★ Cuba Travel Guide

Source: © iStock.com/rgreatrix

Eating & Driking in Cuba

June 17, 2015

[...]

Escape Hunter

Although gastronomy is not among Cuba's strong points - some people are curious about local foods and drinks, so I came up with a list of local specialities.

Boliche

One of Cuba's most popular dishes: beef roast stuffed with chorizo sausages (which are browned in olive oil, then simmered in water with onions) potatoes and hard boiled eggs.

Arroz con Pollo

The dish called arroz con pollo is wide-spread in Latin America and at first glance, it may show resemblance with paella.
It originates from the Caribbean. Both Cubans and Puerto Ricans consider it their own.

It's a simple recipe with rice, chicken and just a few vegetables added.

Cuban Sandwitch

A meaty sandwich - essentially ham, cheese and pickles.
The most common combination of ingredients is: roasted pork and/or ham, cheese slices, pickles and mustard. Some may contain salami.

In Cuba, it's quite often called "mixto" and its history dates back to the 1800's.

The Cuban sandwich has spread to Florida too, where it was brought in by the Cuban community.

Café Cubano (Cafecito or Cuban Espresso)

Sweet dark coffee, very popular in Cuba (the country also a coffee-producer, let's not forget!).
It is sweetened with brown cane sugar.

Cocktails

The Caribbean and Cuba are perhaps the best place for having cocktails. And Cuba has plenty of them...

Plus: here it's more likely you'll get more natural drinks, while in the West they sell a bucket load of artificially-flavoured drinks with synthetic colouring as well.

The most popular cocktails in Cuba include: Mojito, Cuba Libre, Daiquiri, Piña Colada, Sangria, Saoco, Cubanito.

Rum

Cuba's most popular drink is nevertheless, rum - an ingredient of many cocktails. And I should also mention that Bacardi (the company) was actually started in Cuba (in Santiago de Cuba in 1862).

There are three types: white rum, gold rum, dark rum... you'll find them in abundance all across the country.

About the Author:

Escape Hunter, the young solo traveler in his early 30's explores the World driven by curiosity, thirst for adventure, deep passion for beauty, love for freedom and diversity.
With a nuanced, even humorous approach to travel, an obsession for art and design, Escape Hunter prefers to travel slowly, in order to learn and "soak up" the local atmosphere...