Cuba

A long-simmered Cuban Creole stew built on a sofrito base with multiple starchy root vegetables (viandas), scored corn rounds, and layered mixed meats — tasajo, chorizo, and fresh pork — that meld into a thick, self-thickening broth.

Arroz con Leche is the Hispanic rice pudding of rice slow-cooked in sweetened milk perfumed with cinnamon and vanilla.

A pan-Caribbean and Central American one-pot dish in which bone-in chicken pieces and long-grain rice cook together in a sofrito- and sazón-seasoned broth, the rice absorbing all cooking liquid to yield moist chicken and orange-hued, flavor-saturated grains studded with briny olives.

A Cuban everyday steak of top sirloin pounded paper-thin, marinated in garlic-citrus mojo criollo, pan-fried fast over high heat, and finished with a blanket of sautéed onions.

A Cuban staple in which dried black beans and long-grain white rice are cooked together in a single pot using bean-cooking liquid and a sofrito of onion, garlic, and green bell pepper, producing rice tinged dark by the beans and unified in flavor.

A concentrated dark-roast espresso in which the very first drops of brew are vigorously whipped with raw cane sugar to produce a thick, stable, caramel-colored foam (espumita) that caps the finished demitasse.

A hearty white-bean and leafy-green soup with chorizo and salt pork, of Galician origin and a beloved staple of Cuban kitchens.

A Cuban one-pot dish of long-grain white rice cooked together with red kidney beans in their own cooking liquid, built on a sofrito base, traditional to the Oriente region of eastern Cuba.

A pressed sandwich on Cuban bread layered with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard, flattened and toasted until crisp and melted.

A Cuban steamed tamal made from fresh-ground corn masa enriched with lard and sofrito, with seasoned pork integrated throughout the masa rather than pocketed at the center, wrapped and steamed in dried corn husks.

A Cuban-style baked custard dessert enriched with cream cheese, set over a caramel base, denser and richer than the classic Spanish flan.

A palm-sized pocket of laminated puff pastry encasing a filling of dense, sliceable guava paste — often paired with cream cheese — sealed, glazed, and baked until the pastry is crisp and caramelized at the seams.

Small cylinders of intensely thick ham-studded béchamel, cold-set firm, breaded in fine crumbs, and deep-fried to a shatteringly crisp shell encasing a molten, savory cream interior.

A whole pig or large bone-in pork shoulder marinated in mojo — a mixture of sour orange juice, garlic, cumin, and oregano — then slow-roasted until the interior is fork-tender and the skin renders into shattering crackling.

Slices of fully ripe (blackened-skin) plantain pan-fried until soft, sweet and caramelized at the edges.

A Cuban sauce of sour (Seville) orange juice, abundant garlic, cumin, and oregano in olive oil, used as a marinade and condiment.

A Central American vegetable hash of finely diced vegetables such as chayote, potato, or green papaya sautéed with aromatics and herbs.

Ropa Vieja is a Cuban Caribbean main dish of shredded beef braised low‑and‑slow in a tomato‑pepper‑onion sofrito until tender, then served hot over rice.

Rounds of unripe green plantain fried, flattened, and fried again into crisp golden discs, served salted as a ubiquitous side or snack.

A Cuban dish of whole beef braised until tender, shredded into strands, marinated in fresh lime juice and garlic, then pan-fried over high heat until the strands develop crispy, caramelized edges.

Boiled cassava dressed hot with a Cuban mojo of garlic, sour orange juice, and onions sizzled in oil.