An American Eater in Cuba
Recipes and stories depicting Cuban agroecology, food consumption, machismo, and hospitality.
For the second time in my life, I visited Cuba, the country in which my mom’s parents spent half their lives before immigrating to the United States after the Cuban Revolution. As an American with Cuban heritage, so much of my Cuban identity feels elusive, perhaps by an imbalance of my dominant American experiences coupled with Cuba’s secludedness. With my grandparents passing away over a decade ago, this elusive Cubanness lives on through nebulous memories of them and their lasting influence on my mom, as well as other infrequent manifestations- like Cuban people or food. Though my Cuban identity feels obscured, I know it’s essential to uncover it. I know this by how tears fill my eyes when a Cuban woman caresses my face like my Abuela (grandmother) did, when I stop dead in my tracks upon the sound of Cielito Lindo (Abuela’s favorite song), or when I eat black beans and plantains that taste just like her’s. Through connecting to what remains of my childhood best friend, I am trying to uncover the parts of myself she fostered which have remained unstoked since her death.
Beyond uncovering my heritage, Cuban culture is important to investigate as the country and its people uniquely grapple with governance, social justice, food security, poverty, climate change, and beyond. The manners through which Cubans engage and survive these situations is inspiring and noteworthy- as globally, and increasingly direct to our experience, we further approach social and environmental unravellings. Perhaps by paying attention to Cuba, we can be inspired into taking action.
I think that Cuban food is an exceptional manifestation of Cuban culture. Tasting Cuban food, we can learn about love as food- nourishing family, neighbors, and the land. We may also become more receptive to scarcity, inequality, and suppression- of struggle, solidarity, persistence, and innovation. This article will discuss some beauties and limitations of Cuban culture, like agroecology or machismo, and ground them in staples of Cuban cuisine, like rice and beans and cake1. I hope that making these recipes, tasting their flavors, and hearing the stories behind them will enliven our connection to and inspiration from this Caribbean country.
Agroecology and Pumpkin Soup
The Special Period is a term used to characterize the fall of the Soviet Union and the concurrent economic crisis which commenced in Cuba. Cuban imports fell drastically, including food and agricultural implements. To survive, Cuban farmers were forced to pursue and escalate organic, local agriculture, which spawned the country’s acclaimed agroecology movement. Agroecology’s preeminence is attributed to the campesino a campesino movement, otherwise described as farmer-to-farmer grassroots empowerment. Agroecology and farmer-to-farmer movements are critical to food security and food sovereignty as people are more sustainably empowered with the agency to positively affect their communities.
On my first visit to Cuba in 2018, I visited La Finca Agroecologica el Paraiso in Viñales. At this farm, rabbit manure fertilizes crops, terraced beds prevent soil erosion, and intercropping protects from soil depletion and pests.
The farm is run by father and daughter duo Rachel and Wilfredo; Wilfredo tends the land and Rachel runs the family restaurant where much of the farm’s produce is put to use. They host young people and tourists, introducing them to the basics of agroecology and farm-to-table practices. The practices La Finca Agroecologica el Paraiso demonstrates exemplify what it can look like to survive and flourish amid adversity and bleakness- essential lessons for our ecological and social crises.
Cuba’s agroecology movement is a work in progress. According to Leidy Casimiro Rodríguez, Cuban farmer and agroecologist, a necessity of Cuba’s continued agroecological transition is to recognize the indispensable understandings women and minorities embody, and empower them with the agency to advance their knowledge2. Implemented, this call to action could positively reform the food system and entrenched social structures.
PUMPKIN SOUP / SOPA DE CALABAZA
My first encounter with Cuban gourds was a few years ago when a Cuban friend of my mom’s gifted her a squash, grown from Cuban seeds, from their family garden. The squash was easily the length of my torso. If my memory serves me correctly, part of the abundant squash I used for making soup. I forgot about this until I delighted in sopa de calabaza in Havana, and my friend and I reveled in the delicious flavors. It slipped my mind to inquire about their recipe, however, I believe this pumpkin soup recipe from Danza de Fogones is akin to what I enjoyed in Havana while overlooking winter waves crashing upon the Malecon.
A Glimpse of Food Consumption and Rice and Beans
In terms of food consumption, most Cubans survive off of a small salary and government ration card. Some may receive money from friends and family who have immigrated to other countries. In Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal, anthropologist Hanna Garth describes the ration system as follows:
The Cuban food rationing system is one of the many state-based entitlement systems that are central to what makes Cuba still socialist… Every Cuban is eligible for a ration card, with which they can purchase basic food items.3
The rationed goods are heavily subsidized, though Cubans still pay about 12% of the food items' market value. For most, the ration will not last the duration of the month- rather only one to two weeks. Still, the ration is viewed by Cubans as essential to providing “the basic nutrients they need for part of the month and the ingredients to make culturally appropriate Cuban cuisine” (Garth, p. 14, 2020).
Scarcity affects what items are available via the ration cards. For instance, while in Cuba I heard about limitations of this month's ration, like an absence of white sugar or receiving only a couple of eggs (which was followed by the sardonic joke of one omelet a month). In these cases, income is what, sometimes, becomes a determinant of whether one can procure these staples through markets or the Cuban black market. Other times, money is not an object and items are simply unavailable on the island.
RICE AND BEANS / ARROZ CON FRIJOLES
Despite scarcity and an ever-in-flux food system, Cubans have told me that rice and beans are an ideal staple of every meal. While I grew up eating black beans and rice, I never learned how to make them “properly”. I’ve often been confused about why my black beans seasoned with onion and garlic powder taste stale, or why my rice comes out too sticky. Lately, I’ve intentionally sought to learn the art of beans and rice. Here is what I’m learning:
Tips for White Rice
Rinse your rice: For most of my life I’ve hardly humored this recommendation, however, I have recently heeded this advice. I have now gathered that if something is tried and true throughout various cultures, it must be worthwhile. Further, when cooking for others, some are more fastidious about their rice methods and it seems nicer to please this population than to skip an easy step :)
Ratio: 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of water. Alternatively, utilize the knuckle method.
Rice cooker? : When I left for college, my mom insisted I take a rice cooker. I fought her on to me what seemed like an unnecessary kitchen appliance, but honestly, it turned out to be a game changer. Rice always came out with the perfect consistency. For households that consume a lot of rice, a cooker can save a stove burner and peace of mind. Nevertheless, I never noticed a rice cooker in Cuba, which leaves me to believe this appliance is a modern luxury and irrelevant to making a perfect pot of rice.
Over the stove: Bring to a boil, and then immediately reduce to a simmer.
Cuban Black Beans
I followed Alex Garcia’s recipe for Cuban black beans and my culinary craving for the perfect recipe is finally satiated. His secrets include cooking dried black beans for 2 1/2 hours (only stirring occasionally), sautéing sofrito, simmering garlic in plentiful oil, and letting everything marinate overnight (or longer). His recipe, inspired by his abuela, is a game-changer.
Machismo and Bundt Cake
Cuba’s machismo culture is a pervasive force, where women are expected to be caretakers of the household. In Cuba, this assumption often reduces women to hours a day of unpaid labor, walking to various markets, preparing meals, keeping the house tidy, and taking care of youth and the elderly. This work, dubbed the double or triple shift4, is taken up in addition to their careers and responsibilities and often prevents them from enjoying downtime or partaking in civic engagement. These adversities are exacerbated depending on one's economic level and skin color. A few of my experiences in Havana help to capture this cultural phenomenon.
Food Acquisition
On my first day in Havana, a woman named Madeline approached me and mentioned that she would love the opportunity to help with anything during the duration of my stay. Inspired by Hanna Garth’s Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal, I asked Madeline if she would show me the processes through which she acquires food in Havana. One morning, I met her at her apartment to go food shopping, and before we left, she asked me whether or not she should wear her jacket over her cropped sweater. I told her she should wear whatever she’d like, but she found this answer unacceptable. She asked me repeatedly until I finally caved and chose for her. I felt frustrated because it seemed wildly inappropriate to dictate what another person is wearing, but with a language barrier, caving seemed the easiest course of action. I presume that she didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable walking around with her if I viewed her as not looking respectable.
When we finally left her apartment, we walked to two markets in the vicinity of her apartment in search of fresh produce and meat. In both, innumerable flies buzzed atop cuts of uncovered and unrefrigerated meat. I remained silent, uncertain of whether this was typical and if she would still buy the meat, however, she turned us around and simply stated “no es fresco”. We walked about a mile to the part of town with better markets, and she didn’t bat an eye making this commute in one of her only pairs of shoes- four-inch heels.
In this part of town, we visited an air-conditioned and closed-off room where Madeline and a butcher soberly negotiated over about two dollars worth of ham pieces. Meat is something she ordinarily cannot afford to buy. Madeline also purchased a few tomatoes and boniato, a Cuban root akin to sweet potato. She made her selections with extreme precision, as she ensured the highest quality and that she could afford what she picked out. As demonstrated by Madeline’s example, food acquisition requires time and labor, and this is just one element of the caretaking women are expected to undertake.
Meal Preparation
On my last day in Havana, I met a grandmother. We had gone to her home to witness and learn about its art deco history. The grandmother expressed remorse that the house wasn’t tidier for our visit, though it was clearly well-kept. She mentioned that she had been busy in the kitchen and unaware of our impending visit. In our conversation, she stated something along the lines of her place being in the kitchen, which I followed by asking if she liked to cook. She replied candidly that she didn’t enjoy cooking, rather that if she didn’t her husband would die.
While she doesn’t enjoy cooking, she feels it is a responsibility she has no option but to assume for the wellbeing of her family- to keep them nourished and perhaps in alignment with social expectations. This expectation of cooking day in and day out whether it is enjoyed or not- is an inequitable responsibility that many Cuban women face.
That being said, the grandmother followed her disclosure with some optimism- that she enjoyed baking bundt cake, for its minimal ingredients and versatility. When I asked her if she had a recipe she could share, she began to recite it orally.
BUNDT CAKE
While I was unable to capture her entire recipe, I believe I received what was most essential to convert her steps into a plant-based alternative. The following is a vegan cake recipe by Alison Andrews, modified to resemble the recipe which was shared with me in Cuba.
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups flour
1 cup fair-trade sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup vegan condensed milk
⅓ cup oil
1 tbsp vinegar (white or apple cider vinegar)
Instructions:
Heat your oven to 350°F and oil a bundt cake pan.
According to the Cuban recipe, sift your flour five times, and then mix in the sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Add the vegan condensed milk, oil, and vinegar and whisk to combine.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool, and then use a knife to gently separate the edges of the cake from the pan.
Put a plate over the top of the pan, flip it over, and as I was told, dance the cha-cha for the cake and pan to separate. Voilà.
Top with whatever you’d like: fresh fruit, jam, nuts, etc.!
Hospitality and Cafecito
There is nothing like an imagined bundt cake, warm from the oven, to transition us into the pure magic of Cuban hospitality. Gratefully, I feel as if a lifelong student of Cuban hospitality, through receiving and witnessing the hospitable acts of my abuela and mom. Both have demonstrated an affinity for food and sharing it with others. I’m often amazed by how thoughtlessly my mom will invite someone over or in, and offer (and insist upon) them eating whatever is available or being prepared. No matter if she is busy or the house is untidy, she always makes time for hosting others, strangers and family alike.
Over a year ago, I began to study Cuban hospitality. I did so by interviewing two of my mom’s friends, Cubans who had immigrated to the United States. They didn’t know what I was studying going into our conversations, but they unwittingly fulfilled my expectations. Upon arrival, my mom and I were offered whatever was on hand, like cake, bananas, tomatoes, and always cafecito (Cuban coffee). The stories they shared added depth to their hospitable gifts.
Both women held what I would describe as heartfelt esteem for Cubans’ sense of community. They missed how interdependent community once felt, like knowing their neighbors and friends showing up unannounced. This relationality is woven into the fabric of everyday life in Cuba- as people rely on one another for attaining essential knowledge, fostering solidarity surrounding difficult circumstances, and sharing in the joys of friendship.
Life in Cuba is uniquely difficult and beautiful. For instance, Yanetsy told me that if there are three eggs and six people, Cubans will divide the yolks in half to ensure everyone has their share. Through adversity, community is the mean through which Cubans persist. Therefore, Cubans nurture one another as best they can. Sometimes scarcity of food, and concurrent trauma, can infringe upon this value being put into action as often as it might otherwise be. Nevertheless, community relationships and caretaking are still societally indispensable for their interdependent survival.
CAFECITO
As a person who solely delights in coffee amid the company of others, I’m far from qualified surrounding how to make cafecito. For example, it was only this past week in Cuba that I learned how to use a stovetop espresso maker. That being said, step-by-step instructions seem unnecessary for why I’m highlighting this cultural phenomenon. What is most of interest to me is the metaphysical sweetness of cafecito, residing in a limited amount of brewed coffee being shared with company through small vessels. Cubans like their espresso very strong and very sweet, and therefore it is best savored slowly while enjoying the company of others.
Ingredients:
Stovetop espresso maker
Ground coffee (Cafe Bustelo is popularly associated with Cuba, but it does not have any certifications for ethical or environmental sourcing. Cubans do not have an option of where to source their coffee. For consumers with the selective agency, I would opt for a fair-trade certified alternative.)
Sweetener (Sugar is used in Cuba, though perhaps consider a sweetener that is locally available and/or positively impacts where it is sourced from.)
Company and little cups :)
Despite Cuba’s secluded nature, I hope this article portrays the accessibility of Cuban culture. To hold care of our friends, strangers, the earth, and ourselves, all it can take is a little time and a little coffee.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Dana Moody for guiding me in my pursuit of Cuban studies over the past four years. I am immensely grateful for your support and mentorship :)
Thank you Unpack Studio for hosting our visit to Havana.
My Focus on Ethical Recipes
In the United States, our food system is rife with harm toward the land, non-human beings, and low-income, BIPOC, and minority food laborers. These harms proliferate and impact consumers through myriad health adversities- physical and mental. Plant-based, local, and ethical sourcing frameworks offer guidance for remediating these harms. These frameworks are imperfect, but I find they help to evoke awareness and care into what I am eating.
I believe that recipes must be able to adapt to properly honor our spatiotemporal moment. For instance, if to presently consume eggs means to support an industrial farming system which harms chickens and poultry workers, and if the eggs become costly and inaccessible, an opportunity emerges for innovation. In this case, innovations may look like buy eggs from local farms or substituting an egg alternative. We must look within ourselves, to our heart and feelings, to determine our own cost-benefit analysis regarding what we as Americans feel best and choose to consume. For these reasons, the recipes I share throughout this piece aim to honor modes of plant-based, local, and ethical eating.
Casimiro-Rodríguez, L. (2021, September 14). Transición Agroecológica, Una Oportunidad para las Mujeres Cubanas. IPS Cuba.
Garth, Hanna. Food in Cuba (pgs. 12-13). Stanford University Press. Kindle Edition.
Garth, Hanna. Food in Cuba (p. 85). Stanford University Press. Kindle Edition.