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Cuba libreRum and cola with lime

The Cuba libre was born in Havana around 1900 and is still the easy highball poured at bars along the Malecón and at backyard parties from Miami to Madrid. It is a drink for adults only: light Cuban-style rum, cold cola and a generous squeeze of fresh lime, with the spent lime wedge dropped in the glass. Without the lime it is just rum and cola; with it the drink turns sharp and refreshing. The usual mistake is warm cola poured over too little ice, which melts fast and leaves it flat and watery, so fill the glass with ice and keep the cola chilled. For an alcohol-free version, leave out the rum and add 30 ml cold sparkling water with a dash of vanilla. Drink responsibly. Chef's tip: squeeze the lime and rub the wedge round the rim before adding ice, so every sip carries the lime oil.

3 min

Cuban Drinks

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Bistec empanizadoBreaded thin steak

Bistec empanizado is the breaded steak of Cuban family dinners and Little Havana diners, a weeknight plate in Havana and Miami alike. Thin slices of beef are pounded thinner still, marinated briefly in lime, garlic and cumin, then crumbed with crushed crackers and fried until crisp and golden. It contains wheat and egg. The mistake is cutting the steak thick: it toughens before the crumb browns, so pound it to 5 mm. It is done when the crust is deep golden on both sides, which takes only a couple of minutes for meat this thin. Serve with white rice, black beans, maduros and a lime wedge. Chef's tip: marinate the beef for no more than an hour; lime juice left longer turns thin steak grey and mealy.

32 min

Cuban Meat

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Pan con bistecSteak sandwich with potato sticks

Pan con bistec is the sandwich of Havana cafeterías and Miami's Cuban lunch counters, eaten at any hour but especially as a fast dinner: a paper-thin beef steak quickly soaked in garlic-lime mojo, seared with onions and stuffed into soft Cuban bread with crunchy potato sticks. The common mistake is using a thick steak, which takes too long and turns chewy; ask for palomilla, or bash a thin steak flatter. Chef's tip: deglaze the hot pan with the leftover mojo and pour those juices onto the bread so it soaks up every drop.

13 min

Cuban Meat

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Cuban red bean potaje (vegetarian)Red bean and pumpkin stew

Potaje de frijoles colorados is everyday Cuban home cooking, eaten in Havana, Camagüey and Santiago alike as the midday meal over white rice, often with a simple avocado salad. Red kidney beans cook until soft and are thickened with calabaza and potato, then flavoured with a sofrito of onion, pepper, garlic, cumin and oregano. It is usually made with pork or chorizo; this is the vegetarian and vegan version, with smoked paprika and a spoonful of vinegar-pickled pepper brine giving the same savoury depth. A bowl gives about 25 g of protein from the beans. Soak the beans for 12 hours first (not counted below), and boil them hard for 10 minutes before simmering, as raw kidney beans contain a toxin. The most common mistake is salting at the start, which keeps the skins tough. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of sugar in the sofrito is a Cuban touch that rounds out the tomato and beans.

135 min

Cuban Curries

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Cuban potaje de garbanzos (vegetarian)Chickpea and pumpkin stew

In Havana and across Cuba, a pot of potaje de garbanzos simmers on the stove for the main meal of the day, and is ladled over white rice with a few slices of fried ripe plantain on the side. Chickpeas cook until creamy with chunks of calabaza (West Indian pumpkin) and potato, then a sofrito of onion, green pepper, garlic and tomato turns the broth thick and orange. Most Cuban cooks add chorizo; this is the vegetarian version, with smoked paprika giving the smoky warmth instead, and it is fully vegan. A bowl gives about 21 g of protein from the chickpeas. Soak the chickpeas for 12 hours first; that time is not counted below. The most common mistake is adding the pumpkin at the start: it dissolves completely, so add it once the chickpeas are nearly tender. Chef's tip: let the potaje rest for half an hour before serving; it thickens and tastes even better the next day.

120 min

Cuban Curries

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CapuchinosYolk sponge cones in spiced syrup

Named for the pointed hoods of Capuchin friars, these little cones of yolk sponge sit in neat rows in Havana dulcerías, glistening with syrup and sold by the half dozen for birthdays and Sunday visits. They're baked in small cone moulds, then dropped into warm syrup scented with lime peel, cinnamon and star anise until heavy and soaked through, so they are moist, eggy and very sweet. The syrup is often spiked with rum or anise liqueur; this one stays alcohol-free. A syrup boiled too thick won't soak in and leaves a sticky crust, so keep it at a light, pourable stage. No cone moulds? Bake them in a mini muffin tin; they just won't have the hood shape. Chef's tip: soak the sponges while they're still warm and the syrup is warm too; both at the same temperature, the syrup goes right to the centre.

75 min

Cuban Baking

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SeñoritasCustard slices in puff pastry

Señoritas are a fixture of Cuban bakeries in Havana and Santiago, and of the Cuban-run ventanitas in Miami: two sheets of crisp, flattened puff pastry sandwiching a thick vanilla-and-lemon custard, with a shiny white sugar glaze on top. They are Cuba's cousin of the mille-feuille, eaten mid-morning or after lunch with a tiny cup of sweet café cubano, and they are always in the box for a birthday or a baptism. Adding the custard while it is still warm is where it goes wrong: the pastry goes limp within an hour. Chef's tip: bake the pastry under a second baking tray so it stays flat, thin and evenly crisp, which makes clean cutting far easier.

90 min

Cuban Baking

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CancháncharaAguardiente, lime and honey cocktail

In the colonial town of Trinidad, in Sancti Spíritus province, the canchánchara is served in little clay cups to the sound of a son band in the late afternoon. Its roots are in the independence wars of the 1860s and 70s, when the mambí fighters drank cane aguardiente mixed with honey, lime and water, warm or at camp temperature. Today it comes with crushed ice, but it is still a drink for adults only, rustic and honest: floral honey, sharp lime and the raw, sugary heat of young cane spirit, cold and only slightly diluted. The classic mistake is pouring honey straight onto the ice, where it sets into a hard lump at the bottom and the drink tastes of nothing but sour spirit. Stir the honey into the lime and water first until no streaks remain, then add the ice and spirit. It is ready when the honey has disappeared into a cloudy, even mixture and the outside of the cup sweats with cold. Drink it slowly and responsibly. Outside Cuba, use unaged white rum or cachaça for the aguardiente; a short tumbler is fine if you have no clay cup. Chef's tip: soak the clay cup in cold water for ten minutes first; it keeps the drink cold for much longer.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Mojito

In Old Havana the mojito is the answer to three o'clock heat: made at bar counters along Obispo Street, on the Malecón and at home on the patio, often with a plate of tostones or chicharritas on the side. It is a drink for adults only, though its cool, fresh taste can fool you; sip it slowly and drink responsibly. A real Cuban mojito is fragrant and grassy from hierbabuena, the mild local mint, sharp with lime, gently sweet and lightly sparkling, with the rum giving it backbone rather than burn. The common mistake is shredding the mint with heavy muddling: the leaves turn black, bitter and stick in your teeth. Press the leaves softly against the sugar and lime just until you can smell them strongly, then stop. It is ready when the sugar has dissolved, the glass is fully frosted and the mint leaves are scattered bright green through the ice. Outside Cuba, use spearmint; peppermint tastes like toothpaste here. Chef's tip: slap the garnish sprig between your palms before tucking it in beside the straw; every sip then comes with the smell of fresh mint.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Daiquiri

The daiquirí is named after a beach and the old iron mines east of Santiago de Cuba, where engineers and miners at the turn of the twentieth century mixed the local white rum with lime and sugar to cut the heat. Later Havana's bars turned it into a frozen blended drink, but in eastern Cuba it is still drunk the plain way, shaken, in the late afternoon or before a dinner of congrí and roast pork. It is a cocktail for adults only, short and clean: tart lime, a light touch of sugar and the soft, dry vanilla notes of light rum, served so cold it almost stings. The common mistake is a lazy shake, which leaves the drink warm, harsh and too strong. Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for a full 12–15 seconds. It is ready when the tin is too cold to hold, there are tiny shards of ice on the surface and the drink has a fine foam at the rim. Have one and drink responsibly. Balance matters more than amounts: taste your limes, and add a little more syrup if they are very sour. Chef's tip: chill the coupe in the freezer first; a daiquirí loses its magic within minutes in a warm glass.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Batido de mameyMamey milkshake

In Havana and all over the island, the cafeteria counter has a blender that never stops, turning out batidos of mango, guanábana, papaya and the favourite of all, mamey. The fruit has a rough brown skin and a soft, salmon-red flesh that tastes like sweet potato, pumpkin pie, almond and apricot at once, and blended with cold milk it makes a shake so thick it is almost a dessert. It is drunk mid-afternoon on hot days, at breakfast with toast, or at a kid's birthday party; Miami's Cuban cafés keep the tradition alive with frozen pulp. The common mistake is using a hard mamey, which tastes starchy and slightly bitter; the fruit must give like a ripe avocado when pressed and show deep red flesh when you scratch the skin with a fingernail. The batido is ready when it is smooth, pumpkin-orange and pours slowly in a thick ribbon. Frozen mamey pulp from Latin American shops is a good substitute; reduce the ice because the pulp is already cold. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt and a drop of vanilla bring out mamey's almond notes.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Batido de trigoPuffed wheat shake

Havana cafeterías and Miami ventanitas blend this for breakfast on the run: puffed wheat, cold milk, sugar and ice whizzed into a thick, frothy shake that tastes like a malted milk with toasted cereal. It is one of the most loved Cuban batidos, and quick to make at home. The common mistake is using sweetened, honey-coated cereal, which makes it cloying; plain puffed wheat lets the toasty grain flavour come through. Chef's tip: blend the puffed wheat with half the milk first until completely smooth, then add the ice, so you don't get soggy flecks of cereal.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Café con lecheCoffee with hot milk

Every morning from Havana to Miami's Little Havana, breakfast is a big cup of café con leche with a length of buttered, pressed Cuban bread (tostada) to dunk in it. A moka pot of dark espresso-style coffee is whipped with sugar into a pale foam, the espumita, and poured into a mug of hot, lightly salted milk. The usual mistake is boiling the milk, which gives it a skin and a cooked taste; heat it only until it steams. Coffee contains caffeine, so this is a grown-up drink; children traditionally get a cup that is mostly milk. Chef's tip: whisk the first few drops of coffee hard with the sugar to a thick paste before adding the rest; that is what makes the creamy espumita on top.

10 min

Cuban Drinks

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CortaditoEspresso with steamed milk

Havana runs on small cups of coffee: a cafecito standing at a ventanita, a colada shared in tiny plastic cups at work, and in the afternoon or with breakfast, a cortadito, which is Cuban coffee cut (cortado) with roughly as much hot milk. The coffee is brewed in a stovetop cafetera, and the first dark drops are whipped hard with sugar into a pale, thick espumita that floats on top of the cup. The result is rich, very sweet and caramel-like, with a velvety milk body and a strong, bitter edge underneath. It is high in caffeine, so it is not one for children. The common mistake is adding sugar to the pot or stirring it in at the end; without the espumita you get a thin, flat drink. Beat the first concentrated coffee with the sugar until it turns light tan and holds soft folds, then pour in the rest. It is ready when a pale foam floats on the cup and the milk has been heated until steaming, with small bubbles around the edge but not boiling. Chef's tip: catch only the first 2–3 teaspoons of coffee for the foam; later coffee is too thin to whip.

10 min

Cuban Drinks

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Pan con lechónRoast pork sandwich

Cuba's great feast is a whole roast pig for Noche Buena on Christmas Eve, and the next best thing is pan con lechón: slices of juicy roast pork stuffed into soft Cuban bread with onions and plenty of mojo. In Havana it is sold from cafeterías and street windows in Centro Habana and along Calle Obispo, especially at weekends, and it is a favourite lunch or late-afternoon bite. This home version uses a boneless pork shoulder marinated overnight in sour orange, garlic, cumin and oregano and roasted until it falls apart, with crackly edges. Chef's tip: keep a few spoons of fresh mojo aside before the raw pork goes in, so you have a clean sauce to spoon over the sandwiches.

240 min

Cuban Meat

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Pan con minutaFried fish sandwich

Minuta is what Cubans call a quick-fried fish fillet, cooked "in a minute" while you wait, and in a soft roll it becomes one of Havana's simplest street lunches. Look for it at kiosks along the Malecón near La Punta and in the fishing village of Cojímar, east of the city, where small boats bring in snapper. The fish is marinated briefly in lime and garlic, dipped in a light batter and fried until the crust crackles, then tucked into bread with sharp raw onion and another squeeze of lime. Chef's tip: keep the lime marinade short; after 15 minutes the acid starts to turn the fish chalky.

30 min

Cuban Fish

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Prú orientalSpiced root drink

In Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Baracoa, prú is sold from plastic bottles at the kitchen door and poured at every birthday, often next to a slab of cake. The recipe came from Haitian and French-Caribbean coffee planters who settled in the east, and families still keep a "madre", a starter jar from the last batch. Roots of raíz de China and bejuco ubí are boiled with pine, cinnamon and allspice, sweetened and left to ferment for a few days. It tastes like a wild, earthy root beer: woody, spiced, a little bitter, with a soft prickle. Fermentation makes a trace of alcohol, well under 1% if drunk young. Outside Cuba use dried sarsaparilla root, a close relative of China root. The common mistake is sealing bottles too early and leaving them warm, which builds dangerous pressure; use a plastic test bottle and chill once it is firm. It is ready when tiny bubbles rise and it smells sweet-sour, not yeasty. Throw it out if it grows fuzzy mould, turns slimy or smells rotten. Pregnant people should skip the pine needles, and anyone on medication should check with a doctor about herbal roots. Chef's tip: keep 250 ml back as the madre for your next batch.

70 min

Cuban Drinks

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Rabo encendidoSpicy braised oxtail

Rabo encendido, "oxtail on fire", is the slow Saturday braise of central Cuba, cooked until the meat slips off the bones into a dark, glossy sauce of tomato, sweet pepper, red wine and a kick of hot chilli. It is eaten with white rice and fried ripe plantain to cool the heat. The wine cooks for hours, but if you want no alcohol at all, use extra beef stock with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. The common mistake is serving it straight away with a layer of fat on top; skim it well, or chill overnight and lift the fat off. Chef's tip: dust the oxtail lightly in cornflour and brown it hard; the coating gives a better crust and thickens the sauce while keeping it gluten free.

235 min

Cuban Meat

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Champola de guanábanaSoursop milk shake

On a sticky afternoon in Havana, a tall glass of champola is the classic cooler: soursop pulp blended with ice-cold milk and a little sugar into something between a shake and a fruit drink. Soursop (guanábana) tastes of pineapple, banana and lemon at once, with a creamy body all its own. The common mistake is blending the black seeds in, which makes the drink bitter, so remove every one or use frozen pulp. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lime just before serving; it sharpens the fruit and stops the drink tasting flat.

10 min

Cuban Drinks

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Carne con papasBeef and potato stew

Carne con papas is the weeknight stew of countless Cuban homes, from Santa Clara to Havana: chunks of beef simmered in a tomato sofrito with cumin and oregano, then potatoes and green olives added until the sauce turns thick and savoury. It is served with white rice and perhaps a few slices of avocado. Many cooks add potatoes at the start and end up with mush; they go in for the last 30 minutes. Chef's tip: brown the beef well in two batches; that dark crust is where most of the flavour in the sauce comes from.

110 min

Cuban Meat

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Chilindrón de chivoGoat stew with tomato and peppers

In Oriente, the eastern provinces around Santiago and Holguín, chilindrón de chivo is the dish for a farm celebration: goat marinated in sour orange and garlic, then stewed in a thick sauce of tomato, sweet peppers, cumin, oregano and dry wine until it is tender enough to pull from the bone. It is served with congrí or white rice and yuca. The wine is cooked for a long time; for an alcohol-free stew use stock with a tablespoon of vinegar. Goat is lean and becomes stringy if boiled hard, which is the most common mistake, so keep it at a gentle bubble. Chef's tip: marinate overnight in the fridge; it softens the strong goat flavour and seasons the meat to the bone.

190 min

Cuban Meat

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Torticas de MorónLime shortbread

The town of Morón in Ciego de Ávila gave its name to these crumbly little cookies, which Cuban bakeries sell in paper bags and grandmothers keep in a tin for visitors with coffee. They are pale, short and melt quickly, with a clear scent of lime zest. The common mistake is overworking the dough or baking until brown, which makes them hard rather than sandy, so pull them out while they are only just golden underneath. Chef's tip: chill the rolled dough for 20 minutes before cutting; the edges stay sharp and the cookies don't spread.

35 min

Cuban Baking

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BacánPlantain and pork parcels

Bacán belongs to Baracoa, the coconut-growing corner of eastern Cuba, where it is made for family gatherings and sold wrapped at weekend markets. Grated green plantain is mixed with fresh coconut milk into a soft dough, wrapped around a filling of seasoned pork in a banana leaf and steamed until set, a little like a tamal but sweeter and silkier. The pork is shoulder, cooked in a sofrito before wrapping. The common mistake is using ripe plantain, which won't set; it must be hard and green. Chef's tip: pass the banana leaves briefly over a flame or hot pan until they turn glossy and supple, and they will fold without splitting.

120 min

Cuban Meat

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Vaca fritaCrisp fried shredded beef

Vaca frita, "fried cow", is Havana's crisp cousin of ropa vieja: flank steak is simmered until tender, shredded, marinated in sour lime and garlic, then fried in a hot pan with onions until the edges turn brown and crackly. Families make it the day after boiling beef for soup, and serve it with rice, black beans and plantain. The usual mistake is crowding the pan, which steams the meat instead of crisping it, so fry in batches and press it down. Chef's tip: let the shredded beef dry uncovered in the fridge for an hour before frying; the drier it is, the crisper it gets.

140 min

Cuban Meat

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