Experience Cuba Through Its Food With These Recipe Ideas
Cuba doesn’t just make amazing cigars, they’re home to stand-out dishes and hearty meals too. If you want to make your family dinners more special, you should take your palettes on a trip to Cuba with these easy-to-make but very delicious recipes!
Ropa Vieja
Ropa Vieja is a Cuban dish that’s made of tender and soft strands of beef and a lot of veggies. It’s a Cuban recipe that’s done through a slow cooker, but it can also be cooked with an instant pot as well. When it comes to Ropa Vieja, it’s all about patience.
When cooking Ropa Vieja, make sure to use chuck roast or brisket so that it gets tender for a longer period, thus allowing the flavors to seep in. The dish also features a wealth of spices like cumin, cayenne pepper, and oregano. Your home will be smelling of Ropa Vieja in no time, and that’s not exactly a bad thing.
Black Bean Soup
Beans are a staple in Cuban cuisine. They’re hearty, healthy, and a good source of nutrients as well. One of the best bean dishes in Cuba is black bean soup, which is a tasty and savory soup that’s perfect for any season. Of course, it’s more enjoyable when it’s cold.
The base of any good black bean soup recipe includes chili powder, oregano, bay leaves, and of course, the beans themselves. You can also cook it in an instant pot. Just drop the ingredients in there and let the instant pot do the cooking for you. You’ll have a good soup in no time.
Cuban Sandwich
Cuba is also known for its meaty and filling sandwiches. In fact, a good Cuban sandwich might just be one of your first experiences with a Cuban dish. At the heart of a Cuban dish is a slow-roasted pork shoulder, pickles, cheese, and some mustard of course.
The star of the dish itself is the meat. In this case, slow-roasting pork shoulders on a good and tasty mix of herbs and veggies for hours is the key. The meat must be tender enough to pull apart, as this makes the sandwich a lot easier to eat.
Black Beans And Rice
Rice and beans are a staple side dish in Cuban cuisine, so why not make a dish that stands on its own using these? Black beans and rice is very popular in Cuba because it serves as both the side dish and the main dish as well. When cooking this dish, it’s all about the timing, as you’d want the beans and the rice to be of the same consistency.
To make black beans and rice, all you need are spices like cumin, cayenne pepper, your choice of rice, but jasmine is pretty good, black beans, and a stock of your choice. Whole chicken stock is a common choice, some people opt to use vegetable stock to make the dish vegan.
These Cuban recipes are good any time of the week. Make sure to try these out if you’re running out of ideas in the kitchen.
