Cuban cuisine
The Cuban cuisine is a mixture of influences of Spanish , African and Caribbean cuisine . The recipes have many spices and techniques in common with Spanish and African culinary art, while spices and seasonings from the Caribbean have less influence.
Common dishes are e.g. B. Dulce de leche , empanadas , natillas , tamales , tortillas or tres leches .
history
Due to historical circumstances, the Cuban population was ethnically not evenly distributed over the island until the 20th century. The African slaves made up the majority in the sugar cane plantations , but they were a minority in most cities. The tobacco plantations were mainly populated by poor Spanish farmers, mostly from the Canary Islands . Large numbers of French , Haitian and Caribbean immigrants also settled in the eastern part of the island, mainly during the Haitian Revolution, as well as seasonal workers for the sugar harvest, while this was not the case in the western part. Instead, mainly European immigrants were recorded there until the 1950s. As a result, Cuban cuisine developed out of its local conditions and specific demographic influences.
Creole cuisine
Eastern Cuban cuisine is largely based on the Creole way of cooking. Important ingredients for a sofrito sauce, for example, are sweet green pepper , garlic, cumin, onions, Cuban oregano and bay leaves. This mixture is sautéed briefly and then added to the hot beans.
A typical meal consists of rice and beans, which are usually cooked together and then called Moros y Cristianos ( Moors and Christians ). However, the beans are sometimes separately in a heavy soup served, along with the main dish, usually pork or beef as well as a kind of tuber , on Spanish Vianda called, which, among other things yuca , malanga , potatoes and plantains, unripe bananas and even corn contain can. Salad, usually simply composed of tomato, lettuce and avocado , although cucumber , carrot , white cabbage and radish are not uncommon.
Rice and beans are an integral part of the cuisine across Cuba, but this varies from region to region. In the eastern part of the island, arroz congrí is the dominant rice-and-bean dish. White rice and red beans are cooked together in a Sofrito and then baked in the oven. Moros y Cristianos is prepared in a similar way , for which black beans are used. Although making black bean soup requires a few basic ingredients (onions, garlic, lettuce, salt), each region has its own specific way of making it.
Meat is usually served with a light sauce. The most popular sauce that is served with roast pork, for example, is mojo or mojito , made from oil , garlic , onions , spices such as oregano and bitter orange or lime juice . Boliche is fried beef with a chorizo sauce and hard-boiled eggs. Ropa vieja is minced beef that is simmered in a Creole tomato sauce until it crumbles like "old clothes" as they came from the Canary Islands, hence the name.
Tamales are just as popular . They are made from cornmeal, uncured vegetable fat, and pork. The tamales are wrapped in corn leaves, tied and then boiled in salt water. They are brought to the table in different ways. Tamales en cazuela is almost the same recipe, only the time-consuming packing of the tamales in corn leaves before cooking is no longer necessary . Instead, they are cooked right in the pot. Tamales and black bean soup are one of the few remnants of the indigenous diet in modern Cuban cuisine.
Stews and soups are popular, especially when cooked with black or red beans. They are usually served with white rice or gofio . Corn chowder, corn soup ( Guiso ) Caldosa , a soup made of various plant tubers and meat are also popular. Also common, if available, are Spanish white bean stews, such as the fabada .
West Cuban cuisine
Although West Cuba's cuisine is technically Creole too, as that phrase implies the existence of Spanish roots, its style differs from mainstream Creole, especially in Havana. This city was more continental and closer to European cuisine for many reasons. There is also a notable Chinese influence there in the form of dishes such as sopa china (Chinese soup, an onion soup with egg), arroz salteado (fried rice) and others. Rice is usually consumed separately from beans, and flour is also widely used, contrary to the mainstream Creole cuisine where it is almost completely ignored. Some dishes from Havana make extensive use of alcaparrado , a mix of olives , raisins and capers , which gives the sweet and sour taste typical of this culinary art . Alcaparrado is used as an ingredient in various recipes, mostly as part of a sauce with meat. It is also used together with ground beef to make the filling for various Cuban pies or it serves as a popular finger food .
Other popular finger foods in Havana are croquettes (small fried paste sticks made from heavy bechamel sauce , minced meat ( ground beef), ham, chicken, fish or cheese covered with breadcrumbs), papas rellenas (fried or deep-fried potato balls filled with ground beef), picadillo a la Habanera ( Shaved meat with Alcaparrado , served with white rice, black beans and fried plantains ) and niños envueltos ("veiled child" - beef stuffed with Alcaparrado in pepper sauce).
Western cuisine also makes greater use of eggs, especially in the form of omelettes (e.g. tortilla de papa ) or fried eggs on rice and fried plantains ( huevos a la Habanara ). Furthermore, fish dishes are very popular, especially in the coastal zones. Popular fish dishes are: enchilado , shrimp , fish, crabs, lobster with chilli sauce or a la vizcaína , a sauce from the Basque Country that is used there for the preparation of cod .
Other dishes of Spanish origin are, for example, a kind of paella , yellow rice cooked with chicken, empanada gallega , a pate comparable to the English meat pie . Due to strong Galician and Asturian immigration at the beginning of the 20th century, many northern Spanish dishes came to Cuba and influenced the cuisine, such as pulpo a la gallega (Galician-style squid).
Eastern Cuban cuisine
While western Cuba has been heavily influenced by its European roots, the Oriente province is mainly influenced by African and Caribbean cuisine. Probably the biggest contributor to Congrí , which is cooked from red beans and rice. This is likely due to its proximity to the other Spanish-speaking islands, where red beans were more common than black.
Because of their African origin, black beans are mostly associated with Cuban cuisine. Many edibles from the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico can be found in Cuba's east, with their own touch. An example of this could be Mofongo , called Fu-fu in Cuba . It is made from banana puree as well as pork, chicken or seafood. The name Fu-fu comes from West Africa.
Sandwiches
Much of the sandwiches in Cuba are made from Cuban bread , an elongated loaf made with lard instead of oil and more water than usual, which gives it its typical taste.
The Cuban sandwich became popular at a time when there was a lively exchange between Cuba and the immigrant community of Ybor City in Tampa , Florida . It's a simple sandwich that traditionally consists of slices of roast pork, thin slices of Serrano ham , thin slices of Emmental cheese , sweet pickles, and yellow mustard on Cuban sandwiches. Genoa salami is also added in Tampa . Once filled, the Cuban sandwich is pressed and heated in a panini grill called “la plancha” at the same time. Then it is cut in half diagonally. Sometimes tomato and some kind of iceberg lettuce are also added, but this is rejected by some as illegal Americanization and called sandwich mixto (mixed sandwich).
A midnight sandwich (medianoche) is prepared exactly the same as a traditional Cuban sandwich, with the Cuban bread being replaced by a sweet egg yeast bread, ham is sometimes omitted. It got its name from a popular midnight snack in Havana's nightclubs.
Pan con lechón (bread with pork / suckling pig) is a traditional pressed sandwich made with Cuban bread, roast pork, onions and mojo . Pan con bistec (bread with beef steak) is prepared the same way, except that the pork is replaced with the flank .
Another typical Cuban sandwich is Elena Ruz . Elena Ruz was a young socialite in the 1930s who regularly turned up at El Carmelo , a popular Havana restaurant and confectionery shop , after an evening at the opera or a social event, and asked the waiter if they could make her a sandwich according to her wishes . It is made from white Cuban bread, with a layer of processed cheese on one slice, a layer of strawberry jam and preserves on the other, and a layer of turkey breast in between.
Other traditional sandwiches include pan con timba (bread with guava paste and processed cheese) or pan con chorizo (Cuban bread with thinly sliced Spanish chorizo sausage ) and the frita .
The frita became famous in Cuba in the 1930s. It's the Cuban version of the American hamburger : it's made with scraped meat, seasoned with paprika and onion. The meat slices are relatively thin and are prepared in a deep-frying sieve. They are then served in a bun made from Cuban bread and with mojo sauce and freshly made french fries.
Web links
- Cocina cubana - The Cuban cuisine (Spanish)
- Cuban recipes (English)
literature
- Villapol, Nitza: Cocina Cubana , 3rd ed., ISBN 959-05-0042-0 , Editorial Cientifico-Técnica, Habana, 1992.
- Reyes Gavilán y Maen, Maria Antonieta: Delicias de la mesa. Manual de Cocina y Reposteria , 12th edition, Ediciones Cultural SA, La Habana, 1952.
- Aróstegui, Gonzalo, et al .: Manual del Cocinero Criollo , Cuba, 19th century.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.sptimes.com/2003/01/18/TampaBay/To_each__his_own_sand.shtml
- ↑ Elena Ruz Turkey Sandwich recipe ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
