| Cuban
Provinces & Cities
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Cuba
is the Caribbean’s largest, most diverse and most beautiful island.
So beautiful in fact, that Christopher Columbus thought that he had discovered
the Garden of Eden when he first landed. What he found was a geographically
diverse land of rich mountains, fertile valleys, flowing rivers and clear
springs. Along with all its land resources, he found an ocean full of
fish, and trade winds that caressed and protected the island's bounty.
Cuba's original settlers, the Taìno-Arawack
Indians, introduced these Spanish explorers to what was to become the
New World's two most important crops: corn and tobacco. The Taìno-Arawacks
were so agriculturally advanced by the late 1400s that they had even developed
aquacultural techniques. Taking advantage of the warm water species of
the fertile Caribbean Ocean, they built corrals and fisheries to gather
grouper, red snapper, tuna and shrimp. These fish were typically cooked
on the “barbacoa”, or what we call today, barbecue grilling.
Along with fish, they served other land cultivated items: boniatos (white
fleshed sweet potatoes), malanga (a beige to pink colored type of yam),
hot chilis, yucca, avocadoes, papaya, coconut, pineapple and guava. In
return for their kindness and all the treasures that they shared with
Columbus and the wave of Spaniards that came after him, the Taìno-Arawack
Indians were mercilessly enslaved and slaughtered.
In the years that followed, Cuba became one of the
most important African slave trade depots. It was here from the 1500s
through the 1800s that hundreds of thousands of slaves from the African
west coast were brought in to be traded for money, ships, guns and other
treasures. Many considered themselves fortunate to have even made it that
far as so many were lost in the voyage itself. Along with them, new labor
intensive crops were introduced into Cuba’s fertile growing regions
to take advantage of the new found slave labor. These included many crops
which were to become integrated into Cuban cuisine: beans, rice, various
citrus fruits, mangos, coffee and most importantly, sugarcane.
Today, in Cuba’s rich heartland, the sugarcane
crops sway to the rhythm of the trade winds. Accounting for 70% of its
export earnings, sugarcane has become its economic nemesis. Cuba's dependency
on sugarcane has left it vulnerable to low production yields and fluctuating
world market prices. In recent years, these factors have had near catastrophic
effects on Cuba’s people. On the western part of the island however,
in the province of Pinar del Rio and Viñales, they have perpetuated
the Taìno-Arawack tradition of tobacco production and cultivated
it to make the world’s most sought after cigars.
Cuba’s cuisine has been laterally influenced
by its culture. From the Afro-Caribe influenced eastern region of Santiago
de Cuba to the Spanish influenced western region of Havana, its people
are as diverse as its food. A truly culturally and racially integrated
society, its cuisine draws upon its regionally abundant crops and resources.
It is a cuisine reflective of the Cubans themselves: simple and straightforward
yet vibrant and diverse with the flavors of life.
Today's
Paladares
Paladares
are the independent, state sanctioned, family run restaurants of Cuba.
Since the beginning of the Cuban government's quest to open up their country
to democratic economic reforms, paladares were one of the first and only
enterprises to fall under these reforms. Rules stipulate that they must
have no more than 12 seats (though they many times do), be strictly family
run and must cook rustic Cuban food (i.e. no lobster or chicken breast
as they are reserved only for the tourist hotels). Within these and other
strict guidelines, such as being one of the few taxed businesses in a
Communist country, they have flourished. So much so, it is these paladares
that tourists seek out over other state and hotel run restaurants. The
food is authentic, wholesome and inexpensive.
Based on my personal experience and first hand travel
experiences from other travelers to Cuba, it can be concluded that the
number one problem for tourists there is finding a decent place to eat.
Before the emergence of paladares, choices were limited to either expensive
state run hotel restaurants and cafeterias or snack stands along the streets.
The little 'bodegas', Cuban national eating places, were off limits for
the most part to tourists as they accepted only Cuban pesos. With the
Cuban government opening up its shores to international tourism in 1993,
and allowing the privatization of paladares in 1995, things began to change.
Today, paladares abound. The main problem with them is that the legal
ones are taxed so high that many do not have the money to advertise. Many
times they will hire a “tout”, or guide, to help bring in customers.
Of course, the guides work on commission only, and therefore tend to favor
only those paladares from which they can profit and push up the prices
also. There are also illegal paladares, but they seem to close as fast
as they open. This of course, is why there is a dilemma for tourists.
| Cuban
Recipes Thanks to Lillian because of her effort
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