Displaying items by tag: food

The title of this article probably brings to mind Hemingway’s famous novel, The Old Man and the Sea. Briefly, the book tells the story of a battle between an aging, experienced fisherman, Santiago,and the greatest catch of his life. It opens opens with Santiago having gone 84 days without catching a fish, and now being seen as "salado”, the worst form of unluckiness in Spanish. He eventually hooks a marlin and despite his efforts the fish is devoured by sharks. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.

The books main theme is of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novel confirmed Hemingway’s power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for literature. Hemingway’s love for the sea, for fishing and above all for Cuba are embodied in this masterpiece.

Like Hemingway most Cubans have a love affair with the ocean since they are surrounded by it on all sides and affectionately calle la mar in Spanish. During the day and especially at night, people flock to Havana’s 7 kilometer seaside walkway called the Malecón. Here they gather to talk, drink, watch the beautiful women stroll by and to fish. You see young men standing standing or sitting on the wall with their fishing poles in hand waiting for a fish to bite. Most fish at night because of the cooler temperatures. On my last trip to Havana I even saw people fishing during the wee hours of the night. I have an American friend who hangs out in Havana, likes to fish side by side with the Cubans at night and interact with them since he speaks Spanish. He stays at a private home or casa particular in Vedado section of the city which is not too far from the malecón.

Live in Cuba offers affordable short and long-term stays in the Vedado area in casas particulares where you will see the real Cuba first hand and have the chance to interact with its people. Our company also has homes in other parts of the country. However, every trip should start with a visit to Havana – a city frozen in time with an incredible amount of history and culture.

Tabasco sauce is a brand of hot sauce made exclusively from tabasco peppers, (Capsicum frutescens var. tabasco) vinegar and salt. It is produced by the McIlhenny Company of Louisiana. Originally all peppers used in Tabasco sauce were grown on Avery Island. Today peppers grown on the Island are used to produce seed stock, which is then shipped to foreign growers, primarily in Central and South America. More predictable weather and readily available farmland in these locales allow a constant year-round supply. This ensures the availability of peppers should severe weather or other problems occur at a particular growing location. The original red Tabasco sauce has a shelf life of five years when stored in a cool and dry place; other Tabasco flavors have shorter shelf lives.

Tabasco brand pepper sauce is sold in more than 180 countries and territories and is packaged in 22 languages and dialects.The Tabasco bottle is an original design and has remained almost unchanged up to the present.

At first, I was shocked to see McIlhenny’s world-famous tabasco sauce in Cuba. I guess local importers found a way to get it through another country like Mexico despite the current embargo.

In Cuba a good indicator for finding out if a restaurant is run by the government or by a private party called cuentapropista, is to ask if they have tabasco sauce. Raúl Castro has let local entrepreneurs start their own business which has led to a whole slew of new eateries. My Cuba friends and I discovered that If you go into a government operated restaurant, chances are they will not have tabasco sauce. On the other hand, all of the privately owned and operated restaurants offer it. One Cuban friend, Eddy, asked the manager of an upscale government-run restaurant in the exclusive enclave of Miramar to order tabasco sauce months ago. To this day the restaurant fails to offer it.

Hence we developed the law of “Law of Tabasco Sauce.” All you have to is ask if a restaurant has tabasco to know if is run or not by the government. We joke about this every time we dine in a Cuban restaurant and ask if they have sauce.

The bottom line is that privately run restaurants in Cuba tend to operate more efficiently and cater to the tastes of foreign tourists and a handful of Cubans. It now seems like every day there are more and more new restaurants opening in the Havana area. ¡Buen provecho (Bon Appetit)!

Learn more on one of our Discover Cuba tours. For information about short and long-term stays see: http://www.liveincuba.com/cuba.html