What has been your experience of Cuban food?
I may be in a minority here, but my general experience with Cuban food has been quite good, overall: on several occasions, it has been outstanding, once or twice very bad - including one time whereupon it really did make me quite ill. All I can say is be wary of butter unless you can verify its freshness…
When I was in Cuba, I tended to stick with ‘comida creola,’ the local cuisine of the island. Chinese food and Italian food, I have heard, are ‘not up to scratch,’ so to speak. I confess: most of my experience of Cuban food is in Havana, where many of the Paladars are exceptionally good. Places like ‘La moraleja,’ ‘Cafe Laurent,’ and ‘L’atelier’ are out of this world. However, cheap, they are not.
I am headed out to Varadero soon and I am told that out there it is an entirely different culinary landscape. I have heard very ‘mixed’ reviews about the all-inclusive grub…
Some of my favourite Cuban meals are: Ropa Vieja - ‘old clothes’ - Cuban ‘pulled beef’.
Piccadillo - Cuban ground beef with raisins.
Malanga fritters.
Black bean soup.
Arroz can pollo.
And the best of the best - their sandwiches: not the Floridian-style, but the simple ham and cheese varieties that you find on the Island. That bread is so sweet that I am sure that it should have a health warning on the side of the crust.
As an aside, I admit that I am very glad that I packed some hot sauce in my carry on…
On a final note: I found the fresh produce in Cuba was beyond delicious. All organic and non-GMO. I actually ended up making my own salads and sandwiches there - a unique experience as, usually, every item had to be bought from a different vendor. Still, it has to be said, the tomatoes had real flavour - unlike the non-heirloom ones that you get in Canada. Oh, and the avocados… Until I ate a Cuban avocado, I never understood what an avocado could be. They were huge and an orangey-yellow colour on the inside. And very creamy beyond belief.
Over to you.
