Cuban Cuisine

Cuban cuisine is the fusion of Spanish, African, and Caribbean culinary traditions. It is simple but flavorful — based on rice, beans, pork, and plantains. In recent years, a creative Paladar scene has developed, reinterpreting traditional dishes.

The Classics

• Ropa Vieja ("old clothes") — THE national dish: Tender, shredded beef in a spicy tomato-pepper sauce with onions and garlic. Served with rice and beans. The name comes from the "threads" that resemble old clothes. On the menu in every restaurant and Casa.
• Moros y Cristianos ("Moors and Christians") — Black beans with white rice, cooked together. The base of almost every Cuban meal. The "Moors" (black) and "Christians" (white) are a culinary reminder of the Spanish Reconquista.
• Lechón Asado — Whole roast suckling pig, cooked for hours on a spit or in an earth pit (horno). The feast for birthdays, New Year's Eve, and the Fiesta. Crispy skin, tender meat, marinated with bitter oranges, garlic, and cumin.
• Tostones & Maduros — Plantains in two variations: Tostones (green, double-fried, crispy, salty) and Maduros (ripe, sweet, caramelized). Side dishes to almost everything.
• Yuca con Mojo — Boiled cassava root with a sauce of garlic, bitter orange juice, and olive oil. Simple and delicious.
• Langosta (Lobster) — Cuban Spiny Lobster is excellent and absurdly cheap compared to Europe: 12–18 € for a whole lobster dinner in a Casa Particular. In Paladares 20–35 €.

Breakfast

The typical Cuban breakfast in the Casa: fresh tropical fruits (mango, papaya, guava, pineapple), eggs (scrambled or fried), toast with butter and jam, freshly squeezed fruit juice, and strong Cuban coffee. Not an opulent buffet, but fresh and lovingly prepared.

Cuba is the birthplace of the world's most important cocktails — and rum here is not just a drink, but a cultural heritage.

The Three National Cocktails

Mojito — Cuba's most famous export (after cigars). White rum, fresh mint (Hierba buena), lime juice, sugar, and soda water. The perfect balance of sweet, sour, minty, and alcoholic. Available on every corner in Havana, the "Original Mojito" is mixed at the Bodeguita del Medio (whether Hemingway really drank there is disputed). Price: 2–5 € depending on location.

Daiquiri — Invented in the village of the same name near Santiago de Cuba (1898). White rum, lime juice, sugar, ice — mixed, not shaken. Hemingway made the Daiquiri famous at the Floridita in Havana, where he drank his "Papa Doble": double rum, half lime juice, no sugar, grapefruit juice. Price: 3–7 €.

Cuba Libre — Rum, cola, lime. The name dates back to 1898: US soldiers drank Cuban rum with Coca-Cola and shouted "¡Por Cuba Libre!" (To free Cuba!). The simplest and most consumed cocktail on the island. Price: 1–3 €.

Cuban Coffee

Cuban coffee is strong, sweet, and small — a Cafecito (espresso with sugar) is the everyday national drink. A Cortadito (with a splash of milk) or Café con Leche (with hot milk) for breakfast. The coffee is excellent — especially from the mountains of the Sierra Maestra and the Sierra del Escambray.