Rum is an alcoholic beverage derived from sugar.  Its historical origins go back to ancient India and China.  During the European colonization of the Western Hemisphere, rum became a much sought after commodity among pirates and English privateers due to the production of by products from the sugarcane harvests in the West Indies.  The distilling of the fermented sugarcane juice makes both dark and light rums and there just as many brands as there are islands in the Caribean.   Bacardi is by far the most popular.

Don Facundo Barcardi i Masso and his brother bought an old distillery in  Santiago de Cuba and began making rum in 1862.  At that time rum was not considered to be a refined spirit and was not sold in any of the established taverns.  Through a process of coal filtering and by using only the finest ingredients, the Bacardi brothers set the standard of quality for making superior rum.

In 1898 the battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk in Havana Harbor and the Spanish American War ensued.  The cry of “Cuba Libre” was heard throughout the land by Cubans who wanted freedom from Spain.  The war was quickly won by the United States and the Treaty of Paris was signed giving the US temporary control of Cuba.  For the next several years many US troops visited the island enoying its finer pleasures including Bacardi rum.

It’s not sure how it happened but around 1900 a group of US soldiers were in a bar in Havana. One of the soldiers ordered Bacardi rum mixed with Coca-Cola. This caused an interest among the other soldiers and they had the bartender prepare the same drink for them.  After several rounds of this new concoction, one of the soldiers suggested a toast to “Cuba Libre” in celebration of the newly freed Cuba. And thus Bacardi rum and Coke became known as Cuba Libre.

You see I went to the doctor the other day for my six month physical.  I don’t like going to the doctor especially when there is nothing wrong with me.  Because I have high blood pressure I have to be on medication.  So every time my prescriptions run out I have to go back and visit the doctor.

Anyway at this visit my doctor tells me that everything is fine but he is concerned about my blood’s sugar level.  According to the lab report it was at .6  four points below the danger mark.  Since my mother died from complications from diabetes, my doctor was concerned.

After reading me the riot act.  I went home rather upset because I try to be very careful about what I eat.  Unfortunately like most latins I eat my share of starches which unfortunately break down into sugar.  And I have to admit that I have somewhat of a sweet tooth.   Now don’t get me wrong I’m not a candy freak and I don’t take five spoonfuls of sugar with my coffee either, but I love my cookies, cakes and ice cream.  Which started me thinking.  How and where did I acquire this desire for sugar?

The first memories that I have  for quenching my sweet tooth was when I raided my grandmothers cub board.  As I have mentioned previously somewhere in another post, both my parents came from small towns known as “centrales” where refineries processed the sugar cane to produce sugar.  Well my grandmother kept a can of sugar up on the top self of a cabinet.  Now this wasn’t the white granulated sugar one buys in the store today.  This was unrefined rock hard brown sugar.   I would climb up on the counter to grab a handful of that delicious sweet concoction that would melt in your mouth.

I also remember exploring the railroad yards  by the “ingenio,” or refinery, and watch box car after box car get filled with the processed brown sugar.  You could smell the sweetness.  As a matter of fact the whole “central” would always have a sweet smell to it.

Besides the sugar refineries there was the  candy companies to deal with.  I had an uncle who worked in a Nestles plant near the  town of Banes.  Every time he would come to visit he would bring one of my favorite sugar concoctions – “leche condensada” – condensed milk.  Cubans use condensed milk to make such things as flan and crema de vie.  But me being a sugar conousieur,  I would pour it on almost anything.  I would even eat it straight out of the can.  I didn’t realize it then, but I had a problem.  The situation got worse when I came to the US.  My best friend’s family owned a Cuban bakery.  I would hang out there after school and on weekends having my fill of pasteles de guayaba and other pastries.

It seems however that most Cubans have this fascination with sugar.  Its more than a fascination.  Its an addiction that has been nurtured since childhood.  Just how many teaspoons of sugar does a Cuban put in his coffee is a perfect example of my dilemma.

So as I sit here sipping my coffee with one sugar, I’ve come to realize that there is no easy solution to my problem.  This Cuban thing I have with sugar is going to require some kind of intervention or support.  I wonder if there are Cuban sugar support groups?

There was no Christmas Eve in Cuba and there was no opening or giving of presents.  At least not on that day.  The night of December 24th. is known as “Noche Buena” or the good night.  It is the celebration of the birth of Christ.  The celebration consisted of large quantities of food and drink with the main course being the “pernil,” or pork.

Today most Cuban-American households prepare a pork roast as the “pernil” main course, but to do it the traditional way a fully dressed pig would be used.  The pig would be prepared then placed in a pit for cooking.  A China box is the most convenient way of cooking a full pig today, though there are many other imaginative ways of doing it.  Once cooked  the outer skin layer would have a rather crispy texture.

There was always plenty food to go around, but what I remember from those days was the “flan“ and the “crema de vie.“  Everyone is familiar with flan. Crema de vie is a concoction made with condensed milk, eggs and rum. In Puerto Rico it is called “coquito” but Cubans don’t use the coconut. It’s a pretty potent drink.

Speaking of rum.  When it comes to celebrating no one can celebrate like a Cuban.  Cubans are party animals to the bone and will find any reason to party.  And the there cannot be a Cuban celebration without Bacardi Cuban Rum.  Yes that’s right before Bacardi became Puerto Rican rum it was a Cuban Thing, but that’s another story.

Oh about the presents.  Christmas is all about presents.  But in Cuba and most Latin American countries the presents are not given out until January 6th.,  the day of the Epiphany.  This is the day that the three kings (los tres reyes magos) visited the new born Christ child and presented him with their gifts.

Feliz Navidad

My first encounter with a “pastel de guayaba” was as a young kid in New York City.  There was a Cuban bakery called “La Rosa” on 137th. Street and Broadway where my parents would buy their assortment of pastries, and Cuban bread.  I would rummage through the box of pastries and take as many “pastel de guayaba” as I was allowed.  As I grew older and in my teens my family moved to another section of New York where I became best friends with another Cuban kid whose parents owned another Cuban Bakery called “La Triana” on 179th. Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.

Needless to say I was in Cuban seventh heaven.  My Cuban friend, Emilio, would help his parents by working at the bakery everyday after school.  And while he worked behind the counter serving customers I would be nibbling on the “pasteles de guayaba.”  There are several ways to make the pasteles and they come in many different shapes.  My favorite are the ones with the flaky crust.  By hanging out at the bakery I would get them when they came right out of the oven.  Nothing beats a warm pastel de guayaba with an ice cold glass of milk… mmmmm.

Guava is also made into a solid paste called “dulce de guayaba,” which is very sweet and can be sliced into small pieces and served with white cheese.  I remember having it this way in Cuba when visiting my grandfather.  The family would gather around the dinning room table after dinner and my grandfather would slice the guayaba and the cheese for us to eat.

Now if you are looking for some interesting recipes using guava, there is a site that I found called My Big Fat Cuban Family which has a recipe book titled “Marta’s Cuban-American Kitchen.”  In it there are many authentic Cuban recipes including a turkey recipe with a sauce made with guava and port wine.  Marta Darby, the site blogger, is also starting a movement to make November National Guava Month. Amazon.com also has a Cuban cookbook available called “Memories Of A Cuban Kitchen,” where you may find some interesting recipes.

Guava has been cultivated around the Yayabero River in the province of Las Villas, Cuba for over two hundred years.  As a matter of fact there is a shirt that is very popular today that the farmers of the time designed to make their work easier.  They placed four pockets on the front panels of these shirts so they could carry the guava. They named the shirt Guayabera, which is a combination of the words guaya(ba) and (Yaya)bero.  So I guess that the guayaba is a Cuban Thing afterall.

A big part of the “Cuban Thing” mystique is the love that Cubans have for their coffee.  The Cuban Free Press has an article that best compares this Cuban love for coffee to that of the British love for tea.  Cuban coffee is often compared to espresso for it is made from a rich coffee blend similar to that of Turkish or Italian coffees.  What makes Cuban coffee different is the way that it is made.

Because of the embargo on trade placed on Cuba by the US, there are no present blends of Cuban coffee.  Instead latino coffee brands such as El Pico, Pilon and Bustello are used to make the brew.  These are rich espresso arabica coffee blends.  But you don’t need an expensive espresso machine to brew a “Cafe Cubano.”  All that is needed is a small Italian brewing pot called a “Macchinetta”.  No Cuban kitchen is complete without this handy piece of equipment.  Cubans call it a “cafetera.”  To learn how to make your own “Cafe Cubano” visit Arroz y Frijoles, a great site for original Cuban recipes.

After my father past away last year, I was clearing out his “stuff” from the kitchen cabinets when I came across his “cafetera.”  I used to drink Cuban coffee when I was younger and hung out with my Cuban friends.  But as I grew older and lost contact with the Cuban community I switched to American coffee.  Anyway excited by my discovery, I took out my father’s “cafetera” and brewed a pot.  A ”cafetera”  is an exceptional piece of equipment that gets better with age.  Never, ever should it be cleaned.  All you should do is just rinse it out after each use.   Little by little a coating will develop that will add to the taste of each new brew.  If you are adament about keeping it clean, then just boil water with a little vinegar in the “cafetera” after every other use.

After drinking two shots of  my “Cafe Cubano” I realized what I had been missing for all these years.  I still drink American style coffee with cream and sugar.  But when I’m home I’ll brew it with a “latino brand.”  When I’m out and about I’ll order a “turbo” blend from Dunkin Donuts or Starbuck’s.  A “turbo” is just a shot of espresso mixed in with regular coffee.  It doesn’t come close to the Cuban coffee thing but for me it gives a slight extra kick.

]]> http://mycubanthing.com/the-cuban-coffee-thing/feed/ 4 http://mycubanthing.com/the-cuban-sandwich-thing/ http://mycubanthing.com/the-cuban-sandwich-thing/#comments Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:41:23 +0000 http://mycubanthing.com/?p=4

In Cuba it is simply called ‘sandwich’.  Cubans call it “Cubano.”  To the rest of the world it is known as a Cuban Sandwich.  I can’t remember the first time I had a Cuban Sandwich.  I’m not sure if it was in Cuba or in New York.  What I do remember, and will never forget, is the taste.  The Cuban Sandwich doesn’t contain any special ingredients, just ham, roast pork, swiss cheese and pickles.  There are many other sandwiches with the same or similar ingredients, but the difference, the real difference, is the bread…, Cuban bread.

With the exception of a stint in the Air Force, I’ve lived most of my life in the New York metropolitan area.  As I have mentioned, Cuban communities in the 1950′s and early 1960′s were small and were usually a part of a much larger Spanish speaking neighborhood.  During this time there were no Cuban “loncherias”, Cuban luncheonettes or sandwich shops.  They didn’t really come on the scene until the Cuban communities became much larger.  I remember eating many a Cuban sandwich at one of these “loncherias” as a teenager.  Today almost any sandwich shop or restaurant in America has Cuban Sandwiches on their menu, it’s that “Cuban Thing” again, but they can’t deliver on its true taste simply because the main ingredient is missing…, Cuban bread.

I think that one of the greatest smells in the world is that of bread being baked.  And just like any other bread recipe, the distinctive taste of Cuban bread is derived from its ingredients – starter, yeast, water and flour.  Yes that’s it.  The secret is in the starter, which is enriched with lard from which the bread acquires its basic smoothness.  It is the taste of the bread that makes a Cuban Sandwich a Cuban Sandwich.

There are many recipes out there for Cuban Sandwiches, each one adding other ingredients to the original recipe.  The original recipe goes back to the early 16th. century and for the next four hundred years the “Cubano” developed into the delicacy that we enjoy today.  You can the see original recipe and learn more about the history of the Cuban Sandwich in an article written by Linda Stradley for What’s Cooking America.