FOOD HISTORY: CULINARY INFLUENCES ON CUBA

As with many others of the islands in the Caribbean, the Taino people were the indigenous population of Cuba, having moved from South America thousands of years ago, In Cuba, they lived in communities where they raised crops of yucca, sweet potatoes, maize, and other crops. Their culture flourished, reaching a peak by the time they became colonized by the Spanish in 1511.

The Spanish wanted to use the warm climate of the island to initiate plantations to grow sugar cane - a very valuable cash crop. Early interactions with the indigenous Taino population went very well with many marriages between the Spanish and Taino women, combining new and old-world genes, to create a “mestizo” (Creole) population throughout the island, which still exists today. Because of this, the culinary traditions of both cultures became combined.

 After living together in peace for some time, the Spanish removed the Taino men and forced then to work on the sugar plantations. Additionally, over time, both many Taino men and women died from diseases they had never seen before, brought to the island by the Spanish. This severely reduced the plantations Taino workforce. Because of this, the Spanish needed replacement workers

 In the 16^th century, with the Slave trade flourishing, enslaved Africans began to be used to work the sugar plantations by the Spanish, replacing the few Taino workers remaining. The enslaved Africans brought their own cooking methods and techniques with them, adding another layer of food diversity to the combined Taino/Spanish culinary traditions.

When slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886, Chinese workers were brought to Cuba to replace the freed Africans. The Chinese, also, brought their own cooking traditions with them. For example, the Cubans in Havana’s Chinatown watched the Chinese laborers cooking on a makeshift wooden box (La Caya) on which a fire burned, heating the top of the box and slow cooking the food inside. The Cubans adopted this method to cook Lechon Asado (slow cooked pork) making it soft and tender and introduced this cooking method as a prerequisite for their  famous Lechon Asado prepared for  Cuban festivals.

Thus, Cuba's culinary history includes contributions from the indigenous Taino’s, the Spanish, the enslaved Africans and, finally, the Chinese. One can still find Cuban/Chinese restaurants in Havana and even some in the eastern United States.

The evolution of ethnic cooking methods from many places in the world has been associated with some very negative historical events. However, if we can look at them only from the point of view of the EVOLUTION OF OUR EATING PLEASURE, we can all be very happy with the results.