To be honest and straight away, the food in Cuba did not please me. For some reason, going to countries bordered by water, you expect a variety of fish. So it was in Copenhagen, where not a single cafe could do without fish, in Portugal, although we were content with small sardines, they were also everywhere in the freshest form. From Cuba, lobsters and shrimp were expected, and every day. I heard about Creole cuisine, which is partly present on the islands of the Caribbean, but fried chicken and patatas, even with all the variety of types and recipes that are the basis, somehow did not attract me. I wanted seafood. And they seemed to be in every cafe that respects the tourist, both shrimp and lobsters, but with all my love for them, I was not impressed. The abundance of sauces and oils is something that didn’t suit me in food, I don’t like fatty foods, but for some reason few people offered it on the grill. Perhaps only dinner at the checkout in Cienfuegos was great. Everything was just as I dreamed, Chyna, the hostess, cooks great! But once a week is not enough.

What do they eat in Cuba?

Here the question should be divided into two parts: what do they eat themselves Cubans and what can eat in Cuba tourist. The difference is significant and huge. All these shrimp and lobsters, as well as beef, are very expensive, so that the locals can afford it when they want. This is indeed very costly for them. You can't catch. The locals fish on their own. On the Malecon day and night you can meet fishermen with fishing rods.

Cubans fish for themselves not only out of sporting interest.

The locals also eat rice and black beans. This must be said and the food of the local population, since it is also the basis of Creole cuisine. A cafe for the local population where you can have a bite to eat (although tourists can also buy everything here if they want) is a tent, and usually there is a queue all the time. Here they sell juices (the most delicious guava), cookies, ice cream, cheeseburger sandwiches (and this is bread and cheese, literally), somewhere hamburgers, and, well, rum. Everything costs literally a penny, I’m not lying.

We somehow went into a shop to buy a couple of white buns, the simplest ones. According to local money, it cost 0.05 pesos, that is, less than a penny in our opinion. They really sold them to us for 2 pesos, but we did not become impoverished. Locals buy these buns in huge packages. And they bring them here in such typewriters in sheets. There was only one food market in Havana, in the Vedado area.

Food market in Havana in the Vedado area.

Cafes and restaurants for tourists, of course, are as they should be - with design, renovation, waiters in white aprons and menus in several languages. There is even in Russian sometimes. In the Havana Vieja district of Old Havana, many buildings, although converted into cafes, are stylized as the place that used to be here. Here is an example of a restaurant, in the building of which there was a printing house earlier.

Restaurant in the building of the former printing house.
Letters are everywhere.

Everything is available to tourists. But as I said - everything is an amateur. Of the places that we visited and where we ate in Havana, and not just drank Caribbean cocktails, I'm not afraid to recommend five.

The first cafe is located on the corner of the Malecón and Boulevard José Marti (Prado), and it is literally on the first floor of the house where we rented the Casa Particular in Havana, called Prado, 12, at its address. There are very good sandwiches here (I won’t show the photo, they disappeared in a sunken phone), very good cocktails and waiters. Some know Russian a little, since they studied in Russia, but why cut pickle pieces to strong rum, we had to explain for a long time (the waiter in our homeland was taught to eat strong salted cabbage with a current). As a result, they cut it, though it’s fresh) And it’s also very cool to sit on the terrace in the evenings, chilling with a cocktail under the fresh breeze from the ocean.

The second cafe in Havana, where you can have a wonderful European breakfast in the morning, including fresh fruit, juice, sandwiches, coffee and eggs, on the ground floor of the Carribean Hotel. The cafe is open from 7 am, and this is probably the only place where you can have breakfast if you need to leave the area early.

The third restaurant, Paladar Torreson, is located on the Malecon, house 27. On the ground floor there is a pizzeria and a fruit cart, and on the second floor there is a restaurant with a beautiful terrace and a view of the Malecon. The portions here are incredible. In general, many restaurants and cafes in Havana serve large portions, but no one warns about this. Either there is a desire to feed a rich hungry tourist, or they themselves are hungry and measure according to their strength. If you order paella, then remember that this is a very large frying pan and a portion not even for two, but for three or four, if you take something else. Leftovers are given to take away. The experiment to know what they eat and how European food is cooked in Cuba was almost a success, ratatouille and cordon bleu in traditional Criol breading, because of which everything gets the same flavor. But it was delicious.

Paella
Cordon bleu was delicious, but so big that I had to take it out and it was enough for breakfast.

The fourth place where you can eat a hearty and inexpensive meal is the Los Nardos restaurant, which is located directly opposite one of the main attractions of Havana - the Capitol and is very popular among tourists. Both because of the convenient central location and because of the large portions. And the portions, as I said, are large. If soup, then it will be a large bowl, if chicken, then two giant legs that do not fit on a plate, but fish, all in the same breading. Some people like this restaurant, maybe I just made a mistake in choosing dishes.

Breaded fish and rice with black beans at Los Nardos restaurant in Havana.

And finally, the fifth on the list, but by no means the last in the ranking, is the cafe del Oriente on Amargua street near St. Francis and the Exchange Square (Lonja del Comercio). There are two cafes with this name, the first is a restaurant, and it is located right on the corner of the street, but if you go a little deeper, there will be a cafe. This is a small courtyard always filled with people. Get ready that you will have to wait a very long time, as a waiter to make an order, and then the order itself. For the leisurely. It's cheap here, there's an offer of the day, hot plus four side dishes, no air conditioning, but at the same time it's delicious and being in Old Havana it's hard to find a place worthy of this in terms of price and quality. This place where to eat cheap in Havana.

Cafe Oriente in Old Havana
Some local fish and banana chips.
Shrimp and black beans.

And at the end of the story I will tell where in Havana buy coffee. It is believed that Cuban coffee is one of the best in the world, but you can not buy it everywhere in Cuba. On Plaza Vieja or Old Square, on Mercaderes street there is a cafe El Escorial, and a shop that sells coffee, which is immediately roasted and begged. Usually there is a queue.

Shop and cafe where you can buy coffee in Havana.

What is presented in response to the question, what is Cuba? The hot sun over the waves of the purest aquamarine color, swarthy beauties bending in an incendiary dance, passionate and so romantic love songs, the aroma of cigars, the fiery taste of Cuban rum. And delicious, generously flavored with spices, dishes of the island cuisine.
Cuban cuisine so peculiar that it deserves a close acquaintance. The symbiosis of the culinary traditions of African tribes, Spaniards and Creoles turned out to be successful, and local dishes are appreciated among gourmets.

Cuban dishes

For cooking Cuban dishes they use pork, poultry (usually chicken), everything that the sea can give and a lot of different spices. Cuban chefs manage with a relatively small set of products - they do not grow or produce any special delicacies here. Most often, meat is supplemented with black beans, corn or rice, vegetables. It may seem strange to Europeans, but here it is customary to stew and fry bananas as a side dish. The basis for most sauces are orange, avocado, mango, guava and many others. Fish casseroles and fruit salads are very popular here.
Coconuts are also often used, most dishes are fried in coconut oil. Cubans prepare a variety of sauces for every taste, giving preference to hot and spicy spices. Lamb and beef are rarely on their table.
Cuban cuisine will appeal to those who are indifferent to the delights of haute cuisine. But the ease of preparation and the limited set of ingredients do not make local food less tasty and nutritious. Sweets are an important part of the Cuban menu. Here they know how to cook delicious desserts. The most traditional recipe of bananas fried in sugar with the addition of rum. Other fruits are also fried. You should definitely try the pies with fruit fillings. Very tasty pie with the addition of sweet pumpkin.
It doesn't matter where you choose to stay, local dishes can be tasted everywhere without restrictions. A small culinary dictionary will help to understand this tasty and fragrant variety.
Platanos- a baked banana appetizer, loved everywhere and a must-have on the daily menu.
For Tostones bananas are cut into very thin slices to be fried later. In different versions, Tostones can be a side dish or an independent dessert.
Bacalao la Viszcaina-a is the Cuban name for cod stewed in oil with a lot of spices and a side dish of vegetables. Cod and its dishes came to Cuba with the Spaniards. Cod is part of many popular dishes.
Dried cod tastes like vobla, which is familiar to Russians, is served separately and used in various combinations.
Picadillo is one more tasty dish Spanish origin. In Cuba, they fell in love with him, fundamentally changing the recipe. Most often used Ground beef or chicken. For dressing take tomato sauce. Boiled rice serves as a side dish.
You can try another option, which includes finely chopped banana and cheese.
Every household prepares Ajiaco, a spicy stew (chicken or pork chunks) with lots of vegetables, corn, pumpkin, yucca and lemon. It is ajiako that is recognized as a visiting card traditional cuisine Cuba.Ajiaco has its own history - it was once cooked by the natives from fish. The Spanish conquistadors who came later added pork to the recipe. And the slaves brought from Africa have vegetables available to them. The result of their joint work is enjoyed by the guests of the sunny island today.
Those who love fried pork should order Lechon and enjoy juicy meat with a fried crust. There is also a delicious Santiagera - the so-called baked pork leg, pre-marinated. A special sauce made from tomato, a large amount of pepper and garlic gives it a particularly piquant taste.
La Caldosa - resembles a stew in consistency, in which pieces of chicken and fatty ham are hidden in a mass of sweet potatoes and other vegetables unusual for Europeans. Spices are generously added.
No less pleasure chicken fried in Cuban style with spicy sauces, or Arroz con Polo - rice with stewed chicken.
Moros y cristianos, black beans with added rice, can be a side dish, an unusual combination, but not disappointing. Often it is served as an independent dish.
The first is served with a thick black bean soup - Potaje.
Only in Cuba they cook Congri - delicious and spicy rice with small smoked sausages and lots of red beans.
Fufu comes from African cuisine. This is a mixture of many vegetables, in which bananas are necessarily present.
Seafood is usually cooked to order, delighting tourists with large lobsters with lemon, lobsters and shellfish. The Cubans themselves eat them infrequently - too expensive.
Fans of culinary exotics can enjoy turtle eggs, turtle meat (Tortuga) or crocodile.
Vegetarians should try pineapple roast, bananas under different sauces, fruit purees and salads.

Sauces and salads

Cubans love to emphasize the simplicity of their dishes with a variety of sauces. Among them, salsa criolla is among the most beloved. It contains chopped tomatoes, garlic, onions and a lot of pepper. All this unites vegetable oil and seasonings. Some recipes may contain beans, corn, or even mangoes. The second most popular sauce in Cuba is mojo. It also has several varieties - mojo de cilantro, mojo picon, etc.
Loved by our compatriots avocado salads The food here is especially delicious. There are many variations - from light snack salads to more satisfying ones, where they put shrimp, salmon, etc. In some establishments, it is customary to serve vegetable and fruit salads and snacks in halves of a coconut, replacing ordinary plates.
Fruit is an essential part of any meal.

Drinks: strong alcohol, cocktails, coffee and others

Everyone knows about the existence of Cuban rum, this favorite drink of pirates, from adventure books read in childhood. novels and even more popular pirate films. In Cuba, you can taste great rum. The drink created by the British was thoroughly improved by the Cubans, using charcoal filters in the production. Aging in wooden barrels has given a new flavor that has won worldwide fame.
We can note the rum "Guayabita del Pinar", and several varieties of "Havana Club" ("Anejo Reserva", "Anejo", "Silver Dry"). It is served "clean" and mixed with many different cocktails with the addition of rum.
In addition to the long-known "Cuba Libra", "Pina Colada", "Rum-Cola", "Daiquiri" and "Mojito", you can taste the less famous, but equally delicious "Presidente", "Cuba Bella", "Isla de Pinos ", "Saoko" and "Kubanito".
The second national drink is Aguardiente, almost the same fortress. Moonshine is distilled from sugar cane. The degree of purification and strength is different.
The quality of Cuban wines may not seem very high to connoisseurs. But in bars and restaurants they serve Chilean wine, of different varieties, and you can opt for it.
You can drink a glass of local beer ("Crystal"), good quality and at a reasonable price.
Even those who are indifferent to tinctures, the locals should like their original taste. But you should remember about their strength.
But the choice of fresh fruit juices is rich, for every taste. Prepare your lemonade with a little lime juice. Guarapo is prepared here - juice from sugar cane.
It is customary to drink coffee at any time of the day. It is brewed very strong, according to many, even too much. It is enough to drink "cafe cubano" to understand how much weaker his usual "espresso" is. When serving, put a lot of sugar in a small cup. If you don't like it, you can order "americano" or just coffee with milk.

Let Cuban culinary specialists not be able to surpass the sophistication of the French or Italians. But it is precisely the simplicity of traditional dishes, their spicy, spicy flavors that are in perfect harmony with the atmosphere of a tropical island bathed in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and hot sunbeams.

With food in Cuba, everything is sad. You won't find on the island good restaurants. There is no normal food even in expensive hotels. The problem is not only the curvature of the cooks, they are just not all crooked. The problem is the lack of normal products. There is no good meat, no dairy, no cheeses and sausages, nothing you are used to.

As in the USSR, they don’t buy in Cuba, but “get it”. You can theoretically get everything you want, but for this you need to have acquaintances. For example, drugs are sold only by prescription, but in fact you can get the pills you need if one of your friends was connected with the supply chain. Medicines for a bribe can also be bought from a doctor. And if you are a tourist, and suddenly your stomach hurts, then you will have to go to the doctor, which is in every hotel. This doctor will take 40 dollars for the initial examination only, and then he will sell you medicine from his own first-aid kit. Just buying a tablet "from the stomach" in a pharmacy will not work.

Even in Cuba there are food shortages. Most often, problems arise with meat and chicken, but in fact - with everything.

You can't buy normal clothes in Cuba either. Merchants go door to door and sell by hand what the shuttles bring from America or other countries. And in Cuban boutiques, under the guise of fashionable clothes, they sell only Chinese junk.

01. This is what Cuban pharmacies look like. They have only a couple of dozen names of medicines.

02. These are the most necessary and sought-after drugs such as paracetamol. In general, according to official reports, Cuba produces about 70% of all medicines needed by the population. Most of them are exported so that the state treasury has at least some income.

03. Historic pharmacy in the center of Havana. Previously, these shelves were filled with medicines, now they are decorated with decorative jars.

04. All available assortment is displayed on the counter under glass boxes.

05. Medicines in Cuba must be obtained. As a rule, doctors have their own first-aid kits, and they immediately sell the right pills to patients. There is a huge drug black market in Cuba, in which many doctors are involved.

06. And you will not find anything in pharmacies. There are many drug-producing enterprises in Cuba, and in principle they could improve the situation if it were not for the problem with the import of raw materials. Last year, the Cuban Minister of Health promised that the country would buy especially important medicines from its closest neighbors, but the range of pharmacies did not grow from this.

07. Instead of medicines, cotton buds and pads are on the shelves.

08. Due to the economic blockade and the poverty of the population, grocery stores in Cuba are also mostly empty. Cuban shops are divided into two types: there are ordinary social shops, which most Cubans go to and where goods are extremely scarce, and there are shops for people with money who are willing to overpay for rare products.

09. There is not much to choose from in stores. There is one type of butter, one brand of milk, one type of chips, but there may not be potatoes or chicken at all.

10. All necessary products also needs to be delivered.

11. Some Chinese junk.

12. Have some variety with alcohol. Cuba is lucky, even though they make good rum themselves;)

13. From alcohol there is Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian vodka.

14.

15.

16. Department of cheeses. You can buy only one kind of cheese, but it is so bad that it is impossible to eat it.

17. This is a social store where locals buy food for themselves. Food in these stores is quite cheap. There is flour, eggs, milk, canned food. You need to keep track of receipts, because products can quickly sell out, and then you will have nothing left.

18. Everyone is looking forward to when the thaw in relations between Cuba and the United States will bring its results in the form of normal and varied food in stores. But this is not happening yet.

19. Agriculture is very poorly developed in Cuba, so you won’t find normal fruits and vegetables here.

20. Lack of food does not allow Cuba to develop tourism. Only people with money can eat well here, and tourists with a limited budget will definitely experience a shortage of food for themselves.

21. Shelves with food look depressing, but it's still better than it was a couple of decades ago. With Cubans recently allowed to open small private bakeries and shops, food has become a bit more affordable. And in those days when the USSR collapsed, the inhabitants of the country were afraid to let their pets out into the street, so that they would not be killed and eaten by some desperate neighbor.

22. Most of the food in the country is imported. There is no import substitution here. Those products that are produced in the country cover less than 20% of the needs of the population.

23. Proper and balanced nutrition for Cubans is very expensive. Basically, the diet of the country's inhabitants consists of eggs, rice, bananas and other affordable and high-calorie foods.

24. Meat, fruits and vegetables remain out of reach for a large part of the population.

25.

26. Vegetable shop.

27. The shortage of goods becomes felt immediately after arrival in the country. This is an airport cafe, except for chips, packaged juice and soda, there is nothing here.

28. Another cafe at the airport, there are cigarettes and a couple of types of cookies.

29. Street bar. Here you can buy soda, water and some buns.

30. American food giants calculated that they could make $2 billion a year selling food to Cubans. Recently, they have been actively advocating the resumption of trade with Cuba. It is quite possible that soon they will be able to achieve their goal with the help of the lobby.

31. And this is a store for those who have money. He sells products very expensively. But there is at least some abundance here.

32. Imported pasta!

33. But meat is still a problem. There are green legs here, and apart from them there is nothing else to buy.

34. And this is frozen jamon, although you can’t eat it with ice cream at all. For such a piece, they are asking for 164 dollars.

35. Ham costs from 7 to 16 dollars per kilogram. They sell it in small pieces.

36. Most of the population with an average salary of 20-30 dollars a month cannot afford it.

37. Cheap sausages for the dollar.

38. All this is brought by shuttles, so even ordinary cheese for us costs several times more than in the same American supermarkets.

39. Sausages are more expensive, they cost 12-15 dollars. Most of the monthly salary of a simple Cuban.

40. Here in another store for the rich there is foreign alcohol.

41. Chocolate "Toblerone" costs $ 4, a package of "Ferrero Rocher" - $ 12, sweets like "Snickers" and "Mars" - $ 7. A pack of cookies is almost $5. On average, everything is twice as expensive as in Russia.

42. "Glenlivet" here costs from 40 to 163 dollars, depending on the shutter speed, "Jameson" - 26 dollars. Johnny Walker Double Black costs $94 (an average of $30 more than in Russia), Gold Label costs $129 ($50 more) and Blue Label costs $372 ($140 more).

43.

44.

45. Ordinary department store with Chinese junk. Here, too, all goods of only one type.

46. ​​Cars are all the same.

47.

48. This little TV is $300. The average Cuban salary is 10 times less. Not everyone can afford to buy such a TV.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53. Shopping center

54. Shop for women's bags

55. Shoes

57. Fake clothes from Jennifer Lopez. These things cost $30.

58. Erotic lingerie for $4. Sweets in stores are more expensive.

59.

60. Queue to the communication salon. People are not allowed into the shops if there are already several people there. You have to wait in line for someone to come out.

61.

It is a sad paradox that the fertile land of Cuba feeds the people who inhabit it very poorly. During the so-called Special Period in the early 1990s. there was a severe shortage of food, and the distribution of already harvested fruits and vegetables remains a serious problem to this day. Food books do not provide enough food for people to live on and are likely to be phased out, adding uncertainty to the lives of poor Cubans. Those who do not experience a lack of money (tourists and a small layer of citizens of the country) do not feel such hardships, receiving a larger and better share of what little is in the country. Do not expect an unforgettable gastronomic experience from visiting Cuba. Cuba was once known for good Creole cuisine, a fusion of Spanish and African culinary traditions, but nowadays many Cubans are content with simple box lunches and sandwiches. Restaurants often lack any choice, and the menu includes only the standard chicken or pork with rice and beans. Most hotels act for sure, offering guests international cuisine.

Where to eat

If you stay at a resort, it's likely that you'll be faced with the monotonous reality of hotel dining. In large hotels, there is often not only a main buffet restaurant, but also an a la carte restaurant, a parrilla (grill) by the pool and a beach cafe.

There are two types of public restaurants. In some you will have to pay pesos convertibles, in others visitors are served for pesos cubanos. The latter are usually cafeteria-type establishments for Cubans. The menu is extremely limited, the food is of poor quality, and the queues are long. In some isolated cities (like Bayamo), food in such establishments will be very cheap, although a single dish may appear on the menu, and visitors from among the locals will look at you with a dumb question “how did you get here?”. However, often even there, as a foreigner, they will take pesos convertibles from you.

Another category is paladares, private restaurants in private homes. They serve everyone who is willing to pay with pesos convertibles. In 1995, the government legalized such establishments, but often only to soon be strangled with taxes and fines. In 2011, some of the restrictions were lifted and the maximum number of places allowed was increased from 12 to 50 in order to create new jobs, and this led to more paladares, allowed more people to get jobs. The food here is usually better than in state restaurants, and the prices are more moderate. For a fixed price, you will be offered a three-course lunch, sometimes with beer or juice. These are simple little restaurants, usually with a menu, located on the terrace or in the walls of someone's house.

If you stay in a casa particular, that is, in a private home, you can enjoy the benefits of Creole cuisine with dishes made from the freshest and best ingredients. The host family will cook whatever you want, or offer dishes typical of the region. In the morning you say what you would like to have for dinner, and the hosts will buy the necessary products and fulfill your order. In the morning you will be supported by a healthy breakfast of fresh fruits, eggs, coffee, juice and bread, and perhaps two of these meals, apart from something light in the middle of the day, will be enough for you.

All the resorts and cafes around Havana offer sandwiches (almost exclusively with ham and/or cheese), but otherwise snacks in Cuba are limited to bad street pizzas and lunch boxes. Even more difficult with food for picnics. In hotel shops, you can buy packages of biscuits and chips for pesos, and fruit at farmers' markets.

What is

In large hotels, especially resorts, breakfast can be the best meal of the day: a buffet of fresh fruit, fresh juices, cheeses, deli meats and pancakes. Egg dishes are often cooked to order. Guests of more modest hotels are usually content with sandwiches and scrambled eggs.

There is also a buffet for lunch and dinner, which guests with a good appetite will surely appreciate. The food is international rather than typically Cuban. The abundance on offer (several salads, bunches of bananas, watermelons, pies, various types of fish, meat and pasta) makes some tourists uncomfortable, given the limited diet of most Cubans.

Most restaurants offer Creole cuisine. The main ingredients are rice and beans. On the menu you will find either rice with beans (moras y cristianos, that is, "Moors and Christians"), or rice with black beans (congris) - the latter is more common in the east of the island. From meat, you will most likely be offered polio asado (fried chicken) and cerdo asado (fried pork). white fish usually appears under the general name pescado and is usually grilled. Many restaurants also serve lobster for a hefty price (CUC$25-30). A popular side dish is root vegetables such as malanga and ouisa (cassava), plus maduros or tostones (fried banana slices). Common desserts are pasta de guayaba con queso (cheese with guava paste) and Coppelia ice cream, which is produced throughout the country.

What drink

Cuba's national drink, rum, is made from sugar cane juice and molasses, a by-product of sugar production. Young rum, aguardiente ("fire water"), has a very high alcohol content. Five- and seven-year-old rum, which is aged in oak barrels, dark and has a characteristic aroma. It is drunk neat or with plenty of ice.

Cuban cocktails contain one or three year old white rum. Some cocktails have gained cult status. Hemingway drank his mojito (sugar, lime juice, ice, fresh mint, rum and soda) at La Bodeguita del Medio and his daiquiri (sugar, lime juice and rum mixed with crushed ice) at La Floridita. Less exotic Cuba libre - rum with cola and a slice of lime.

Cuban beer (Bucanero, Cristal, Mayabe, Tinima and other brands) is very good. Only in the most expensive restaurants visitors are offered wines. Wine in Cuba is produced using Spanish technology, but the industry is only in its infancy, and you have nothing to lose if you ignore the results of its experiments.

For soft drinks, try the exceptionally sweet guarapo (pure sugar cane juice) and granizado (flavored water with ice from a paper cup sold from street carts). In some cities, you will find stalls of homemade cola - three servings of syrup mixed with sparkling water. The drink is surprisingly refreshing and only costs 5 centavos.

Coffee is one of Cuba's main exports, but you won't always be able to get a drink made from export-quality beans. In hard times, coffee is mixed with chicory, and many Cubans are accustomed to this flavor and prefer it. Espresso coffee is called cafe and is traditionally drunk with an unimaginable amount of sugar; cafe americano is thinner and served in large cups. Cafe con leche - espresso and milk in the same proportion. Coffee with a little cream in Cuba often has a dubious gray tint.

Of the meat, Cubans prefer chicken, as it is more accessible on the island. Then comes lamb and beef.

"Ahiako". Without this dish, the Cuban table will be poor and meager. This is grilled meat. It can also be stewed in pots. Be sure to attach vegetables to it (without vegetables, a Cuban will not start a meal). Dried beef, chicken, pork ribs, beef, pork tenderloin (such a meat mix), onions are also added, bell pepper, tomatoes, spanish paprika, black pepper.

The most interesting thing in this dish is vegetables: cassava root, white yam pieces, yellow malanga root, corn cob, sweet potato, green plantain, butternut squash, lime juice. If at least some name is familiar to you, you can order a dish for a sample. The dish doesn't look very appealing. It also has a specific taste.

Caldosa is a chicken stew with potatoes. Ham, onion, garlic, carrots, oregano are added to it. Fantasy in this dish has no limits: you can add other ingredients at the request of the cook.

"Lechon" is simply fried pork served with sauce.

"Lechon asado" is a meat-eater's dream: roasted suckling pig. No Cuban celebration is complete without this dish.

"Santiaguera" - marinated pork leg, which is baked in the oven. The meat is poured with a sauce of pepper, tomatoes and garlic.

"Ropa Vieja" - the translation of this dish is original: "torn clothes." Pork is boiled, torn into fibers and stewed in vegetable sauce according to the Creole recipe. This is the second dish, a little spicy.

In Cuba, be sure to try crocodile meat: a combination of the taste of squid and chicken. Dishes made from the tail and paws of a crocodile are popular.

Side dishes and sauces

For side dishes, Cubans take rice, beans, corn, potatoes (sweet).

"Moors and christians" - a side dish, which is rice with black beans (Cubans adore them). The dish is translated as "Negroes and Christians". Humor among Cubans is also present in cooking.

Kongri - rice with smoked sausages and beans.

Soups are cooked from beans (for example, potaje). The stomach of a European will not be able to “accept” Cuban soups so easily. In our understanding, such “pieces” of meat, vegetables, etc. are not put in the soup. When tasting Cuban cuisine, it is better to order one serving of soup for two, because you can always ask for extras.

Sauce is a must for any first or second course. For sauces, Cubans use whatever they want: vegetables, fruits, sometimes both at the same time. One of the island's favorite sauces is Mojo. It's a mix of tomatoes, peppers and garlic. Another popular sauce is Salsa criolla. Tomatoes, peppers, oil and onions are added to it. Papaya and mango sauces are original and refined.

Salads in Cuba are not popular. Of course, dishes from other countries are present in the menu of restaurants and cafes on the island, but Cuba does not shine with national "salad" masterpieces. Try "Picadillo la habanera" - interesting for its incongruous, it would seem, components of the salad. Avocado, salmon, mango or pineapple are put in it.