A Taste of Cuba - Journey Through Cuba and Into the Kitchens and Paladares of the Country's Top Chefs

*New enhanced edition of the best-selling Cuba cookbook: A Taste of Cuba!*

Join the leading photographer of Cuba on an insider's tour of the country, with stops along the way to meet the world's most resourceful chefs in their kitchens and enjoy rare access to their recipes for more than 75 authentically Cuban culinary delights.

In a country shrouded in secrecy, a mouthwatering, but little-known food scene thrives. A Taste of Cuba offers unprecedented access into the kitchens of Cuba’s top chefs, where the country’s most delectable dishes are created, and the chefs share their brilliant techniques, inspiration, and best recipes for the very first time.

Renowned Cuba photographer Cynthia Carris Alonso and her Cuban husband, José Luis Alonso, take you with them on their ride through Havana and around the country, as they stop in Cuba’s twenty top paladares—private, family owned establishments. Inside you’ll see how Cuban chefs are world-class resourceful and inventive, adapting their dishes based on the changing ingredients available on the market. Between visits with the chefs, you’ll walk the streets of Cuba, experiencing its vibrant, colorful culture and seeing its lush landscapes up close.

A Taste of Cuba in its second edition offers a wealth of new photos and additional, newly procured recipes from Cuba’s top chefs, again tested and translated for an American kitchen. The result allows you to make classic Cuban dishes such as ropa vieja, frijoles negros, and maduros—stewed beef, black beans, and sweet plantains—as well as more elaborate foods, such as eggplant caviar, fish tacos, and ham croquettes. It also shares the recipes for La Cocina de Lilliam’s life-changing bread; sweets such as dreamy alfajores con dulce de leche; Cuba’s famous coffees, mojitos, and juices; Ernest Hemingway’s papa doble daiquiri of legend; and much more. In addition to the recipes and spectacular photos of the chefs and their kitchens, stunning photos of Cuba and insightful text about its regions and culture are throughout.

List of contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER ONE: OLD HAVANA

Ivan Chefs Justo

• Fish Croquettes with Plantains


• Fish Filet Over Chickpeas


• Fish Ceviche

Al Carbon

• Grilled Al Carbon Chicken


• Chicken with Rice


• Yuca with Garlic Sauce


• Meringue Cookies


• Four-Milk Cake


• Dulce de Leche

Los Mercaderes

• Lobster with Pineapple

Hotel Saratoga

• Olga's Butter Cookies

CHAPTER TWO: CENTRAL HAVANA

La Guarida

• Puree of Vegetable Soup


• Eggplant Caviar in Tomato Coulis


• Fish Tacos with Fried Yam Taco Shells


• Boniato and Plaintain Chips


• Grilled Fish


• Ravioli


• Three-Milk Dark Chocolate Cake

San Cristóbal

• Grilled Chicken with White Rice, Black Beans, and Sweet Plantains


• Grandmother's Garden Salad


• Fillet of Fish Florida with Orange Sauce


• Havana Temptation: Steak Strips with Grandmother's Demi-Glace Sauce


• Green Papaya in Simple Syrup with Cheese

CHAPTER THREE: VEDADO

Café Laurent

• Café Laurent-Style Fried Plantains


• Caramel Cake

California Café

• Cuban Sandwich


• Chard and Egg Stir-Fry


• Tropical Shrimp

El Atelier

• Salmon Roll with Eggplant


• Tomato Terrine with Prosciutto


• Almond Pesto Sauce


• Smoked Salmon with Pesto Cream Cheese


• Duck à l'Orange


• Ratatouille


• Leg of Lamb


• Octopus Salad


• Malanga Fritters


• Surf and Turf

El Litoral

• Serrano Ham Croquettes with Four-Cheese Sauce


• Four-Cheese Sauce


• Fried Beef


• Sweet Guava Shells with Cream Cheese and Guava Syrup


• Lime Meringue Pie

El Cocinero

• Japanese Salad


• Mini Cheeseburgers

CHAPTER FOUR: MIRAMAR

La Cocina de Lilliam

• Homemade Bread


• Tuna Bruschetta


• Seafood Paella


• Fish Stock

Élite

• Mixed Green Salad


• Bruschetta


• Fisherman's Pasta

CHAPTER FIVE: JAIMINITAS ("FUSTERLANDIA")

• Fusterlandia Cake

CHAPTER SIX: VIÑALES PINAR DEL RÍO

Finca Agroecologica el Paraiso

• Anti-Stress Drink


• Flan

CHAPTER SEVEN: CIENFUEGOS

Villa Lagarto

• Green Plantain Chips


• Vegetable Soup


• Shredded Beef


• Roasted Pork with Rice Mixed with Beans

CHAPTER EIGHT: TRINIDAD

Sol Ananda

• Shredded or Pulled Pork


• Glazed Fruits

Davimart

• Mixed Seafood Grill


• Grilled Fish


• Chocolate Covered Bananas

CHAPTER NINE: COJIMAR

Ajiaco Café

• Vegetable Empanadas


• Ajiaco Stew


• Fresh Fruit Cocktail


• Frozen Mojito


• Rice Pudding with Mojito Granita

CHAPTER TEN: CUBAN BEVERAGES

• Classic Daiquiri


• Hemingway Daiquiri


• Classic Mojito


• Simple Syrup


• DuPont Special


• Cuba Libre


• Cubanito Cocktail


• Vigía Cocktail with Sugarcane Juice


• La Guarida Coffee

RECIPE INDEX

About the author

Cynthia Carris Alonso is an acclaimed photographer, a writer, and the author of Passage to Cuba. Since 1992 she has regularly traveled to Cuba, documenting its news, musicians, and culture for music recording companies and publications such as Newsweek, Vanity Fair, BusinessWeek, and People en Español. Alonso has appeared as a Cuba consultant on national television, in print, and on radio. Her images have exhibited throughout the United States and in Canada and Brazil. She lives in New York City.

José Luis Alonso is a teacher, writer, and award-winning children’s book author of Secretos con mi Almohada, published in Cuba in 1980. Alonso was born in Cuba and met Cynthia Carris Alonso, now his wife, in Havana. Together, the couple has collaborated on numerous lectures and exhibits to celebrate Cuban culture. Prior to working in academia, Alonso was a chef and restaurant manager. He lives in New York City.

Valerie Feigen is a self-taught chef who previously worked as a lawyer, stock analyst, and co-owner of Edit, a women’s fashion specialty store. At age seventeen, Feigen professionally baked and sold her buttercrunch candy to food stores in New York City and Philadelphia. Feigen writes the blog recipistsdiary.com and each entry includes a memory and one or more of her original recipes. Feigen and Cynthia Carris Alonso met when they were five years old and have been friends ever since. Feigen was the inspiration for Marisa Tomei’s character in The Big Short. She lives in New York City.

Summary

*New enhanced edition of the best-selling Cuba cookbook: A Taste of Cuba!*

From the leading photographer of Cuba, A Taste of Cuba is a stunning culinary and visual journey through Cuba that presents more than 75 authentic, never-before-shared recipes from the world’s most inventive chefs.

In a country shrouded in secrecy, a mouthwatering, but little-known food scene thrives. A Taste of Cuba offers unprecedented access into the kitchens of Cuba’s top chefs, where the country’s most delectable dishes are created, and the chefs share their brilliant techniques, inspiration, and best recipes for the very first time.

Renowned Cuba photographer Cynthia Carris Alonso and her Cuban husband, José Luis Alonso, take you with them on their ride through Havana and around the country, as they stop in Cuba’s twenty top paladares—private, family owned establishments. Inside you’ll see how Cuban chefs are world-class resourceful and inventive, adapting their dishes based on the changing ingredients available on the market. Between visits with the chefs, you’ll walk the streets of Cuba, experiencing its vibrant, colorful culture and seeing its lush landscapes up close.

A Taste of Cuba in its second edition offers a wealth of new photos and additional, newly procured recipes from Cuba’s top chefs, again tested and translated for an American kitchen. The result allows you to make classic Cuban dishes such as ropa vieja, frijoles negros, and maduros—stewed beef, black beans, and sweet plantains—as well as more elaborate foods, such as eggplant caviar, fish tacos, and ham croquettes. It also shares the recipes for La Cocina de Lilliam’s life-changing bread; sweets such as dreamy alfajores con dulce de leche; Cuba’s famous coffees, mojitos, and juices; Ernest Hemingway’s papa doble daiquiri of legend; and much more. In addition to the recipes and spectacular photos of the chefs and their kitchens, stunning photos of Cuba and insightful text about its regions and culture are throughout.

Foreword

Gorgeous four-color photographs and recipe excerpts:Media will be given the opportunity to feature the gorgeous color spreads with photos and recipe excerpts.

Mainstream media targets will include general interest, food and beverage, and travel. Outlets to include the likes of the New York Times and USA Today, which both favorably reviewed The Nutmeg Trail, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Saveur, Conde Nast Traveler, Food Network Magazine, Allrecipes.com, Relish, Community Table, Taste of Home, and Bon Appetit.

Regional and Latinx media targets will focus on markets with large Cuban populations, such as Florida, New York, California, Texas, and New Jersey. Latinx outlets to include the likes of Latina, Remezcla, Hispanic Network, Latinista, Modern Latina, Latina Style, and Urban Latino.

Trade media outreach will target Publishers Weekly, which has positively reviewed other Apollo cookbooks, Library Journal, ALA Booklist, and Shelf Awareness.

Mother’s Day and December holiday promotions: A perfect high-end gift book for home chefs and those interested in Cuba, the book will be heavily pushed for inclusion as part of gift roundups for Mother’s Day and the December holidays.

Highly promotable New York-based author: Author Cynthia Carris Alonso is a highly regarded expert on Cuba and living in New York City positions her well to do media and events. Her coauthor Valerie Feigen can support cooking demonstrations and José Luis Alonso can speak as a Cuban to support the book.

Perfect summer cookbook: With plenty of ideal recipes for warm weather entertaining, the cookbook will receive an additional media push around New York’s Cuban Parade in July.

Targeted digital advertising with SEO keywords will reach home chefs and those searching for traditional Cuban recipes or cookbooks to gift.

Social media marketing: Social media marketing on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok will use digital advertising and outreach to influencers who promote cookbooks or have ties to Cuba.

Product details

• Authors: Cynthia Carris Alonso
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 02.04.2024, delayed
• EAN: 9781954641365
• ISBN: 978-1-954641-36-5
• No. of pages: 320
• Illustrations: Full color throughout
• Subjects: Guides > Food & drink > International cuisine; Places & peoples: general & pictorial works, Photography & photographs, HISTORY / Caribbean & West Indies / Cuba, TRAVEL / Caribbean & West Indies, Travel writing, PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Regional, Cookery / food and drink / food writing