Earlier this year, a friend proposed taking a trip to Cuba.
The calming of relations between Cuba and the United States was in the news at the time, and President Obama had just announced his plan to visit the island nation, a trip that has lately come to pass; the first American president to visit Cuba in 88 years. It seemed like the time was right to go.
So, I decided to host a Cuba-themed dinner to discuss the details. After some online research, I came up with a simple menu: Fried fish with tomato sofrito, (an all-purpose Cuban sauce) rice, black beans, roasted sweet potatoes dressed with yogurt and scallions and a mixed green salad with lime vinaigrette. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any Havana Club rum or Cuban cigars to help us contemplate our plan but, by the time dinner was finished, we had made up our minds to go.
Travel to Cuba from the United States is still technically subject to approval by the State Department. So, in order to qualify, we would fly from Canada, and go for “professional research.”
As a restaurateur, I was especially interested in learning about the food, and whether recent articles I had read about emerging creative culinary trends in Cuba were true. As diplomatic relations were improving and restrictions were being loosened, was it true that new opportunities were opening up for small home-grown restaurants? We wanted to find these places, meet the owners, enjoy their hospitality and promote friendship and goodwill.
My wife and I, and three friends, flew from Montreal directly to Juan Gomez Airport in Veradero, two hours west of Havana. We stayed at a beach resort about half-way between the airport and Havana. It was an “all inclusive” resort, and offered the best deal for our flight and accommodations.
The resort was a lovely beachfront property with all the amenities, and ideal for fun and sun on the beach. As tempting as that was, our mission was to go out and meet the Cuban people, rather than lounge by the pool.
We hired a young woman as our translator, and her friend, a former Havana taxi driver, who chauffeured us in his restored ’55 Dodge four-door sedan, fitted with air conditioning, and a new Toyota diesel engine. Our guide and driver were the most gracious hosts we could possibly have hoped for. They allowed us the flexibility to choose what we wanted to see, rather than do a more structured tour, which would most certainly have included lots of cathedrals, museums and gift shops.
Our first stop would be Havana, 45 minutes east of the resort. Havana is a city with a population of over 2 million. Its sprawling suburbs stretch for miles. We began our tour in Old Havana, at the entry to the deep-water harbor that made Havana the gem of the Caribbean centuries ago. This is the postcard view of the city: El Moro (the old fort), the lighthouse at the entry to the harbor and the Malecon, a pedestrian walkway along the harbor, are among Havana’s most celebrated landmarks.
After a wonderful day of touring the city, we were hungry and ready for some serious eats. Our driver and guide understood our mission, and chose a paladar in an old neighborhood just across the harbor from Old Havana. Paladares are restaurants that operate in private homes. They have existed for years, but only recently have been allowed to advertise themselves. They have also been able to increase seating from a maximum of 12 people, which was the limit imposed during the hard-core revolutionary days, to 50 seats today.
Some of these new home restaurants are crossing the traditional culinary boundaries of Cuban food and are creating new exciting menus that are tempting “foodies” from around the world to come and taste what it’s all about.
We heard that good restaurants were hard to find in Cuba. That was generally true. Traditional dishes are available everywhere, and rice and beans can be very satisfying, but with the abundance of fresh seafood, and the possibilities for fresh vegetables and fruits, there is a great opportunity to create a world-class, uniquely Cuban cuisine. Though it was never quite clear, it was obvious that these home-grown restaurants could source more diverse and better quality food than many of the stand-alone restaurants.
Perhaps this is attributable to a thriving black market for specialty foods, or to the creative energy of new chef-owners who want to be on the cutting edge. In September, Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef and host of the popular food show No Reservations, went to Cuba to showcase these new paladares, and in a recent article in Vogue, Tamar Adler talks glowingly about how new Cuban chefs are transforming the food landscape today. It is obvious that the times are changing for restaurants in Cuba.
In any case, the paladar offers a unique opportunity in Cuba for enterprising chefs to establish themselves in private business; an opportunity that has not existed in Cuba for over 50 years. Hopefully, this new trend will create more “farm to table” options, and encourage farmers and producers to collaborate with chefs and share in the growing food-based economy. There is little doubt that tourists from the U.S. will soon be flocking to Cuba. They certainly will bring with them an appetite for good local food and the fresh and healthy tastes that Cuba has to offer.
The paladar our guides had selected for the evening was very charming. From the street it looked more like an elegant old home than a restaurant. Guests were welcomed through a discreet entryway under an umbrella of trees. The house was Spanish colonial in style, and had a warm, inviting candlelit dining room. The sound of live music, a la Buena Vista Social Club, welcomed us. Mojitos and daiquiris are the national cocktails, and can’t be ignored before starting dinner, especially when served with some crispy fried plantain and spicy salsa.
The menu was limited, but offered a good selection of fresh seafood, including a traditional Cuban dish of filet of sole with creamy bechamel sauce topped with toasted almonds. The Cuban style stewed pork was tender and succulent. My guess was that the pork was cooked in vinegar, with maybe a bit of sugar, and cooked until it falls off the bone, then stewed with tomato, garlic and chilies. There were side dishes of greens, perfectly ripe tomatoes, some sliced pineapple, and, of course, rice and black beans. For dessert, we enjoyed an excellent, not too sweet flan. The flan in Cuba is more like a torte than the customary pudding-like flan that you find in Spain.
Everything was truly homemade and delicious. They offered Rijoa and Verdejo as their house wines, both perfectly suitable for the food. We were off to a great start, and would return to Havana twice more during our week in Cuba. I was hopeful of finding more home restaurants and learning more about local farms.
The opportunity to enjoy another home-cooked dining experience presented itself one morning when two members of our group were on their walk not far from the resort. A smiling older woman, standing in front of her very modest home, invited them in, and in faltering Spanglish, interspersed with much gesturing, arranged dinner for the five of us. They needed a couple of days to prepare, so two nights later we returned.
There was no menu, and just one small table outside on the porch. The table was set simply, but beautifully appointed with fresh flowers. Our lovely host greeted us warmly, and with the help of her entire family, prepared and served us dinner.
The meal was perfect. We started with an antipasto-style salad of fresh baby greens, tomato and thinly sliced onions. Side dishes included sweet papayas, plantain, black beans and rice, followed by platters from the grill — bonito, shrimp and lobster with slices of lime. Everything was simple and delicious. We felt so much like their extended family, sitting there on the front porch, eating with plates and utensils from their home. The woman’s son spoke English, so we were able to learn a bit about these home enterprises. His business was growing, and he was hopeful of opening a larger restaurant within the year.
For the most part, the paladares we visited cost $15 per person for dinner, with daiquiris and mojitos costing another $5 to $6.
In the remaining few days we visited a couple of working farms, and had the pleasure of sharing a little food and wine with the families. The farms raised chickens, goats, pigs, cattle and an assortment of vegetables. It was difficult for us to learn about the market opportunities for these farmers. However, we did learn that a hefty tax was imposed by the state on all of the farm products. The farmer explained that these state taxes were a disincentive to farm, which, no doubt, was the reason we didn’t see more farms. Perhaps with the growing tourist economy and opportunities for new paladares, farmers can collaborate with chefs to make small-scale farming more appealing and profitable.
As we said our goodbyes, we were all feeling a true kinship with the people we had met during our week in Cuba. We were touched by their generous nature and kindness. The people we met possessed a real spirit and hope for the future, and we, too, hoped our presence as Americans in Cuba, and the normalization of relations between our two countries, gave life to the notion that perhaps in the near future we will become close neighbors and return to Cuba often.
Barnard resident Jim Reiman was co-founder of The Prince and the Pauper in Woodstock and Three Tomatoes in Lebanon, among other restaurants in the Upper Valley and elsewhere in Vermont. He retired from the restaurant business last year.