Cuban cuisine
Cuban cooking grew out of Spanish on Caribbean ingredients: sofrito, black beans, plantain and meat stewed for hours.
The sofrito here is longer than the Spanish one: onion and green pepper sweat for twenty minutes to complete softness before anything else appears. Nearly every dish stands on that base.
There is almost no heat in Cuban cooking, which surprises anyone expecting Caribbean fire. The flavour is built on cumin, oregano, garlic and sour citrus rather than chilli.
2 dishes
- Ropa vieja
Beef pulled into strands and stewed in sofrito with peppers and olives. The meat is boiled whole in advance.
175 min · Easy · Main course
- Moros y cristianos
Rice cooked in the liquid from black beans, which darkens it and gives it all their flavour.
110 min · Easy · Side dish