Cuban cuisine is simple, generous Creole cooking based on local ingredients limited by shortages and the embargo — but knows how to be flavourful and convivial. It draws on Spanish-African-Amerindian fusion and today expresses itself in two types of establishments: paladares (private restaurants allowed since 2011 reforms, superior quality) and state cafeterias (basic, avoid except on very tight budgets).
Traditional dishes: ropa vieja (shredded beef in tomato sauce with peppers and onions, the emblematic Cuban dish), arroz congrí or moros y cristianos (rice and black beans cooked together, universal accompaniment), lechón asado (spit-roasted suckling pig, festive dish), langosta enchilada (lobster in tomato-garlic sauce, Trinidad and Cayos specialty), tostones (green plantain disks fried), yuca con mojo (manioc cooked in garlic-lemon-cumin sauce), pollo asado (chicken roasted with Creole spices), picadillo (minced beef with raisins and olives).
Regional specialties vary. In Santiago de Cuba: congrí oriental (variation with red beans), ajiaco (eastern stew with meats and vegetables). In Baracoa: cucurucho (coconut cone with sugar, honey and cocoa, emblematic dessert), pescado con leche de coco (fish in coconut sauce), specialties with Baracoa cocoa (among the world's best, Casa del Chocolate). In Trinidad: canchánchara (cocktail of rum, lemon, honey and water, city signature).
Desserts: flan (caramel custard), dulce de coco (coconut with sugar), helado Coppelia (state chain ice cream, popular), pastel de tres leches (three-milk cake, Spanish heritage). Cuban coffee (cafecito, sweet black espresso) is drunk all day.
Cocktails: Cuba is the homeland of the mojito (rum-mint-lime-sugar-soda), the daiquiri (rum-lemon-sugar, invented at Floridita in Havana), the cuba libre (rum-coke-lime), the piña colada (rum-pineapple-coconut). Cuban rum (Havana Club, Santiago, Bucanero) is among the world's finest — tasting essential at local rumerias.
Cuban beers: Cristal (most popular, light blonde), Bucanero (fuller, amber), Hatuey (local, traditional). Cuban cigars (Cohiba, Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo, Partagás) are world-renowned — buy them directly from Viñales vegueros (€1-3 each, incomparable quality) rather than at Havana tourist shops (often counterfeit).
A culinary peculiarity: shortages often affect menus. The restaurant may run out of meat, fish or drinks depending on deliveries — adapt, it is the Cuban experience.
Read also
- Havana and the West — The UNESCO capital and Viñales Valley: absolute priority for a first Cuban trip.
- Central Cuba — UNESCO Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara: the historic colonial and revolutionary heart.
- South-East and Santiago — Santiago de Cuba, Baracoa, Sierra Maestra: the most authentic and African Cuban Oriente.
- Cayos and Beaches — Varadero, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo: Cuba's paradise beaches in all-inclusive formula.
- Havana, the frozen capital — UNESCO Old Havana, the Malecón, American classic cars, nightly salsa: the Cuban heart.