When you think of Cuba, you think of many things, but rarely of food. The name of the Caribbean island evokes associations with music and dance, rum and colorful cocktails, the charm of the decaying capital Havana. Cuba is not a country like France or Italy, which you could travel to just for its cuisine. In the socialist island state, the conditions under which a professional high-class kitchen can thrive do not prevail. Still, visitors to the island can eat well if they find a state or private eatery with a traditional cuisine.
Jan Schiefenhövel
Editor at the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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Above all, what is cooked is what the soil of the island provides, for example the manioc tuber, which is called "yuca" there. On the table are fried plantains or the national dish of rice and black beans, "Moros y cristianos", "Moors and Christians". Many locals can not often afford meat, for tourists there are often "ropa vieja", "old clothes". For this, beef is simmered until it tatters. Some recipes can be found on the Cuban website cocina.cuba.cu.
A dish for which you do not need exotic ingredients is "Sopa de tomate con papas", a soup made from tomatoes and potatoes that lives from the quality of its ingredients. Both products come from South and Central America and have only been cultivated in Europe since the seafaring of Christopher Columbus. The recipe for four portions as a starter is reproduced here slightly changed.
Boil a pound of floury potatoes, collect the cooking water while draining. Fry a medium-sized onion and a clove of garlic finely chopped in olive oil until soft, add a can of tomato pulp and a teaspoon of oregano, simmer for ten to 15 minutes. Then add five teaspoons of cane sugar. Crush the potatoes with a masher. First stir in 350 milliliters of the cooking water, then stir in the tomato mixture and puree everything with a blender. Season with salt and pepper. Unlike the inhabitants of other hot countries, Cubans do not like to eat spicy. If you want a spicy soup, you can season with Tabasco or hot paprika powder.
Before and after the meal, of course, rum-based Cuban drinks are best. Some authentic recipes for "cócteles", as mixed food is called in Cuba, can also be found on the mentioned website.