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Comiendo de Cantina

April 6, 2008 By Marta Darby 18 Comments

My Big Fat Cuban family around the table.

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.)

You might also like:

Marta’s Cuban Christmas Shopping Guide: La Cantina Cubanity in Your Mailbox – Every Month! A Decorating “Fiesta” Making a Memory

Filed Under: Cuban food, Cuban-American Life

Previous Post: « Mad (Cuban) Mom in a Minivan
Next Post: Lost in Translation. »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy says

    April 6, 2008 at 12:28 am

    OMG, that was one of the best arroz con pollos ever! The left-overs you sent home with me are already gone. ;-)MWUAH!!

    Reply
  2. Annie says

    April 6, 2008 at 6:17 pm

    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!

    Reply
  3. mario says

    April 6, 2008 at 8:30 pm

    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?

    Reply
  4. Marta says

    April 6, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    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

    Reply
  5. Susan says

    April 7, 2008 at 6:26 am

    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! 🙂

    Reply
    • Rovirosa says

      July 15, 2024 at 4:44 pm

      So is there a Cuban cantina in Los Angeles?
      I’m praying to San Judas to send us one.

      Reply
  6. Carrie_in_TN says

    April 7, 2008 at 6:52 am

    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

    Reply
  7. kristen Benson says

    April 7, 2008 at 7:55 am

    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)

    Reply
  8. Marta says

    April 7, 2008 at 11:45 pm

    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!

    Reply
  9. Marta says

    April 7, 2008 at 11:46 pm

    Kristen,I was going to offer to bring some over, but the troops have demolished all leftovers. NEXT TIME!!

    Reply
  10. mario says

    April 8, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    Thanks Marta and Carrie!

    Reply
  11. Ivis Suarez says

    September 8, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    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.”

    Reply
  12. Kathy says

    November 13, 2011 at 7:31 am

    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.

    Reply
  13. Joe Rodriguez says

    March 29, 2014 at 9:35 am

    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

    Reply
  14. Tara Marie says

    March 30, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    I found a similar cantina on amazon! here’s the link:http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Food-Containers-Carrier/dp/B00CQ7IA5M

    Reply
  15. Ed says

    July 10, 2019 at 12:03 pm

    I’ll like to know if you deliver to palmetto Bay?

    Reply
  16. Natasha Sanchez says

    December 31, 2019 at 10:45 am

    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:-(

    Reply
  17. Nandy Gonzalez says

    June 3, 2020 at 10:28 am

    DO you have a phone number,I need a menu for your cantina service.Thanks.

    Reply

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