A Taste of Cuba: Recipes From the Cuban-American Community: A Cookbook

It is said that Cuban food reflects the Cuban spirit—a hearty appetite for the sweetness and richness of life, and a respect for tradition spiced with the spark of adventure. Here are enticing spiced fish and seafood dishes: sweet, creamy flans; savory paella; warm, hearty black beans and rice; and tropical rum drinks. You’ll find almost 200 recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, breads, entrees, vegetables, desserts, and drinks that celebrate the colorful cuisine of Cuba, bringing its flavorful, tropical tastes to your table. Cuban cooking honors the melding of Spanish, Portuguese, and indigenous Cuban culinary traditions in dishes that have become uniquely Cuban. There are many recipes for authentic Cuban specialties, such as pasteles (spiced meat patties), tostones (fried green plantains), churros (fried dough with sugar), and refreshing batidos (fruit milkshakes), as well as gourmet-style recipes for the contemporary Caribbean dishes found in Cuban restaurants. Included too, is an invaluable guide to finding uniquely Cuban ingredients, such as plantain, yucca, malaga, and calabaza. A Taste of Cuba is flavorsome testimony to the ever-growing popularity of Cuban cuisine!

Table of Contents:
A Taste of CubaForeword, by Felipe Rojas-Lambardi Introduction The Elements of Cuban Cuisine Special Ingredients AppetizersShrimp in Garlic Wine Sauce Sausage Empanadas with Pimento Salsa Plantain Croquettes with Tomato-Cilantro Vinaigrette Sweet Rum Shrimp Escabeche Spicy Crab Cakes with Papaya Chutney Papaya Chutney Mayonnaise Fried Shrimp with Coconut-Beer Batter and Orange Cocktail Sauce Conch Fritters with Cilantro Dipping Sauce Fruit Salad with Lemon-Lime Dressing Soups Fish Stock Chicken Stock Beef Stock Sweet Plantain Soup Traditional Black Bean Soup Chilled Yuca Soup Cream of Garlic Soup with Cilantro Garlic-Tomato Soup Galician Potage Cold Cucomber and Avacado Soup Shrimp, Corn, and Potato Soup White Bean and Tomato Soup Conch Chowder Chicken and Rice Soup Red Bean Soup Sweet and Spicy Calabaza Soup Vegetable Soup with Lentils and Rice Fruits and Vegetables Fried Sweet Plantains Mashed Green Plantains Tostones Yuca with Garlic Sauce Calabaza Fritters Boniatos Ajiaco Fresh Corn and Red Pepper Tamales Peppers Stuffed with Spanish Sausage, Rice, and Tomato Vegetable and Cheese Omelet Avocados with Vinaigrette Rice and Beans Long-Grain White Rice Black Beans Black Beans and Rice Yellow Rice Yellow Rice and Peas Rum-Flavored Black Beans and Rice Marinated Black Bean Salad Spicy Black Beans with Tomatoes, Onions, and Peppers Red Beans and Rice Sweet Baked White Beans and Pork Tri-Colored Bean Salad with Bacon Dressing Chilled Lentil Salad with Spicy Vinaigrette Honey-Rum Baked Black Beans Black Bean Flan Black Bean Chili Mold of Yellow RIce with Shrimp, Scallops, and Red Pepper Beef Ropa Vieja Achiote Oil Picadillo Oxtail Stew Palomilla Steak Baked Yuca Stuffed with Shredded Beef Cuban Pot Roast Tamale Pie with Sweet and Spicy Meat Filling Spicy Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Sauce Meat-and-Onion-Stuffed Turnovers Pasteles Flank Steak with Port Wine Marinade Rolled Stuffed Steak Pork Braised Loin of Pork with Papaya Pork Tenderloin Sauteed with Bitter Orange and Garlic Baby Back Ribs with Spicy Papaya Sauce Homemade Spanish Sausage Cider-and-Mango-Roasted Ham Roast Pork with Peppered Black Bean Sauce Spicy Ham and Potato Croquettes Pork Tails Pork Chops in Wine Sauce Fried Pork and Onion Patties Grilled Garlic Pork Cornmeal-and-Raisin-Stuffed Pork Chops Hot Pepper Pork Chops with Creamy Gravy Sweet and Sour Papaya Pork Cuban-Chinese Roast Loin of Pork Poultry Chicken and Rice Chicken and Rice Stew Breast of Chicken Al Ajillo Spicy Chicken Sauté with Vegetables and Papaya Coconut-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Light Cream Sauce Country Baked Chicken Chicken Croquettes with Sautéed Onions and Peppers Roasted Chicken with Papaya Glaze Roasted Game Hens with Bitter Orange Glaze Sweet and Spicy Cilantro Chicken Golden Baked Chicken with Tomatoes, Olives, and Capers Crispy Fried Marinated Chicken Garlic-Marinated Roasted Chicken Pastel de Maíz Sofrito Grilled Chicken Sofrito Sauce Seafood Pan-Fried Grouper with Almonds Salt Cod, Island Style Baked Salt Cod Black-Bean-Steamed Snapper Tuna Steak with Sweet Red Pepper Sauce Snapper in Coconut Sauce Lobster and Red Peppers in a Rice Mold Broiled Dolphin with Sweet Red Pepper and Papaya Chutney Shrimp Creole Marinated Conch Salad Seafood Stew Breaded Shrimp with Tomato-Caper Salsa Snapper with Saffron Sauce Pompano with Shrimp Sauce Spicy Grilled Tuna Snapper Grilled in Foil with Cilantro, Tomato, and Onion Poached Pompano with Orange-Rum Sauce Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce Bread Cassava Bread Cuban Bread Tomato-Pimento Bread Cheese Bread Cassava Rolls Sweet Plantain Bread Papaya and Raisin Bread Almond-Raisin Bread Orange Bread Spicy Cornbread with Green Chilies Churros Sweet Cornbread Cornmeal Bread Coconut Muffins Spicy Red Pepper Muffins Garlic-Onion Dinner Muffins Mango Butter Desserts Diplomatic Pudding Tradtional Flan Coconut-Rum Flan Country-Baked Almond Flan Plantain Custard Frozen Rum Mousse Baked Rum-Raisin Pudding Classic Rice Pudding Old-Fashioned Cornmeal Pudding Bacon from Heaven Fried Yuca Dough with Almond Syrup Almond Cookies Fresh Coconut and Banana Melt Cream Pie Sponge Caked with Rum Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Flaming Banana Custard Coconut Ice Cream Mango Ice Cream Pineapple Ice Cream Guava Ice Cream Beveraged Cuban Coffee Cuban Coffee with Milk Iced Cuban Coffee Hot Chocolate Coffee Rum-Spiked Coffee Papaya-Banana Batido Guava Batido Papaya-Manog Batido Spiced Calypso Punch Coconut Milk Coconut Water Cuba Libre Presidente Mojito Rum Cocktail Cuban Cocktail Cuban Special Rum Swizzle Super Rum Swizzle Lime Daiquiri Mango Daiquiri Peach Daiquiri Pineapple Daiquiri Banana Daiquiri Piña COlada Yellow Bird Rum and Coconut Water Cold Rum Toddy Hot Rum Toddy Rum Punch Planter's Punch Milk Punch Sangría A Holliday Feast Roast Suckling Pig Roasted Boniatos Roasted Sweet Onions Orange-Raisin Cornmeal Stuffing Sautéed Butter-Rum Plantains Paella Rum Rice Pudding Index

About the Author :
Linette Creen is the author of The Jewel Lake Seafood Market Cook Book and A Taste of Cuba, among others. When Creen, now the mother of three and a resident of Greenwich, CT, was just 18 years old, she opened a seafood store in Alaska. Felipe Rojas-Lombardi was a Peruvian-born chef who helped bring a Spanish and Caribbean influence into America's haute cuisine repertory. He died in 1991.

Review :
“Detailed and precise… traditional ingredients are given an imaginative twist.”—Sun Sentinel   “A full range of recipes, from sweet and zippy appetizers and party foods to various Cuban coffees and rum drinks, along with background notes and a guide to such ingredients as malanga, green and ripe coconut, green and ripe plantains, side pork, and yucca… Overall, the food is distinctive, hearty, and uncomplicated.”—Kirkus “Creen's welcome contribution includes both traditional dishes such as Ropa Vieja and innovative Cuban-American creations such as Conch Fritters with Cilantro Dipping Sauce… unique.”—Library Journal