A WORD OR TWO ON CUBAN FOOD

Now..... on our travels around Cuba I have heard it said from many a wary pair of lips and loins that are still quivering from the latest bout of travelers diarrhea that the Cuban food is not good, it's dry, it's bland and it lacks in many other ways. I have my own opinion on that and that is don't listen to the nay sayers! The food is awesome. It's some of the freshest I have tasted. It hasn't been treated with chemicals or pumped full of water or genetically altered in anyway. It is honest to goodness real wholesome, nourishing food. It may be simple but it's plentiful and it's cheap. If you want to eat nasty, mass produced, kept hot in the hotel buffet for several hours by all means people go to the resort you deserve everything you get, including the Veradaro volta to the potty all night.

The one thing I will say tho and that is everything is cooked with oil and for the first few days it plays havoc on your system because here in Canada a country that is not classed as third world we know better. Right? Or do we? And you know what else? We didn't see one obese Cuban. I don't know if they digest it better or it's just because they work in a more physical environment or the rum just melts it all away. Or because just maybe they don't fiddle around with their products making them whiter or bigger by adding hormones to it, using fertilizers that are not good for us in them. So that they can digest them properly and remain healthy.

Just think about it for a while before you brush me off as some loopy gal with a pip in her pipe.

We had some of the biggest lobster tails ever served to us in peoples houses (Casa particulares), lightly steamed and served with either butter, a light tomato chili salsa, or a lemon, chive and garlic dressing. We were delighted with the red snapper that was freshly caught that morning and baked whole in the oven to perfection. The flesh of the chicken here is the proper colour of chicken that I remember as a girl. Not white and injected with bleach. Chicken that has been marinated in a mixture of herbs and spices, tender and still juicy. Oh and don't forget the pork, pan fried with onion, cumin, garlic, oregano and bay leaf. Each meal is accompanied with a light soup, salads that boast tomatoes fresh from the fields (and I don't even like tomatoes) radish, cabbage, beans and cucumbers tossed in a light vinaigrette. The fluffiest rice you have ever seen and if you still have room there is fried cassava or plantain. They certainly know how to make ice cream if you can manage it.

Breakfasts were no shabby meal either. There was always freshly squeezed juice and I do mean fresh. Platters over loaded with pineapple, banana, papaya, guava, oranges and grapefruits. Bread that has literally been delivered to the door 20 minutes previous, still warm and made with unbleached flour. Eggs whipped in to a frenzy and turned into the most wonderful omelet, fresh Spanish cheese to die for and there was also local honey and marmalade, pancakes and sometimes sausage and always fresh butter. Coffee served in small amounts but very strong, smooth and rich in flavour.

A breakfast usually cost us between $3 and $5 pesos and dinner $8 pesos. It's more food than you can eat. If you happen to feel hunger during the day there is always the street pizza or little baked savory goodies you can pick up for pennies. We had dinner in a restaurant one night in a seafood tavern which set us back $20 pesos each and that included wine and a dessert. But nothing could hold a flame to the home cooked meals we had in the Casa's.

So next time you go on your holidays with your knotted hanky on your head and your gloss white skin and you happen to be in a resort and the food isn't up to your standards. Remember what I've told you. Be brave learn to speak a few words of the local language and go out on to the streets and find yourselves something good to eat. Despite what your tour guide has told you. It is a safe as you make it. Sure if you walk around looking like a dumb tourist dripping with jewelry and refuse to make an effort speaking a few basic words of the language you may get hassled. But we were treated with nothing but kindness, smiles and genuine friendliness.

Oh and I still took my imodium just in case and an anti biotic. But I am pleased to say they are still in their sealed packages.

SO IN THE WORDS OF JULIA CHILD......... BON APPETITE!