Cuba, "The most beautiful land that human eyes have seen", and we do not say it, but Christopher Columbus. It also has an exceptional gastronomy. Declared Intangible Heritage awarded by the World Association of Chefs Societies Worldwide. The Cuban gastronomy stands out for the transmission of generation to generation of culinary techniques. Thus, the cuisine of the Caribbean island has maintained all its traditions over the years, giving it a unique flavor. In this article we explain how to prepare some of its essential dishes step by step.
See this post on Instagram
Ingredient par excellence, the black bean
The first of the Cuban gastronomy that you should know how to prepare in the pure Cuban style (we emphasize the Cuban thing) are black beans. You have to cook them like them, otherwise they will not taste the same. We are not going to fool you, it is not as easy as it seems. Black beans are the quintessential garnish of Cuban cuisine. They are almost always eaten with rice, either separately on the plate or scrambled, and sometimes with meat. The black bean is the basic ingredient and representative of Cuban cuisine worldwide.
Its importance lies in its accessibility and nutritional values. In addition to being affordable, it is a very healthy and nutritious ingredient. It is rich in minerals since it is a good source of potassium, iron, calcium, zinc and phosphorus. It also contains high levels of magnesium. The amount of proteins that it has is similar to that of meat, saving some differences. Black beans contain very little saturated fat and no cholesterol. In addition, the bean presents phytic acid, an antioxidant that reduces the risk of cancer, especially colon and breast.
Black beans recipe, essential in Cuban gastronomy
We will use two cans of black beans (approximately 500 grams). They wash well. We introduce the beans with a whole green or red pepper (whichever you like best) and a bay leaf in a pressure cooker. We add a little oil. We add water to the middle of the pot approximately. We leave them in the pressure cooker for 45 minutes so that they soften. While we are making the sauce.
El stir fried. We chop one onion whole and three teeth of it very chopped so that we have very small pieces or we crush them directly. Sauté the onion and garlic in sunflower oil. Afterwards, we season with cumin and oregano. It we remove good.
When the 45 minutes have passed we lower the olla. We take the beans already soft and add them to the sauce. We mix it all up. We add the salt. Once the whole sauce is done, already mixed with the soft beans in the pan, we put it to thicken without pressure. In electric cookers, for example, at a temperature of 5 or 6, that is, mid fire. When it makes bubbles we add a dash of vinegar, a tablespoon of level white sugar and a dash of olive oil. Then we turn off the heat and ready to serve.
Yuca with mojo
We peel the yuccaWe cut it into pieces and boil it with plenty of water (to cover the yucca). When the water is boiling, we remove the hot water and add cold water. What we want to achieve is that the yucca is soft and opens. When I return to boil the water We check that we can prick the yuca with a fork, add a little salt and leave it in the water for two or three more minutes. We turn off the fire and leave the yucca resting. While we make the sauce aside.
The sofrito to make the mojo. In a frying pan with oil, sauté several very small, previously minced garlic cloves. We squeeze a lemon. We strain the yucca to remove the water and put it on a plate. We cover the yuca with mojo and ready to enjoy this Cuban “delicatessen”.
See this post on Instagram
Black beans and yucca with mojo are two good recipes to start getting into Cuban cuisine. However, there are many more dishes such as congris, habanero picadillo, Cuban tostones, etc. The multitude of culinary influences that travel Caribbean they make Cuban food have a unique and special flavor. The Caribbean gastronomy enjoy dishes with truly dazzling international roots. To start, we encourage you to prepare black beans with rice and yuca with mojo.Tell us how it went in the comments!
