In Cuba, a challenge for people running their own businesses

[El Presidente]

A good little article on people having a crack in Cuba.

In Cuba, a challenge for people running their own businesses

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article30546249.html

[Fuzz]

Had a chuckle reading the article... "Where can I source duck for my restaurant?"

[El Presidente]

Had a chuckle reading the article... "Where can I source duck for my restaurant?"

You know, Nate hasn't eaten Duck since last's Novembers trip to Havana

[SCgarman]

Somebody please tell me what the food in Cuban restaurants is really like!!

The editors of Cigar Aficionado describe the food there as 5 star world class cuisine.

I have heard many things to the contrary that the food there is just rubbish.

[Habana Mike]

Somebody please tell me what the food in Cuban restaurants is really like!!

The editors of Cigar Aficionado describe the food there as 5 star world class cuisine.

I have heard many things to the contrary that the food there is just rubbish.

Like anywhere, it depends.

There are some very high quality restaurants and paladars. Likewise many more mediocre as well.

[Fuzz]

You know, Nate hasn't eaten Duck since last's Novembers trip to Havana

Will he be coming to Havanathon? And will you be serving duck?!

[El Presidente]

Will he be coming to Havanathon? And will you be serving duck?!

He will indeed be at Havanathon! Duck is not one of our roast meats....but for him I will make an exception!

[El Presidente]

For those newer members who cannot fathom Nate's aversion to Duck

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=120895&hl=nate

[JohnnyO]

When CA dines at the restaurants its all staged. When I show up its yesterdays slop. John

[El Presidente]

Somebody please tell me what the food in Cuban restaurants is really like!!

The editors of Cigar Aficionado describe the food there as 5 star world class cuisine.

I have heard many things to the contrary that the food there is just rubbish.

It is daylight between now and 10 years ago...even 5 years ago.

Some very good food if you know where to go.

[Guest rob]

In my couple of experiences, I found that generally they can do a lot - with a little.

[Puros Y Vino]

At our resort in Varadero, the food was decent. The raw materials were good, the preparation lacked imagination. In Havana, I've had some outstanding meals. Very memorable in fact. The only place I was sour on was the restaurant at Club Habana. I've had many enjoyable Cubanos at the Nacionale. Al Ajibe chicken is a must. There were some pizza's at Rob's Casa Particular in 2012 that I avoided and it turns out it was for the best as many revelers had an upset stomach soon afterwards.

[shlomo]

Somebody please tell me what the food in Cuban restaurants is really like!!

The editors of Cigar Aficionado describe the food there as 5 star world class cuisine.

I have heard many things to the contrary that the food there is just rubbish.

The food in Cuba is generally rubbish. Nobody travels to Cuba as a culinary destination.like bundwalla says, they have the ingredients, they lack imagination, creativity and possibly skill to combine them properly.

[Puros Y Vino]

The food in Cuba is generally rubbish. Nobody travels to Cuba as a culinary destination.like bundwalla says, they have the ingredients, they lack imagination, creativity and possibly skill to combine them properly.

The difference in quality between the resorts and some of the restaurants in Havana is night and day. I was at the "No 1" rated resort in Varadero this past January. And the food was just ok. The only standout being a BBQ cart by the pool where a woman was making fantastic Cubanos and BBQ chicken and Chorizo. At the buffets some of the fresh grilled seafood was your best bet. Most pork items were made very well. The a la carte dinner restaurants were hit and miss. Had a decent steak one night but it was accompanied by some seriously water logged green beans and broccoli. Both of which I suspect had their origins in a can.

[SCgarman]

Where does Cuba source most of it's food? Is the produce grown there? How about meats? I hear there are no cows to source beef there. It is an island after all and most islands are not self sufficient. What do they import? And from where? Since I am in the US, just curious

[Puros Y Vino]

Where does Cuba source most of it's food? Is the produce grown there? How about meats? I hear there are no cows to source beef there. It is an island after all and most islands are not self sufficient. What do they import? And from where? Since I am in the US, just curious

Pork, chicken, lamb, rabbits are all local AFIAK. There is also a multitude of fresh seafood. Cows are local too but are mostly kept for milk production. Apparently you need a gov't license to slaughter one and it has to be of an advanced age. So the beef yielded isn't all that great. I think the resorts import beef from various sources. Don't know for sure. As far as produce I think it's a split between local and imported. I expect other more experience Cuba travellers to chime in too. In my experienced, I've had some excellent lamb, chicken seafood and of course pork. The pork is hard to beat down there.

[shlomo]

I have seen Canadian beef down there. They don't season it well, and always overcook. The local cows are only good for playing the xylophone on their ribs.

I remember your damping report of the hicacos on the other forum bundwalla. I only spent a day there a few tears back but really enjoyed it.

A good sandwich and some plaza Americas pizza are fine and easy to find there, but these are not exactly gourmet delicacies. Cuba is a poor country with no help from the U.S.. It shows. Even in (in)famous paladars and restos in Havana.

[Nino]

Interesting topic ...

You might want to know that :

"... since the American government started authorizing agricultural exports to Cuba in 2000, the island has brought in a staggering $4.7 billion worth of US-produced food, almost all of it by payments of cash in advance.

The purpose of an embargo is to isolate and weaken the survival mechanisms of an enemy state through commercial policy.

In this case, America is profiteering by feeding Cuba’s citizens.

Few people realize it, but around one quarter to one third of Cuban food imports currently come from the USA.

Curious to know how much of that is beef, I started by contacting former governor of Minnesota Jesse “the Body” Ventura, who’d visited Cuba during his tenure to help open the export market for beef."

.....

".... said he’d tried to track down the former head of food distribution for Havana, a certain “Colonel Fatso” who had fled Cuba after being accused of corruption and was hiding out in Chile.

“The whole food-distribution system in Cuba is secretive and somewhat corrupt, so you won’t get anything useful out of any of them,” Symmes noted. **** Tracy–style food gangsters aside, Symmes also mentioned that things are looking up in the food scene in Havana, with an increase in the amount of privately owned restaurants, called paladares, often located inside people’s homes, since the regime eased the restrictions on private ownership in 2010.

The competition has forced paladar owners to start preparing delicious food, he added—something rarely encountered in Cuban restaurants over the past few decades."

For more interesting facts and information on food in Cuba - especially red meat - go here.... :

http://munchies.vice.com/articles/red-gold

[Puros Y Vino]

@Nino Thanks! I thought you had posted this before and was hoping you'd give your opinion. Saludos.

[SCgarman]

Good read and confirms my suspicions. Thank you.

[ImTripN2]

We enjoyed many fine meals in the casa paticulares and paladares, but the state run restaurants are pretty much garbage. I was told by a nice lady who owned a casa ( who was a doctor of gastroenterology btw ) that they prepare meals in advance and keep them in a refrigerator and bring them out and reheat them as they are ordered. Not sure if that is true in every instance, but they sure tasted like it.

[El Presidente]

I have never had a decent steak in Cuba and that includes some of their better Paladars.

Pork still tastes like pork in Cuba. They have a habit of overcooking it so some stringent instructions when ordering is needed.

Same goes for Lobster. Albeit many places now do it perfectly.

Santy does some of the best sashimi anywhere. Caught local, super fresh. Quirky, an experience.

Love heading down to El Templete and ordering a few plates of Jamon Serano, Squid in ink, pulpo ala gallega. Plenty of good crusty fresh bread, a few bottles of Rose.

Rio Mar on la Puntilla Miramar is as good a bistro restaurant as you will find. Great setting.

Have never had a great meal at the famous la Guarida but many an excellent meal a Cafe Laurent (walking distance to the Nacional).

Try the ribs at La Terazza Prado 309. They are known for their leg of lamb but the ribs are world class.

So many great little places opening up....and closing down...and opening up elsewhere. The better chef/cook's appear to change regularly and following them provides the best experience.

[JohnnyO]

US Imports are not feeding Cuba's citizens. Much of it is bought at discounted wholesale rates that US farmers are dumping only to be re-sold to another country at a higher price (usually Central/South America). On the open market you can not find beef, lobster, chicken breast, shrimp. That is for state owned restaurants. If the paladares have it, it is through parallel markets. It is illegal to kill a cow, illegal to hunt lobster. It is illegal to posses them. Killing a cow will get you 25 years in the can as they are state owned. I have had more bad experiences than good, if the experience was good 6 months later the place is not the same. I remember a place in Santiago "El Toro" that I went to about 15-20 years ago. I had a $40 steak that was as thick as Saran-Wrap. Service is bad, most don't have any education/training for the restaurant business. Now I will admit, I have not been to many of the places mentioned. But if you have to select a restaurant blindly odds are you're gonna walk out of there pissed off. In the supposedly finer restaurants I feel the staff is very pretentious and it is definitely overpriced. Certainly no bang for the buck. John

[Bill Hayes]

Interesting article. It will be interesting to see how it all evolves; with progess also comes pressure and stress. I would love to go back one day to see the change, even now. I realised I was there in 2002. I was travelling with mates so budget wasn't massive but we didn't skimp either. We found back then the best food was in the casa particulars. It seemed to be very similar all over; a selection of chicken, fish, lobster or prawns, different each night depending on availability. In Havana we stayed with a lovely old lady called Cookie and her daughter Maria. We needed to tell Cookie in advance if we needed dinner and she would go to her suppliers. The meal would always have black beans and sliced fried banana and I remember not much, if any salad or vegetable. We found it great that each meal cost the same. $8 each for lobster. Great deal. We also lived on $1 pizza's served from windows. It was either $1USD, 1 tourist peso, or 1 Cuban peso. The trick was to get some Cuban pesos. The pizzas were horrible but all part of the experience. We also bought pre-made Spam ham rolls from service stations when on the road. Very memorable trip. If I go back I'd love to see where I stayed in Havana. Cookie was a legend. We gave her a bottle of gin and she filled up a coffee mug and sipped away at it while sitting in her rocking chair. Would like to return and see the change.

[El Presidente]

. On the open market you can not find beef, lobster, chicken breast, shrimp. That is for state owned restaurants. If the paladares have it, it is through parallel markets.

John, i know number of Lobster fisherman who supply Havana Paladares. It may not be legal but they have been doing it a long time.and in serious volume