My Big Fat Cuban family around the table.
Yesterday I made enough Arroz con Pollo to feed an army. Which is to say, to feed my family. =D
Everyone who ate, had seconds. Okay, maybe even thirds. Not because they were hungry, but because the food tasted so great. And I made sooo much, I even had leftovers.
My mom asked if they could take some home.
Of course. Not a problem. Oops. No plastic containers.
What to do?
Enter the Cuban-style bento box.
(I hadn’t noticed until I filled it, but our meal was totally monochromatic. How accidentally and artistically cool!)
Cuban “bento” or cantina.
So I went old school and filled the thing up much to my uncle’s delight.
Back in Cuba and more recently in Miami, this contraption had a name and function. We call it a cantina. Derived from a time, back in the day, when you could get meals delivered to your house every day from the local cantina on a kind of subscription basis. We called it comiendo de cantina, and eventually the name cantina was used to describe the metal bento box (like this one) that the food came in.
Cuban “bento” or cantina.
Imagine that! Hot Cuban food delivered to your home EVERY DAY right at dinner time!
Oh wait…. That happens here every day….
– La Cantina de Marta! (I may need to get a sign for the kitchen.)
OMG, that was one of the best arroz con pollos ever! The left-overs you sent home with me are already gone. ;-)MWUAH!!
I remember once when I was a tween, my parents decided to get a cantina. Very cool, although after a few weeks, my dad got tired of it and wanted “real Cuban food”, namely my mom’s.Now, I have a Mr. Bento, a Japanese take on the ‘cantina.’ Also, great it keeps food hot or cold!
WOW! I had totally forgotten about those metal cantinas. Every Sunday my mom bitches that I’m always forgetting her tupperware. I wanna get her a few of these contraptions…any idea where they sell them?
Mario,I picked this one up somewhere on Calle Ocho in Miami last year and I just love it. I’m going to be there again in May for Cuba Nostalgia. I’ll be sure to ask around. I haven’t been able to find these for sale anywhere on the internet. Or maybe I’m not asking el Señor Google the right question…? =D
I’ll keep you posted!
Besos,
M
Do you deliver?? Please?? Okay, so maybe the delivery van would have a slight problem driving across the Atlantic, but I hear Putin is thinking about making a road tunnel across the Bering Strait! 🙂
My Cuban mother — whom I adore, of course — may be the only Cuban mother who does not cook and so for years, we had food delivered by various cantinas in Miami. Some in those very containers and some in disposable tins. You can get a Cuban-style cantina here: http://www.reusablebags.com/store/togo-ware%AE-2tier-stainless-steel-food-carrier-p-669.htmlBut, I’ve also seen similar in Asian food markets.
Marta, you’ll have to get a stainless travel flanera at Publix when you go back to Miami. xo
This post made me so hungry!!! I’ll swap some for a my good (dare I say great?) espresso? This is what I want for breakfast this morning…I’m calling later if I don’t hear from you soon… :o)
Susan,One day when we cross the pond, I’ll just have to make some for you. =D
Carrie,
Thanks so much for that! Is there anything you DON’T know?? Shopping at Publix is one of the highlights of Miami for me… can’t wait!
Kristen,I was going to offer to bring some over, but the troops have demolished all leftovers. NEXT TIME!!
Thanks Marta and Carrie!
When my dad’s family came over in 1969, my grandfather started working in restaurants like he did in El Morrillo and eventually bought one out a few years later. It delivered cantinas here in Miami up until about 10 years ago. My grandmother and all my aunts and uncles worked there at one time or another. Our families livelihood came from “cantinas” and, even though we don’t deliver anymore, we still call the restaurants “La Cantina.”
I just bought 2 old cantinas at a garage sale in Tampa. One is 4 1/2″ in diameter and one is 5 1/2″. Both have 4 compartments. Thanks for the information. I’d love to know more about them.
Hi Marta– I’m very curious about the actual historical introduction and evolution of “la cantina”… Reach out if you can point me in any literary direction
I found a similar cantina on amazon! here’s the link:http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Food-Containers-Carrier/dp/B00CQ7IA5M
I’ll like to know if you deliver to palmetto Bay?
I WISH I could get Cuban food delivered to my house every day! I moved to a place where there are no Cuban restaurants when I used to be 30 min away from the 2nd largest Cuban neighborhood in America:-(
DO you have a phone number,I need a menu for your cantina service.Thanks.