Caribbean Influence on Cuban Cuisine
The second working session of the First International Gastronomic Seminar “Excelencias Santiago de Cuba 2015” and the First “From Cacao to Chocolate” International Symposium kicked off Wednesday with a lecture entitled “The Caribbean Influence on Cuban Cuisine”, dictated by international chef Jorge Luis Mendez.
Santiago de Cuba is a city bathed by the Caribbean Sea and its cuisine is influenced by the Caribbean touch since many foods served in that part of eastern Cuba have been inherited from the first islanders, the colonizers and the entire migration inflow. That explains why the presentation made by Mr. Mendez broached all the historic, social and cultural aspects that have made that Caribbean influence jump into the lifestyle of the Cuban people.
He also made reference to the work conducted by Casa del Caribe since its foundation back in the 1980s by intellectual Joel James, as well as to the Fiesta del Fuego (Fire Party) as major platforms to push the Caribbean far beyond its geographical boundaries.
As a consequence of that Caribbean influence on today’s Cuban cuisine, people eat some treats that stand for the Caribbean, such as angostura –widely known in cooking and cocktails- waffles –made of corn flour- casaba –the traditional indigenous bread- the hallaca –consisting of ground fresh corn flour- and piña colada, a cocktail drummed up in Puerto Rico in 1954 and made up of coconut and pineapple, silver rum and ice. In Cuba, bartenders use aged rum, milk and cinnamon.
The lecture was attended by Ciro Bianchi, president of Cuba’s Gastronomy Professorship; master confectioner Joaquin Capdevila from the Kab k'uh Foundation; Maria Cristina Jorge, director of the Latin American and Caribbean School of Confectionery, Patisserie and Bakery, and Marisol Rodriguez Correa, MINTUR delegate in Santiago de Cuba.
First International Gastronomic Seminar “Excelencias Santiago de Cuba 2015” and the First “From Cacao to Chocolate” International Symposium are sponsored by the provincial administration of Santiago de Cuba, the city’s MINTUR Provincial Delegation, the Tourism Ministry’s Tourism Training and Formation System, the Federation of Culinary Associations of the Republic of Cuba, the Latin American and Caribbean School of Confectionery, Patisserie and Bakery, Cuba’s Bartender Association and the Cuba Sommelier Club.
