As you know, I am an unabashed Lover of All Things Cuban. Particularly Cuban food.
And if there's something I might just love more than Cuban food, it's Cuban Cookbooks.
I have quite a nice collection, too. I often refer to all of them when I'm making a dish my own. I use them almost like text books, laying them all out on the table and making notes, like:
- I would skip this ingredient.
- Must try this!!!
- I would add _______ here before cooking.
- I think the sofrito would be better with red peppers added.
- This might be tastier with lard instead of butter. (It doesn't happen, often, but it happens.)
And on it goes, until I practice and play and eventually create a Cuban dish that tastes just like I want it to.
I recently received a beautiful Cuban cookbook so that I could review it.
It's called Authentic Cuban Cuisine and the author, Martha Abreau Cortina grew up watching her mother cook. The recipes featured in her book were collected from her mother, aunts, and friends. A graduate of the University of Miami, she has been teaching in the Miami-Dade County Public School system for more than twenty-five years. She lives in Miramar, Florida
I dove into it as you would dive into a cool swimming pool on a hot summer's day. I read it cover to cover and when I went to add my notations, they were mostly “Must try this!!!” notes. Win!
The recipes are all old-Cuban-school delicious. Every single one makes you think, “This sounds just like the ___________ (*fill in the blank*) my grandmother/mom/aunt/neighbor/madrina used to make.”
I'm so happy to have this book in my collection and of course, I'm excited to share it with you, too.
So, let's do a giveaway!
For a chance to win this gorgeous Cuban cookbook, Authentic Cuban Cuisine by Martha Abreau Cortina, please leave a comment on this post and answer the following:
My grandmother/mom/aunt/neighbor/madrina makes the best ______________. *fill in the blank
I'll choose a winner on Sunday, July 10th at 5 pm. Until then, good luck and…
Buen Provecho!
[Disclaimer: The cookbook was sent to me for my review, the opinion that it is a wonderful addition to any cookbook collection is my own.] =D
My abuela makes the best Tamal en Casuela!When I still lived in Miami, she would make it for me on my birthday. Now that I live far away, she makes it everytime I come to visit. Yes, my 90-year-old abuela still spoils her nieta to pieces!
My step-mother makes the most amazing Arroz Imperial.
Ohyeah!!!My tia makes the best yuca con mojo.
We just came from Miramar Fl on vacation! 🙂
Let’s see:Abuela used to make the best Tasajo you could get your hands on. Her frijoles negros were also spectacular (I have not been able to replicate the thickness of hers).
Mami, wasn’t much of a cook, she really didn’t like the kitchen much. That said, she had two dishes on which she kicked butt. First, Arroz con Pollo – OMG her arroz con pollo is the best I’ve ever had. So good you wanted to only eat the rice (the way it should be). Second, Boliche – I’ve had a very hard time replicating this, but hers was always good.
Hmm, on further reflection, my abuela used to make the best ajiaco (not sure how to spell it) ever. Every time it was super delicious and she’d just add anything and everything you could find around the kitchen.My mom, on the other hand, makes a great lechon, ropa vieja and of course croquettas. She hasn’t made the croquettas in years but man they are tasty!!!!!!!!
My mom makes the best carne con papas! Good piccadillo too.
My Tia made the BEST tamal en cazuela!! You know its good when you can taste the LOVE!!!! My father tried to compete (se ponia celoso).. he does make the best pierna ever!!!
My aunt makes the best yuca con mojo, con gris, and lechon asado on the planet. We’re originally from Nicaragua but she does the best Cuban food out there, probably because she’s married to a great Cuban guy =)We grew up in Miami and now we live in TN, so whenever I crave something Cuban, I go to her =)
My dear 93 year old mom used to make the best black beans I’ve ever had. She used to put small pieces of riped fried plantains in the black beans, in addition to all the other great stuff like Spanish chorizo. I don’t know if this is an Oriente thing or not, which is where she was from, but it tasted soooo good. I don’t know of anyone else making their black beans this way. Now that she has dementia and doesn’t cook anymore, I have started to value her culinary gifts. I take great pride in making her recipes and when I’m stuck, I can always ask her, for a little while longer. Sometimes she remembers, other times she doesn’t, but I have great memories of her Cuban food at home. It is like a breath of fresh air to me and with I’ve had so many blessings to be part of this Cuban heritage.
My mom makes the best Fufú de Platano ever!! With homemade Chicharones de Puerco and plenty garlic! Ooh! My mouth waters just THINKING OF IT!!!
My abuela used to make the best frijoles negros. I regret every day never learning to make them the way she did while she was still with us.My mom isn’t much of a cook – but she makes the BEST arroz con pollo.
My neighbor, Lesley, makes the best turkey chili. It’s not a Cuban dish but becomes one when my husbandadds his magic touch… more garlic, avocado slices, purple onion, vinegar and cilantro.
Amy
My Abuelita Cristina would make the best “Dulce De Toronja” I remember her at the kitchen sink peeling her grapefruit. As a child I would love to help her & feel so proud of our “dessert” when it was complete. We would then sit together & enjoy our “dulce” with some cream cheese & Cuban crackers 🙂
My mother in law, Conchita,used to make (before Alzheimers) the best black beans! I’ve tried and tried and only once or twice have heard my kids say, “Mom, it tastes JUST like Abui’s!” The highest of compliments in my book:)
My aunt Acelia use to make the best cosido de garbanzos!
My mother-in-law make the best arroz con pollo! She gave me her well-worn copy of Nitza Villapol’s “Cocina al Minuto” (poor thing is split in 2 pieces) from which she says she got the recipe, but it didn’t taste the same when I tried it. The next time she stayed with us, I followed her around to get all her quirky measurements, and wrote down a step by step recipe. When I made it on my own…wow! Just like Mamasan’s!
My grandmother made the best arroz con pollo. She made a lot of great dishes, but this is my favorite.
My Mami makes THE BEST Frijoles Rojos EVAH!
My madrina makes the best pastelitos de guayaba. Ok, seriously, because I prefer reading a good cookbook over any novel out there, let me get focused.My Mami makes the best picadillo out there. Simple, good, sans recipe. Don’t know where my love for precise cooking and cookbook reading comes from, but her picadillo rocks.
My aunt (may she rest in peace) made the best chuletas with “congri” (black bean rice) and maduros.That is my favorite combination in the world. She cooked like no one I ever knew or have ever come across. I wish I had been smart enough when I was a teenager to watch over her as she cooked and learn all her secrets. The kitchen would always smell amazing. I once asked my uncle why he never went to a restaurant and his answer: “que mejor restaurante que la que tenemos aqui?” (what better restaurant than the one we have here?). I miss her dearly and I miss her cooking. To me she was the personification of a Latin cook “caribeña” – she cooked it well, she cooked it fast, and she left the kitchen clean! Everything most Latinas strive to do today. In everything that I make, I try to think “what would Tia Lesbia put in this”?
My Mami makes the best arroz con leche. She uses Valencia rice and stirs and stirs until it is perfect! I’ve spent years trying to duplicate it, but I can’t!
My friend Ana from Melbourne Florida, makes the best arroz con pollo, I’ve ever tasted, this post stinks because it reminds me that I lost her recipe. 🙂
My dear mom passed away in 2004. She was an architect in Cuba and never really learned to cook. However, she loved desserts and did learn to make a delicious flan and a scrumptuous natilla. Boy, do I miss her!!!
My mother (mami) makes the best everything! You name it – it’s delicious but my favorite is her “boliche”.
My grandmother, who lived until age 102, made the best ajiaco ever. When my first daughter started eating solid food, she would make a large pot of ajiaco for me to take home, run it through the blender, and feed it to her. That stew full of calabaza, boniato, and malanga was delicious!
My friend makes the best pastel de boda in the world.
My abuela used to make the best “Rabo Encendido” not only that she’d make the best “Fufu de Platano” and one of her other signatures was her “Higado a la Vizcaina” and I cannot get enough of her “Aporreado de Bacalao Con Boniato” and fond memories of “Potaje de Garbanzo” also linger 🙂
Grandma makes the best lengua!!
My Mom passed away when I was young but I remember that she made the best Cuban-style (she was from Spain) Caldo Gallego I’ve ever tasted! You could taste the love:)
My Tia Lulu makes the best frituritas de bacalao ever!My Tia Darcy makes the best flan ever!
And my M? She makes the best EVERYTHING ever!
It should say MOM. Mom makes the best everything, ever!
My Mom makes the best anything/everything Cuban!Guess if I was forced to choose she makes the BEST CAMARONES ENCHILADOS! ….they’re out of this world. But her traditional country style GUISO de Maiz – con tasajo, taught to her by my Dad, from Las Canas, Pinar del Rio, is also to die for. Both dishes are rich with our flavors, intense with our warmth, spiced just right. Unreal, all her dishes come from “Aleida with Love”.
My grandmother made the best Cuban lasagna in the world. She made up this dish for me, I love all things with platanitos, so, she would cook picadillo and make layers. A layer of the best cuban white rice, a layer of her best homemade frijoles negros, a layer of picadillo, a layer of platanos maduros fritos and mozarella cheese to top it off and then baked in the oven with love. She would make this for me for my birthday as a special treat, and platanos rellenos sort of papas rellenas with platanos instead of potatoes. Wow, that was the best.
Esther, this is a great thing that you are doing. Write the recipes down for future generations to enjoy your mom’s culinary skill. I am sorry I did not do that with my grandmother.
My grandmother made the best apple strudel. My mom has photos of us making strudel together when I was five. After years of practice, I have finally mastered a decent strudel myself, but it never tastes as good as my grandmother’s did.
My mom makes the best boliche ever. She is 85 years old and loves to cook and invite family and friends over. Everything that she cooks is out of this world.I try to duplicate her boliche but according to my husband,”it is more of a hockey puck than boliche”.
Hi Alina, I’m planning to make a Cuban cookbook and put some of my mom’s recipes there. I hope and pray I can make this happen before she goes to be in heaven, but I can certainly write them down and start this task. Thanks for the suggestion.
My mom makes the BEST red beans and picadillo!! She makes the best everything really. when it comes to Cuban cooking, she’s the best. No matter what I do, I can never compete with her!
My Ata (abuela) makes the best:-Sopa de pollo con pollo frito, onion mojo, y tostones.
-Frijoles negros
-Arroz con pollo a la chorrera
– Crabs(Jaiva) with an ugly, thick, brown sauce from the Gods!
Sadly, Ata is developing Alzeimer’s and doesn’t really remember how to cook these foods anymore. My Tia makes them good-enough-but-not-the-same.
Although I can cook just about ANYTHING, Cuban food is my achilles heel. No matter how much I try, I can’t do it right.
My mom makes the best picadillo and platanos ever! Her cuban cooking is out of this mundo!:)
My mother-in-law made a wonderful ropa vieja. I never understood the name, but loved the food!
My Nana made the best fideo with pork steak! That and her arroz with chicken or pork steak are what I miss most. There are things that taste best made with lard, for sure. I’ll always be sorry I didn’t have her teach me to make tamales.
My mother in law, made the best “Puerco con quimbomboand bolitas de platano maduro” all her dishes are
sorely missed since she passed away, she was 91…
My abuela made the BEST black beans. She would make all the black beans for everyone in the family for Noche Buena.
my mom makes the best reservations
My mom is not much of a cook but her bistec empanizado is the best!!!! She makes it for my brother, my hubby and me on our birthdays.
My abuela makes the best boliche ever!!!
My Abuela made the BEST arroz con pollo! A classic. Every. Single. Time.
My mom makes the best boliche!
hahahahaha!
MAMI MAKES THE BEST PICADILLO!