Cuban food differs from many other Spanish food recipes in some subtle but important ways.Cuban cuisine is a combination of Spanish, African and Caribbean cuisine. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish and African cooking, with some influence in spice and flavor from other Caribbean islands. A small Chinese influence can also be accounted for, mainly in the Havana area.
Eastern Cuban cuisine forms the basis of Criollo cooking ( Criollo stands for "creole"), which shares a great deal of recipes with other Caribbean cuisines, but has the main difference of not using peppers.
Typically a meal would consist of rice and beans usually cooked together, and a main course consisting of mainly pork or beef. Meat is usually served in light sauces. The most popular sauce, used to accompany roasted pork, and the viandas, is Mojo , made with oil, garlic, onion and lime juice. Boliche is a beef roast, stuffed with chorizo sausage. Ropa Vieja is beef simmered in Criollo sauce with peas until it falls apart. A vianda or root vegetable, such as yuca, malanga, and potato are also prepared. Plantains, unripe bananas,corn and salad are also common to the Cuban meal.
Cubans make simple desserts made mainly with fruit and sugar, such as dulce de coco (ground coconut flesh boiled with sugar) or casquitos de guayaba (guava flesh boiled with sugar). Guava paste (made with guava, sugar and gelatin) is Cuba's most popular desserts. Most Criollo desserts are very, very sweet and this has established the custom of eating these desserts along with salted cheese or cream cheese, that help to offset the sweetness of these dishes. Other common ingredients in Criollo desserts are cinnamon, lime and vanilla. More Cuban Food.
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