If you’ve been following along with our culinary adventure, you know our family is eating authentic cuisines from around the world. I’ve gone the extra nerd mile and created a spreadsheet to keep track of where we have been. Making a Cuban meal gets us up to 11% done with our journey, only 89% left to go!
We were first introduced to Cuban food back in 2004 when a family of Cuban refugees moved in to the apartment below us. With my limited knowledge of Spanish, I helped them to fill out official forms and to get around our area. They were such a sweet family. They invited us to their birthday parties and their grandmother was always bringing us food. They had relatives in the area who ran a Cuban restaurant and any time we showed up, we received double portions and big hugs. It’s a treasured memory for us and from what I’ve been told, their restaurant is thriving and has expanded since then. I’m beyond happy for them!
So when Cuba came around in our culinary journey, I was stoked! Of course we had to make ‘Old Clothes’, ie Ropa Vieja. It’s a hearty dish and there is a whole legend behind why they call it ‘old clothes’. A farmer who was too poor to feed his family cooked up old clothes in a soup. To simulate that, the recipe calls for a green, yellow, and red bell pepper. There is a debate about adding green olives or not. Our old neighbors didn’t add them into their dish, but many authentic Cuban recipes call for green olives to be included. I think they add to the over all taste of the dish, so the recipe I used included green olives, but you can omit them if they aren’t your thing.
Black eyed pea salad was our side dish and man was it bomb! Not only do our crew love lime, but it was so light and refreshing…it really helped beat the Texas summer heat.
Pano Cubano (Cuban bread) was very tasty. It expanded so much in the oven that the ‘scoring’ from my metal skewer completely opened up. It still tasted great. Our dessert was Torticas de Moron, a lime sugar cookies. These were also stellar! You have to make them at some point!! Trust me!
Our Cuban drink was Canchánchara and I didn’t care for it. I think it was the honey syrup that threw it off for me. It’s akin to a lime daiquiri, but this drink was just too much something. It didn’t get fully consumed.
As always, I’ve included the recipes that we used for our Cuban meal.
Recipes Used
Ropa Vieja
There are some debates on whether to include green olives in this dish. This recipe does include green olives and you’ll be thankful for that 🙂
Black Eyed Pea Salad
This salad was refreshing and a huge hit for our crew! It’s a great option for anyone dealing with intense heat in the summer.
Pano Cubano
Cuban bread is very similar to making an Italian loaf, but they use lard for the fat. This bread makes for great sandwiches!
Torticas de Moron
These lime sugar cookies are incredible!! You’ve seriously got to try them!