box is 0.90 CUC, simply white rum. Since I am not a rum lover I cannot appreciate the convenience of it, I would actually like to see this kind of packaging on something like Baileys.
However, I do appreciate the nice liquor we enjoy almost every evening: Licor de Café or Licor de Cacao for 3.1 CUC per bottle. Very tasty and it makes for a good after dinner drink.



I am glad we are different.
I am glad Brian and I are different. He says he likes everything but really he would not eat something that smells a little funny or has a strange colour. I can eat rotten cheese for example but Brian will be more cautious.
This recipe is about slightly strange cauliflower, without much colour and a bit smelly according to Brian, but I am glad we are different because I got to enjoy the entire dish myself, I could not make Brian eat a bit of it.
Brian made this dish for me while I was typing, he simply boiled the cauliflower after thorough examination of it, then he put cheese on it and placed the dish in the oven for about 25 minutes at about 300^oF.
We spent on this dish about 1 CUC and it would be good for about 4 people.



Banana Bread.
Yes, I remember I wrote in an earlier blog that you can find this recipe in the Internet but I changed my mind and I will share it with you. This is such a simple recipe that has given us a lot of happiness.

Ingredients:
3-4 Ripe bananas, smashed (when in Cuba you have to use double amount of bananas because they are pretty small)
⅓ Cup melted butter (you can also use oil; when in Cuba butter is somewhat expensive so oil is a better option).
1 Cup sugar (can easily reduce to ¾ cup, we prefer brown sugar)
1 Teaspoon vanilla (bread is tastier with vanilla but it is not necessary)
1 Teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 ½ Cups of all-purpose flour

Preparation:
1) Preheat oven to 350^oF (150^oC).
2) With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
3) Mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla.
4) Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
5) Add the flour last, mix.
6) Pour mixture into a buttered 4 x 8 inch loaf pan.
7) Bake for 1 hour.
8) Cool on a rack.
9) Remove from pan and slice to serve.
This recipe makes one loaf and it goes well with coffee or on its own.



Basic Cornbread.
This recipe is fantastic, especially since we made it with ingredients that were given to us by the sharing Mexicans we know in Cuba. Thanks guys, you helped us to have a fantastic meal.
We tried wonderful cornbread in Virginia USA and this is not even close to what we tried but it is our own bread and that, that is what matters.
The total cost is around 1 CUC for a good loaf for four people.

Ingredients:
1 Cup cornmeal
1 Cup all-purpose flour
¼ Cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Cup milk
⅓ Cup vegetable oil
1 Egg

Preparation:
1) Preheat oven at 400 ^oF.
2) Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, wet ingredients in another.
3) Combine the two and mix until just blended.
4) Pour into greased pan.
5) Use an 8 x 8 inch pan if you like it fairly thick or 13 x 9 inch pan if you like it thin.
6) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7) Remove and serve while still warm.
8) Enjoy.

CUBA III.

More German happiness.
In our days in Cuba we were able to enjoy few times some German items thanks to Horst and Osly.
They shared with us some can German pork prepared with spices (Sülze), we accompanied this with German bread made by Osly.



They also had us for dinner: a good piece of pork steak, German sausage, fried potato patties, tomato salad, German beer and German chocolate cake…
Thanks Guys!!!



Car Show meal- Thanks Julio!!!
Julio, our good buddy in La Habana took us to the Car Show celebrated the first weekend of each month. In the show food is offered and we were Julio’s guests for chicharrones and pork ribs. The total for this meal was 90 Cuban Pesos which is equivalent to 3.75 CUC (10 Cuban pesos for the chicharrones and 40 Cuban Pesos for each meal Brian and I had).
Good deal, a bit greasy but enjoyable. Julio said his meal was better, it consisted of a mixed of different pork cuts in a skewer for almost double of the price, but worth it.





Banana bread, thanks Brian.
Brian should have been a scientist or something similar; he is always testing and creating. I like that. In Cuba it is hard to get stuff, think of anything and imagine it hard to be found. It is the case of anything, ingredients for baking are not the exception and if you find them they are of poor quality and/or really expensive.
However, we were able to find somewhat good flour and made it into banana bread; of course in order to get the eggs we had to spend days looking until they were available. Brian made nice looking banana bread, tasty and enjoyable for about 0.70 CUC being the butter the most expensive cost (0.40 CUC), which could have been 1/3 of that price if we had bought the real Cuban butter but then you get this mushy watery butter good for nothing.
Thanks Brian for the happiness you bring into my life!!!

We shared this banana bread with few people to the point that Brian was wondering why we were visiting the neighbourhood and he was getting nothing… I think people who got a piece enjoyed it, they even asked us to open a business to sell this bread that for sure you cannot get anywhere in Cuba.
We used Nutella from Germany (compliments of Osly and Horst) on the bread and discovered that by using butter under the Nutella you get a tasty Ferrero Rocher Banana Bread.
The recipe? It was not really develop by us so you can look for a simple banana bread recipe in the Internet and you will find lots, our addition to the recipe is the Ferrero Rocher discovery.
Enjoy!!!



Los chicharos de Victoria.
Chicharos = peas.
Victoria is the lady who we stayed with in our first arrival to La Habana, very nice lady. I have been meeting her once per week to learn a different Cuban recipe each time.
I am trying to use very little meat or no meat mainly because I am not a meat lover, although I enjoy it when it is available but also because pretty soon I will be meeting a friend who is vegetarian and I would like to be able to make couple of good meals for her and her husband.
This recipe is very tasty and contains no meat, it can be done with any kind of bean but we chose peas.
The total cost was 45 Cuban Pesos, about 1.9 CUC and the pot lasted for 4 meals for two people.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of peas
2 or more Cups of water
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Onion
Garlic
“Acelgas”
Bell pepper
Carrots
Culantro
Salt
Spices
Sugar
Oil
Wine vinegar

Preparation:
Important to mention that pressure cooker is fantastic and necessary to cook beans.
1) Cook the peas in the pressure cooker for about 50-70 minutes depending on the type of peas acquired.
2) Cut all veggies in medium size squared pieces and cook them with oil adding a bit of wine vinegar and water. Add the spices you may like e.g. cumin, pepper. Remember to start by cooking the hardest vegetables first i.e. potatoes and ending with acelgas.
3) Once the peas are cooked add the seasoned vegetables, salt, culantro, a bit of sugar and oil; cook without pressure for another 30 minutes.
4) Serve on top of rice or on its own…



Huevos con vegetales.
Vicky, Victoria’s daughter does not like to cook but she creates once in a while something that seems to be practical.
Here it is one of those recipes that I enjoy very much.

Ingredients:
Boiled eggs (as many as you desire)
Onion
Garlic
Carrots
Green peas
Potatoes
Vinegar
Seasoning salt
Salt
Tomato sauce
Oil

Preparation:
1) Cut the boiled eggs in wedges.
2) Sauté all available veggies, preferably the ones I mentioned above with oil and seasoning salt.
3) Place the eggs wedges in a frying pan (after adding a bit of oil to the pan) and add the veggies on top.
4) Add a little bit of oil on top, wine vinegar, tomato sauce and salt.
5) Cook for about 10 minutes and serve on top of rice or on its own.
6) Enjoy!!!



Berenjenas.
In other words eggplants. Eggplant is not an easy veggie to cook but Victoria’s recipe is able to bring together flavour with presentation very well.
The total cost was not calculated but take in consideration that I spent about 5.875 CUC for veggies and fruits for an entire week…

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant (more if you desire, for us we can share one)
“Acelgas”
Celery
Onion
Green onions
Broccoli
Bell pepper
Green peas
Carrots
Potatoes
Oil
Wine vinegar
Seasoning salt
Butter
Cheese if available

Preparation:
1) Cut the eggplant in half and scoop out the insides.
2) Cook all veggies along with the insides of the eggplant with a little bit of oil, once cook add a little bit of butter for flavour along with seasoning salt and wine vinegar.
3) Add this mix inside of each half of the eggplant. If cheese is available add it on top.
4) Place in oven until the skin of the eggplant is tender.
5) Once cooked served with some pasta (use any recipe that you may wish but it can simply be pasta with garlic and onions).
Note: I would recommend soaking the shelf of the eggplant in hot water to make it more tender before placing in the oven otherwise it comes out of the oven a bit hard even after cooking for a while which makes it impossible to eat the shelf.



Brian’s Pan Bakery.
This may remind you of Tom’s Pan Bakery in Costa Rica but nope, this is just Brian and Deya. Brian, like I said, never stops testing and he made some bread with Cuban flour!!!
He followed a recipe from the Internet for Simple Whole Wheat Bread which really calls for more white flour than whole wheat flour. In our modified version we used 2 cups of white flour and 3 cups of whole wheat flour which had been in the freezer for years but it worked.
Total cost of 1.175 for three loaves of bread. Good job Brian!!!

We ate this bread with some Leberwurst (liver paté) also compliments from Osly and Horst. Delicious.

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.