Frankly, and right away - the food in Cuba did not please me. For some reason, going to countries bordered by water expect a variety of fish. So it was in Copenhagen, where not a single cafe was complete without fish, in Portugal, although we were content with small sardines, they were also everywhere in the freshest form. Lobsters and shrimps were expected from Cuba, and every day. I heard about Creole cuisine, which is partly present in 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 seem to have been in every cafe respecting tourists, and shrimps and lobsters, but with all my love for them, I was not impressed. The abundance of sauces and oils is something that did not suit me in food, I do not like fatty foods, but for some reason few people offered it simply on the grill. Perhaps only the dinner at the box office in Cienfuegos was great. Everything was the way I dreamed, China, 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 eatthemselves Cubans and what can eat in Cuba tourist... The difference is significant and enormous. All these shrimps and lobsters, as well as beef, are very expensive so that the locals can afford it whenever they want. It really costs them dear. You can't catch. Locals go fishing on their own. On Malecon day and night you can meet fishermen with fishing rods.

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. The café for the local population, where you can eat (although tourists can buy everything here too if they want) is a tent, and usually there is a line all the time. They sell juices (the most delicious guayavas), biscuits, ice cream, cheeseburgers (and these are bread and cheese, literally), somewhere hamburgers, well, rum. Everything is literally worth a penny, I won't lie.

We once went into a shop to buy a couple of white buns, the simplest ones. In local money, it cost 0.05 pesos, which is less than a penny in our opinion. They really sold to us for 2 pesos, but we did not become poor. 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.

Cafes and restaurants for tourists are of course the same as it should be - with design, renovation, waiters in white aprons and menus in several languages. There is even Russian sometimes. In the Havana Vieja area of \u200b\u200bOld Havana, many buildings, although converted into cafes, are stylized to resemble the place that was here before. Take, for example, a restaurant that previously housed a printing house.

Everything is available to the tourist. But as I said, everything is not for everybody. Of the places 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 Malecon and José Martí (Prado) boulevard, and it is literally on the first floor of the house where we rented casa particulars in Havana, called Prado, 12, at its own address. There are very good sandwiches here (I won't show you a photo, they disappeared in the sunken phone), very good cocktails and waiters. Some people know Russian a little, since they studied in Russia, but why cut pickled cucumber into slices for strong rum, we had to explain for a long time (a waiter in our homeland taught a strong salted cabbage to eat). As a result, they cut it, though fresh) And here in the evenings it is very cool to sit on the terrace chilling with a cocktail under a fresh wind from the ocean.

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

The third restaurant, Paladar Torreson, is located on Malecon, house 27. On the first floor there is a pizzeria and a cart selling fruit, and on the second there is the restaurant itself, with a beautiful terrace overlooking 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 sooo large frying pan and a portion is not even for two, but for three for four, if you take something else. The half-eaten is taken away. The experiment to learn what they eat and how they prepare European food in Cuba was almost a success, ratatouille and cordon blue in traditional Criole breading, because of which everything takes on the same flavor. But it was delicious.

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

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 Saint Francis Square and the Stock Exchange (Lonja del Comercio). There are two cafes with this name, the first is a restaurant, and it is 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 it will take a very long time to wait, as a waiter to place an order, and then the order itself. For the leisurely. It is cheap here, there is an offer of the day, hot plus four choices of side dishes, no air conditioning, but at the same time it is delicious here and being in Old Havana it is difficult to find a place worthy of this in terms of price-quality ratio. This place where to eat inexpensively in Havana.

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 cannot buy it in Cuba everywhere. In Plaza Vieja or Old Square, on the Mercaderes street, there is the El Escorial café and a shop that sells coffee, which is immediately roasted and prayed. Usually there is a queue.

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

Cuban dishes

For cooking cuban dishes they use pork, poultry (more often chicken), everything that the sea can give and a lot of various 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 bananas are usually stewed and fried as a side dish. Most sauces are based on orange, avocado, mango, guava, and many others. They love fish casseroles and fruit salads.
Coconuts are also often used; most dishes are fried in coconut oil. Cubans prepare a variety of sauces for every taste, preferring hot and spicy spices. Lamb and beef are not often on their table.
Cuban cuisine will appeal to those who are indifferent to the delights of haute cuisine. But the ease of preparation and limited ingredients don't make the local food less tasty and nutritious. Sweet is an important part of the Cuban menu. 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 pies with fruit fillings. Delicious pie with sweet pumpkin added.
No matter where you choose to relax, local food can be enjoyed everywhere without restriction. A small culinary dictionary will help you to understand this delicious and aromatic variety.
Platanos - a baked banana appetizer, a favorite everywhere and a must on the daily menu.
For Tostones bananas are cut into very thin slices to be fried later. In different varieties, Tostones can be a side dish or a stand-alone dessert.
Bacalao la Viszcaina-a is the Cuban name for cod stewed in oil with lots of spices and a vegetable garnish. Cod and cod dishes came to Cuba with the Spaniards. Cod is found in many popular dishes.
Dried cod tastes like roach familiar to Russians; it is served separately and used in different combinations.
Picadillo is another delicious Spanish dish. In Cuba, they loved him, fundamentally changing the recipe. Most often, ground beef or chicken is used. Take tomato sauce for dressing. Boiled rice serves as a garnish.
You can try another option that includes finely chopped banana and cheese.
Every home prepares Ajiaco - a spicy stew (chicken or pork in pieces) with lots of vegetables, corn, pumpkin, yucca and lemon. It is ajiaco that is recognized as the hallmark of traditional Cuban cuisine.Ajiaco has its own history - it was once prepared by the natives from fish. The Spanish conquistadors who came later added pork to the recipe. And the vegetables imported from Africa are available to them. The guests of the sunny island enjoy the result of their joint work today.
Those who love grilled pork should order Lechon and enjoy the juicy meat with a crispy crust. There is also a delicious Santiaguera - the so-called baked pork leg, pre-marinated. A special sauce made from tomato, lots of pepper and garlic gives it a particularly piquant taste.
La Caldosa resembles a stew in consistency, in which pieces of chicken and fat ham are hidden in a mass of sweet potatoes and other vegetables that are unusual for Europeans. Spices are added generously.
They will give no less pleasure chicken fried in Cuban style with hot sauces, or Arroz con Polo - rice with chicken stew.
A side dish can be Moros y cristianos - black beans with added rice, an unusual combination but not disappointing. It is often served as a standalone dish.
The first is served with thick black bean soup - Potaje.
Only in Cuba, Congri is prepared - 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 always present.
Seafood is usually cooked to order, delighting tourists with large lobsters with lemon, lobster and shellfish. The Cubans themselves eat them infrequently - too expensive.
Fans of culinary exoticism can enjoy turtle eggs, turtle meat (Tortuga) or crocodile.
Vegetarians should try the roast of .. pineapple, bananas with different sauces, fruit purees and salads.

Sauces and salads

Cubans like to set off 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 peppers. All this is united by vegetable oil and seasonings. For some recipes, it may contain beans, corn, or even mango. 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 shrimp, salmon, etc. are placed. In some establishments, it is customary to serve vegetable and fruit salads and snacks in halves of 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 the 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 production. Aging in wooden barrels has given a new taste that has won worldwide fame.
We can mention the rum "Guayabita del Pinar", and several varieties of "Havana Club" ("Anejo Reserva", "Anejo", "Silver Dry"). It is served "pure" and many different cocktails are mixed with rum added.
In addition to the well-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" Cubanito ".
The second national drink is Aguardiente, which is almost the same strength. 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 Chilean wine is served, of different varieties, and you can opt for it.
You can have a glass of local beer ("Crystal"), good quality and reasonably priced.
Even those who are indifferent to liqueurs, 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 made here - sugarcane juice.
It is customary to drink coffee at any time of the day. It is boiled very strong, in the opinion of many, even too much. It is enough to drink "cafe cubano" to realize how much weaker is his usual "espresso". 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 experts fail to surpass the sophistication of the French or Italians. But it is the simplicity of traditional dishes, their spicy, pungent aromas that perfectly harmonize with the atmosphere of a tropical island bathing in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and hot sun rays.

Cuban cuisine very diverse, useful and rich. The basic set of products from which Cubans are mainly prepared is simple and without any special frills. In Cuban cuisine, food is often grilled or stewed in ceramic pots. Of meat, Cubans use more chicken and pork, and much less beef and lamb. A lot of vegetables are eaten, especially for lunch and dinner, and especially black beans, rice and corn, as well as sweet potatoes and yucca.

Cuban cuisine recipes. Dishes for the holidays. National New Year's recipes.

First meal:

• Cuban fish soup with potatoes and green peas

Main dishes:

Salads:

Salted cod is also one of the most sought-after products in Cuba, for example, "bacalao la viszcaina-a" - cod cooked according to an old Basque recipe with "sofrito" - spices and vegetables stewed in oil, an obligatory addition to which is fried bread. They eat ocean fish, mostly fried on coals. Boiled noodles with cheese or stews and tomatoes, poultry and wild poultry cooked on a skewer are also common dishes.

In general, the range of products is small, so they like to season food with sauces. And there is a great variety of sauces, and they are prepared from a wide variety of products. The most popular sauces in Cuba are salsa criolla, which are made with tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and oil, and mojo made with garlic, tomatoes and peppers. And also all sorts of sauces are prepared from mango, papaya, citrus and other fruits, which are many on the island. Thanks to them, even the simplest dishes acquire a certain sophistication. But spicy sauces are not made in Cuba, and unlike the Russian tradition, milk sauces are almost never used in Cuba.

Within the country, the cuisine has some differences. For example, in Santiago de Cuba and the eastern part of the island, more spicy food is prepared. In the central and western parts of the country, coconut and chocolate are preferred, and they also use exclusively coconut oil and coconut milk for frying.

The national dish is “ajiaco crioglio” - a thick stew that has various varieties; its main ingredients are different vegetables and fruits, which are prepared with different types of meat. The pinnacle of Cuban cuisine is congri (white rice cooked with colored beans) and arros moro, also called the Moors and Christians, rice with black beans. The favorite dish of Cubans and tourists, La caldosa, is a stew made from chicken, onions, garlic, oregano, yam, carrots, sweet potatoes, butter, ham and whatever the hostess has. All ingredients are placed in an earthen pot, which is put on a small fire and stewed for a long time. More sophisticated dishes are also prepared from chicken, for example, fried chicken with a sauce of bitter oranges. Having been in Cuba, it is worth trying “Chicharrones-al-simaron” (an original Cuban snack for beer made from thin bacon fried in boiling oil), “Boniato” (sweet potatoes fried until golden brown), “Santiager” (pork leg, marinated and baked in the oven, cut into slices, with a mojito sauce decorated with platano slices), "African" (black bean soup with fried onions, bell peppers and herbs), "Medallones mango" (pork slices stewed with with mango cubes, wine and spices, garnished with fresh mangoes, onions and mint). Salads in Cuba are prepared mainly from avocados, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and seasoned with oil and vinegar. As an appetizer or light dinner, they prepare "ensalada de aguacates" - an avocado salad, to which the hostess can add salmon, mango or pineapple at her own discretion.

Cuban restaurants offer a wide range of seafood dishes, such as the Old Havana dish - lobster slices with mussels and oysters in sauce, decorated with lettuce and tomato slices. Cooking seafood is quite traditional - the same as in Europe. But Cubans can add Cuban rum, which creates a new, very interesting flavor, and offer various unusual sauces to the dishes.

In Cuba, many dishes are also prepared from bananas, they are fried here, baked, added to many dishes, and simply eaten raw. For example, to prepare "platanos a punetazos", unripe banana fruit is cut into thin diagonal slices and fried, for pork sauce and couscous it is chopped, seasoned with olive oil, banana is suitable for baking pies and puddings and, finally, for the famous picadillo by -kubinski, for which the fruit is crushed and mixed with cheese. Beef is most often prepared "picadillo" - a mixture of minced meat with vegetables. On holidays, "lechon asado", a whole roasted suckling pig, is prepared.

Cuban desserts are generally very sweet as they are served mostly with cane syrup. These are all kinds of fruits and in different forms, whole, in pieces and in pies. For clarity, imagine a guava pie - "masa real de guayaba" or a pie with coconut, oranges and pumpkin. Coppelia ice cream is very popular in Cuba. In recent years, mousses, puddings and more have been made on the island. A quite traditional Cuban dessert is the banana flambé - slices of hot caramelized bananas with orange juice, garnished with almonds and mint, and served on fire. Cheese desserts (similar to European cheesecakes) are also interesting, for example guayava with cheese, or Barcelona mousse (dark chocolate mousse with sesame seeds and grated white chocolate). Speaking of desserts and sweets, one cannot ignore Cuban coffee, which is very strong and sweet, and Cubans drink it in huge quantities and throughout the day. There are many cafes in the cities, as well as casas de infusions, where you can taste various infusions, decoctions and other drinks. Cubans put a lot of sugar in all drinks.

It is customary for Cubans to serve table wine for lunch and dinner. Dinner often starts with a spiced aperitif Kanelazos rum (for a bottle of rum - 30 g of cinnamon, 5 g of cloves) and a quesillo snack - pieces of cheese fried in butter. The most popular alcoholic beverage is rum. The most famous brand of rum is Havana Club. There are three varieties, Carta Oro (gold), Carta Blanca (white), and Anejo (old), which vary in aging. Cubans' favorite rum is Anejo (about $ 8 per bottle). Rum is drunk undiluted or on ice and used for cocktails. There is a rum museum in Old Havana. Here is a wealth of information about the history of its production.

Each Cuban establishment offers its own signature cocktail. Famous Cuban cocktails are mulata, saoko, Cuba libre, etc. Daiquiri is one of the ten main cocktails in the world. Daiquiri was originally made from rum, lime and sugar. Now there are many versions of the preparation of this cocktail, one of them is "frozen daiquiri". In "Сasas de infusions", you can taste various infusions, decoctions and other drinks.

Food of Cuba - a selection of dishes of the Cuban national cuisine, what Cubans themselves eat every day, well, or on holidays, with a photo and description of the ingredients of delicious dishes

Due to colonization and the slave trade, Cuban cuisine is a mixture of Spanish and African influences. Spanish colonialists brought in citrus fruits, rice and vegetables, and African slaves experimented with cassava and corn

Cuba has many restaurants serving traditional food. Typical meals include either sandwiches or rice and beans, cooked together or separately. Okay THERE have prepared for you an overview of the dishes that are worth trying on your trip to Freedom Island.

Sandwiches

• Cuban sandwich - sometimes called "Mixto" - a popular snack that consists of lightly buttered Cuban bread and includes fried pork marinated in citrus juice, thinly sliced \u200b\u200bham, Swiss cheese, pickled cucumbers and yellow mustard.
• Sandwich Medianoche - very similar to a Cuban sandwich, except that the Cuban bread is replaced by a sweetish egg bread, and sometimes no ham is added at all. The name comes from the time it is eaten (late night snack).
• Pan con lechon (Pan con lechón) is a traditional pressed sandwich, everything is simple and ingenious here: Cuban bread, fried pork, onions.
• Pan con beefsteak(Pan con bistec) - made in the same way as the lechon version, but the pork is replaced with a thin beef fillet.

Main dishes

• Arroz con Poyo (Arroz con Pollo) - Cuba's favorite chicken dish, Arroz con Poyo is similar to paella but lacks seafood. The dish is made from rice, chicken and traditional sofrito sauce.
• Moros and christianos (Moros y Cristianos) - This national dish is served in almost every Cuban restaurant. Made with rice and black beans.
• Ropa Vieja (Ropa Vieja) is a traditional Cuban dish made from brisket or steak, stewed in aromatic tomato sauce. White rice is served as a side dish. The name literally translates as "old clothes", but this did not affect the taste in any way.
• Waka Fritta (Vaca Frita) - made with beef that is marinated in oregano, parsley, cilantro, garlic, cinnamon and red vinegar and then fried until crispy. Served with onions and green peppers for flavor.

Snacks

• Tostons - double-fried slices of plane tree (a type of banana), similar to potato chips. Fried sweet slices of sycamore are a classic snack. Toastons are served with salad leaves, cheese and a variety of sauces.
• Malanga Fritters(Malanga Fritters) - Malanga looks like yam in appearance and tastes like potatoes. This delicious dish is made with taro root mixed with egg and minced garlic, then fried well. This is a great snack option.
• Chicharrones (chicharrones) - crispy fried pork skin, which is made from either pork skin or fried belly.

Tours to Havana

Sweets

• Pastelitos(pastelitos) are baked puff pastries with a sweet or savory filling. Traditional fillings are cream cheese, guava, pineapple and coconut.
• Tres Leches (Tres Leches Cake) - a biscuit soaked in three types of milk: condensed milk, baked milk and cream.
• Flan (Flan) - Cuban flan is made with two eggs and cinnamon sticks, this dessert is considered a favorite among the Cuban people. A similar Cuban dish is Copa Lolita, a small caramel dessert served with one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Other options might include coconut, guava, or rum.

If you plan to visit Cuba in the near future, be sure to try the national dishes offered by Cuban cuisine. We hope this article on Cuban food will help you make the right choice.

The sad paradox is that the fertile land of Cuba feeds the people inhabiting it very poorly. During the so-called Special Period in the early 1990s. there was an acute shortage of food, and the distribution of fruits and vegetables already harvested remains a serious problem to this day. The food books do not provide people with enough food 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 stratum of citizens of the country) do not feel such hardships, receiving a larger and better share of the little that is in the country. Don't expect an unforgettable gastronomic experience from your visit to 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 packed lunches and sandwiches. Restaurants are often lacking any choice and only standard chicken or pork with rice and beans are on the menu. Most hotels are acting for sure, offering guests international cuisine.

Where to eat

Staying at a resort is likely to run into the monotonous reality of hotel dining. Large hotels often have not only the main buffet restaurant, but also an a la carte restaurant, a poolside parrillaada (grill) and a beach cafe.

There are two types of government restaurants. In some, you will have to pay pesos convertibles, in others, visitors are served for pesos cubanos. The latter are usually café-type establishments for Cubans. The menu is extremely limited, the food is of poor quality, and the lines are long. In some isolated cities (like Bayamo), food in such establishments will cost very cheaply, although the menu may include a single dish, and local visitors will glance at you with a silent question "how did you get here?" However, often there, as a foreigner, they will take a convertible pesos from you.

Another category is paladares, private restaurants in private homes. There they serve everyone who is ready to pay the convertible pesos. In 1995, the government legalized such establishments, but often only to soon strangle them with taxes and fines. In 2011, some of the restrictions were lifted, and the maximum allowed number of jobs was increased from 12 to 50 in order to create new jobs, and this led to the emergence of more paladares, allowing more people to get jobs. The food is usually better than in government restaurants and the prices are 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 within the walls of someone's house.

If you stay at a casa particular, that is, a private home, you can take advantage of a Creole-style meal with the freshest and finest 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 purchase the necessary products and fulfill your order. Enjoy a healthy breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, coffee, juice and bread in the morning, and perhaps two of these meals, aside from a light mid-afternoon meal, will suffice.

All resorts and cafes around Havana offer sandwiches (almost exclusively with ham and / or cheese), but otherwise the snack selection in Cuba is limited to poor street pizza and cardboard box lunches. It's even more difficult with picnic foods. In hotel stores, you can buy packs of biscuits and chips for pesos, and fruit in farmers' markets.

What is

In large hotels, especially in resorts, breakfast can be the best meal of the day: a buffet of fresh fruit, fresh juices, cheeses, meats and pancakes. Egg dishes are often prepared to order. More modest hotels tend to settle for sandwiches and scrambled eggs.

There is also a buffet for lunch and dinner, which will surely be appreciated by guests with a good appetite. The food is international rather than typically Cuban. The abundance on offer (a few salads, bunches of bananas, watermelons, pies, different types of fish, meat and pasta) makes some tourists uneasy given the limited diets 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 in cristianos, that is, "Moors and Christians") or rice with black beans (congris) - the latter is more common in the east of the island. For meat, you will most likely be offered polio asado (fried chicken) and cerdo asado (fried pork). White fish is commonly referred to as pescado and is generally grilled. Many restaurants also serve lobsters at a hefty price (CUC $ 25-30). Popular side dishes are root vegetables such as malanga and yuisa (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 sugarcane 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, is dark and has a characteristic aroma. It is drunk neat or with a lot of ice.

Cuban cocktails contain one or three year old white rum. Some cocktails have found 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 is Cuba libre - rum with cola and a slice of lime.

Cuban beer (Bucanero, Cristal, Mayabe, Tinima and other brands) is very good. Only the most expensive restaurants offer visitors wines. Wine in Cuba is produced using Spanish technology, but the industry is only taking its first steps, and you will not lose anything if you ignore the results of its experiments.

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

Coffee is one of the main Cuban exports, but you may not always be able to get a drink from export quality beans. During hard times coffee is mixed with chicory, and many Cubans are accustomed to this aroma 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 larger cups. Cafe con leche - espresso and milk in equal proportions. Coffee with a little cream in Cuba often has a dubious gray tint.