Common
myth: Cuban food is spicy. Wrong! Savory and flavorful? Right!
The Cuban culture is certainly spicy; the people, the music, the
politics, you name it. But when it comes
to cooking we leave the hot peppers for other cultures. We stick to the sweet peppers, fried
plantains, meat dishes with salsita, and plates of rich frijoles negros con
arroz (black beans and rice). Savory and
flavorful, but not spicy hot. We spice
it up with other flavors…
The
base for almost every traditional Cuban dish is sofrito, a sauté of
onions, garlic, oregano, and bay leaves. Citrus based sauces like mojo (pronounced moho, not mojo as in Austin Powers), are very prominent too. Mojo is made with olive oil, lime juice,
garlic, and lightly sautéed onions. Citrus
flavors like lime juice and sour orange are very heavily used too, especially
in the marinades. These have so much
flavor, who needs the hot peppers?
Cuban
cooking, overall, is influenced by African, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, and
Spanish cultures. Our comida criolla, Creole food, is influenced by African and
Spanish cultures and this is one of the strongest influences. That’s why creole sauce is used in so many of
our dishes. When they hear the word "creole", many people jump to the conclusion (again) that it must be
spicy. On the contrary, as I have
already said, just full of flavor.
Vegetales
anyone? Most vegetables used in Cuban
cooking are root vegetables like yuca.
In English this word is spelled "yucca" and pronounced "yuckah". That sounds "yuckie" to me – especially for
such a delicious vegetable root – so I prefer to go with the Spanish
pronunciation of yuca, which is "yookah".
Smother yuca in some mojo and you’re in heaven. Sounds much better doesn’t it?
That’s Cuban cooking
101 from Victor’s 1959 Café. Remember,
spicy culture, savory food. Gracias!