Cuban Home Cooking

Book excerpt: Once exotic, Cuban cuisine has now entered the mainstream. Similar to Spanish cooking but with distinctive spice blends created by the Cuban people, authentic Cuban cooking is fresh, aromatic, and delicious. Cuban Home Cooking will inspire you to stock your kitchen with cumin, oregano, saffron, and peppers, put on your apron, and fire up your stove! You'll learn how to make a variety of appetizers and sides; delicious entrees featuring chicken, beef, pork, and seafood; delectable sweets; and even the perfect Cuban sandwich. This revised edition includes additional recipes. Most ingredients can be found in your local supermarket, and a useful glossary provides ideas for substitutions if you don't have some of the ingredients on hand. Jane Cossio and Joyce LaFray, both experts in Cuban cuisine, have decades of experience cooking Cuban dishes in their own kitchens. Their simple and easy-to-follow recipes include caldo gallego (a luscious soup with chorizo and greens), pltanos dulces fritos (fried sweet plantains), ropa vieja (shredded beef), flan (Cuba's most popular dessert), and of course, real caf Cubano--the finishing touch to any home-cooked Cuban meal.