1950's Cuba........whats on the menu? what would you order?

[99call]

In the majority of the world food has moved on immeasurably since the 1950's,  It's good to see from post's from @nino and his brilliant website "www.flyingcigar.de" that A, there is both great traditional food to be had in Cuba, but also B, new and interesting hole in the wall sushi places etc.  I've never been, and cant wait to go,  but it got me wondering. What was the food like in the glory days of the 1950's.   Managed to find a few menu's, for the The Tropicana, he Nacional, and Sans Souci......just trying to work out what I'd pick.....Hmmm??

It's seems like some of the standards  (which I've added images of ) were:

- Lobster Newberg - Appears to be a similar recipe to Lobster thermidor, but instead of grilling the whole lobster in the sauce, it's served in a vol au vent

- Chicken a La King -  A bechamel based creamy chicken dish including peppers and peas, often served on pasta, often looking like vomit (they had an incredible knack for it, in those days)

- Spaghetti Caruso -  A classic tomato based ragu, with the addition of sauteed chicken livers  (I like the sound of this one)

 

[BoliDan]

Very cool. Also love the 2000% inflation since then. "I'll take page two for $25 please." Definitely go for some seafood whenever visiting an island/peninsula, and livestock when landlocked. Fillet of Red Snapper caught my eye.

[Nino]

@99call - Thank you for the kind words.

I guess the only part of my blog I keep updating regularly is the Food section - more than the cigar section ??

I am by no means a Gourmet/Gourmand or anything, very pedestrian in my tastes,  just like to eat well and was extremely frustrated during my first 4-5 years in HAV eating mostly bad, bland, terrible and worse Hotel food. Absolute waste and nightmare eating inside them.

I was lucky meeting up a bunch of like-minded HAV residents ( Thanks Toby, Jürgen, Punch Joe et al. ) that steered me the right way - away from Hotels ( into Casas Particulares ) and into the Paladares - private restaurants - scene that was then surfacing.

Mostly I have had some fantastic food experiences in Havana eating in such Paladares ( not all, but the majority - while the majority of Hotel food is terrible ).

I cannot say what 1950's food was like in Havana - from the extremely interesting Menues you post I see it as leaning towards US tastes ( funny they had Mulligatawny soup back then, rare find ! ).

Lobster in Cuba is like french fries in Belgium - everywhere. Problem is to find a place that coks it well.
So far Marea has the best Lobster Tacos around.

I love seafood which is hard to get in Germany - the best place for that, as well as Sushi, Sashimi etc is hands down Santy's.

I guess 99% of all FoH'ers that have been to HAV will agree with me on that.

For fresh market cuisine and good atmosphere Tocamadera is the latest place to rise up.



A big problem in Havana is that places tend not to be consistent. Cooks change places, places get closed by the gvt., quality & service is just not consistent.
My experience lately with Espacios ...  my fave go-to place evenings, lovely garden spot but fast going down the drain.

But the plus side is that the gastromomic scene in Havana is very vibrant, innovative, rapidly changing and it is always worth a try.

Two things I know for sure :

I do not eat in Hotels while in Cuba and : Have a good dinner before you go to the Festival Gala Dinner.

Nino

[Wookie]

Little to no pork on the menus....were pigs not widely cultivated until after the revolution?

[SenorPerfecto]

I'd sample the Courtisane Sans Herpès

 

?

[99call]

54 minutes ago, nino said:

I do not eat in Hotels while in Cuba and : Have a good dinner before you go to the Festival Gala Dinner.

Nino

Great advice Nino.   Seems such a shame.  A, seems like they can obviously get great fish on the menu, and when done well, who would want anything else! . but also B, the places that have best success, are likely to raise alarms with the government.   Such a shame. 

[99call]

56 minutes ago, Wookie said:

Little to no pork on the menus....were pigs not widely cultivated until after the revolution?

Great question. I don't know.   It seems that like much of the world, Cuba was under the spell of French gastronomy,  so maybe local pork asado was seen not to be 'fancy' enough.    

[99call]

The "Roast Duck 'Chicago style' with boiled pear, plum and candied sweet potato"  at the Nacional sounds surprisingly contemporary 

[CaptainQuintero]

  The stuffed celery seems an ambitious dish!