Cuba’s cuisine rose from its indigenous people, the Spanish colonization, the African slaves, the traveling Portuguese and the Caribbean neighbors.
These cultures brought the emphasis of sauteed onions, garlic, sweet peppers, parsley, bay leaves, cumin, and tomatoes, as a base for meats cooked over a low flame until the meat fell apart. Rice and beans became the staples, accompanied by root vegetables or plantains. There was little concern for measurements, the order of the ingredients or how long it would take to cook, the result of which was to have every morsel well seasoned.
Today’s Cuban cuisine is still true to its flavors, indeed, a source of pride, as even the most unknown of cooks want you to “just have a taste”.
