Hello Hive friends.
My recipes today are mainly focused on two dishes inspired by my travels to two countries. The only two countries I have visited, south of the USA border, were Cuba and Mexico.
My first time outside of Canada and US, was in 1985. My friend and her fiance were going to Cuba. I had no idea what it was, or anything about it. She ask if I, and my then boyfriend, would like to join. It was cheap so off we went.
Since that trip I have gone there 4 more times.
In the 90's I went to Mexico for the first time. The last time was 2017.
There are many similarities between the food in Cuba and Mexico. But I would say that it's also very different. My last experience in Cuba was the early 90's. I don't know what it's like now but at the time the food was very bland. There was not a pepper shaker in sight. I stayed in the very least expensive resorts. There was talk about a five star resort having different food flown in from Jamaica. We didn't care about eating. We only cared about the beautiful landscape and the sunny beaches.
I think it's safe to say that each country south of the American border, would consume beans and rice quite frequently. I'm guessing for most it would be on the side, and for some it would be a complete meal.
I found some dried black beans that I have had for 2 years. I soaked them for a couple of days. I rinsed them and added new water. They cooked for quite a long time before they were soft. I added bay leaves, half an onion and a few cloves of garlic to the water.
For the black beans, I've chosen ingredients that are commonly used in Mexican food.
Black beans stew
3 cups dry black beans soaked overnight
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
2 Roma tomatoes fresh or cannned
1/8 cup chipotle sauce (1 chipotle pepper from a can blended)
1 cup cilantro chopped
1 tsp agave (optional)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tablespoon salt or more to taste
After the onions are fried in around 3 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic is added then the sauces.
The cooked black beans were drained and added to the pot. The cooking water was reserved, for adding back for the consistency that I wanted.
I let the beans cook in the sauce for a while then added most of the liquid back in. It was around 2 or 3 cups.
The cilantro was added and the beans simmered on low heat, while I prepared other items.
The last time I was in Mexico, I had turned to plant based eating. The times before that I had chicken or fish, with the classic rice on the side.
Over all this is simple to make. It was also easy to mess up for a Canadian like me. Through trial and error I finally nailed it. At least in my opinion.
Mexican inspired rice
3/4 cup white rice (I used long grain, but I think short is more ideal)
1/2 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 Roma tomatoes
1 jalapeno or serrano
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste
Juice of a lime
The Roma tomatoes that I used were from a can that I had in the cupboard. They were imported from Italy which are the tastiest in my opinion. Fresh tomatoes are often used or tomato paste. I chose two tomatoes from the can, and blended it, with onion, and garlic.
Instead of adding the vegetable broth and sauce separately, I mixed them together first, with my fingers crossed that it would work. Spoiler alert, it did.
In a pan with 4 tablespoons of oil, on medium heat, the rice was added. I didn't rinse it. The times that I rinsed it for this, it did not work.
When the rice was obviously toasted, the liquid and seasonings were added. The heat was turned down to the lowest setting.
I added cilantro that was chopped roughly.
It's common to add either serrano peppers or jalapenos. I happen to have a large jalapeno in my fridge.
For some reason, I removed the seeds. It's usually done to lessen the heat. I like spicy, so it was just an impulse.
The pan was securely covered so the moisture would remain and cook the rice thoroughly. The lid needs to stay on for at least 20 minutes before lifting. I could get a glimpse through the glass top.
So far it's been Mexican inspired. What about Cuba?
As I mentioned, the food I personally experienced all of the times in Cuba, was simple and bland, in a good way. It was humble and felt like home.
On one trip, in the 90's, my friend and I went to a resort and decided that we would just eat vegetarian for the week. The dining hall was buffet style with ladies serving us our choice of food. We were not sure what the cooked greens that were available were. We guessed that it was collard greens. It was great to have these veggies, as on other trips, there were no leafy greens cooked or raw.
I kept this simple as a reminder of a Cuban side dish. Onions were roughly sliced and fried in a little oil. Garlic was added.
The collards were added with salt and pepper to keep it simple.
The variety of vegetables in Cuba those days, were few. I remember carrots and cauliflower on the side of many dishes. My memory of it, was that. they were just boiled.
I decided to braise the carrots and cauliflower in a pan after frying onions and garlic.
The carrots were added first then the cauliflower.
A lid was put on and the heat to medium. The vegetables braised in there own liquid until tender to my liking.
It wouldn't be a complete reminiscing of a tropical holiday, if there were no fried plantains on the side.
In 1985 on my first Cuba trip, we left the resort and found a restaurant. We may have been the only people in there. I'm guessing I ordered either chicken or fish. The only one thing I remember of that plate, was the fried plantain. I didn't know what it was at first. It blew my mind and left me with a sensational food experience. It was deep fried and salted. I remember something that looked like paprika or chili powder on it, which was not used for the resort food.
I fried one ripe plantain after cutting in wedges. I didn't deep fry, but there was around 1/4 cup of oil in the cast iron pan on medium high heat. The plantain were fried until golden on both sides.
Beans and rice were complete, and I didn't think for a moment we were missing a meat substitute. The beans are quite sufficient, especially with all of the sides.
For this tropical plate bonus, I boiled some potatoes and coated them with vegan butter and cilantro. Potatoes were often added to the Cuban meals along with white rice.
In both Mexico and Cuba, there were often cucumbers and tomatoes on the side as the raw addition. Back in the day I never saw any dark green lettuce.
On my Cuba trips, I don't recall seeing avocados at all. Mexican food is not complete without avocado, which I added to the plate to seal the deal.
I have a Latino grocery store close by with the best avocados and plantains.
This has been a summary of what I remember of foods, from my travels in Mexico and Cuba. We have many Latino influences here now as well. I don't have any distinct or traditional foods from my life. I just have memories that I try to mimic in plant based form.
Being in multicultural Canada has offered us a wonderful taste of the world.
Thanks for your visit.
Photos taken with a Nikon D7500