Cuban Food

MIAMI’S CUBAN KITCHEN

*The slow evolution and radical revolution of Miami’s dominant cuisine.

words by > Alexandra P. Karplus

Cuban food began as a fusion in itself— mainly combining Spanish and African ingredients and techniques with the spice and style of the Caribbean, with a touch of Chinese influence. While Cuba itself remains legally off-limits to Americans, THE CUISINE HAS FOUND ITS WAY TO THE US VIA MIAMI. It’s been adjusted en route, tweaked upon arrival and fused after years in the city—and now locals and tourists alike welcome the delicious contributions of Cuban cuisine in all its different forms.

Calle Ocho (8th Street), also known as Miami’s “Little Havana,” vibrates with the sounds and smells of Cuba. This is where many Cuban families settled and started their businesses. Today, you can go there and have a café Cubano, indulge in a pastelito (a filled pastry) and chat about current events with others doing the same. Walk down and see the butcher shops, hand-rolled cigar stores and many other businesses that thrive here.

Tightly knit families are an essential component of Cuban culture, and at the core of these strong relationships is the bonding that goes on while sharing the traditional food from back home. Along with his brothers-in-law, Jorge Castillo founded www..icuban.com, a website meant to preserve and promote Cuban culture, and wrote two Cuban cookbooks. One of the thousands who arrived in the United States from Cuba in 1980, Castillo explains that, “Those delicious meals that your abuela [grandmother] prepared for you each day were a great incentive to be home for mealtimes and not out hanging around with your friends!”

Forty years have passed since the first exilados (exiles) arrived on US shores, and, other than making a few adaptations to their new culture, Cuban values have remained the same. However, “When Cubans came to the United States, they found an abundance of foods that were either very scarce or completely unavailable in Castro’s Cuba,” Castillo says, discussing the first adjustment to the Cuban menu.

“There are many ingredients in Cuban food that have been influenced by products from the New World—products of America like peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, the vegetables and the seafood,” explains Felipe Valls, the owner of Versailles (305-444-0240), one the most well-known and beloved Cuban restaurants in Miami. It has become a home away from home for many residents, a must-visit spot for tourists, and has welcomed countless celebrities, including Presidents Bush and Clinton.

Alfonso Santos, the manager of La Carreta (305-444-7501) on Calle Ocho, the first in a chain of Cuban restaurants scattered around Miami, explains that American tastes have encouraged a change in many aspects of Cuban cuisine—including thickening the cuts of meat. “We have had to adapt to the American palate. Even with the tamale, we fill it with a bit of chorizo [a dry sausage flavored with garlic and cilantro] and that type of thing—but obviously putting the stamp of Cuban cuisine on every dish.”

Castillo says that while these changes in Cuban cuisine “have been gradual and evolutionary— the slight modifications that have come with time and a new setting,” recent culinary contributions have also prompted an entirely new cuisine. “Nuevo Latino is revolutionary. They basically turned Cuban food inside out and backward to develop a totally different cuisine.”

Known by many as the Father of New World Cuisine, Chef Norman Van Aken of Norman’s (www.normans.com) in Coral Gables is said to have had the strongest influence on this revolution. He is credited with dishes such as Roasted Pork Havana with 21st-Century Mole and Yuca Stuffed Crispy Shrimp. His dishes are bursting with
creativity and reflect the taste and influence of immigrants arriving from a mix of Latin-American countries.

One of the authors of the two Three Guys from Miami Cuban cookbooks, Glenn Lindgren, elaborates on this fusion: “There was a natural blending and overlapping of the cultures and their food,” he says. “Cubans in Miami found themselves eating arepas [a grilled cheese sandwich with corn pancakes instead of bread] from Colombia, churrasco steaks from Argentina and Brazil, tres leches cake from Nicaragua and empanadas [fluffy filled turnovers] from several Latin countries.”

Nuevo Latino took off on South Beach when the upscale Cuban restaurant Yuca (www.yuca.com) opened in 1989.

Yuca—Young Urban Cuban Americans—presented a style that incorporates a wide variety of flavors from all over the Caribbean and Latin America, often with an Asian influence as well. Yuca’s location, trendy décor, and culinary skills have attracted tourists from around the world, as well as locals looking for a gastronomic adventure.

Twists made on classic dishes make for a scrumptious surprise to the palate. For example, Yuca’s Grilled Fillet of Salmon Chino Latino makes for a great meal. But the higher prices at these upscale restaurants often preclude the type of traditional, warm family gatherings Cubans have been enjoying for generations.

Among the many new and flashy eateries, Miami Beach has held on to a few proponents of Cuban tradition including the trusty Puerto Sagua (305-673-1115), which has been in business on Collins Avenue since 1962. The manager, David Rivero, says “We don’t try to compete with the trendy restaurants, we have typical Cuban cuisine. We are a very casual restaurant, meant for the family.” This does not mean that hordes of twentysomethings, tourists and celebrities do not flock to this friendly Cuban diner, where Cameron Diaz, Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts have been spotted. The rest of us happily visit to grab a café con leche (coffee with milk) before the beach, recoup with a medianoche (a kind of sandwich) at midday or enjoy a casual dinner of Ropa Vieja (a shredded beef stew).

Traditional and trendy are alive and well in Miami. Check out Calle Ocho, where it all began, or take a stroll down fashionable Lincoln Road, and let your taste buds be your tour guide.