More reminiscing about what I’ve been doing for the past 10 years here on the blog and another giveaway today.
It starts with a beautiful sofrito. The intricate dance between the warm olive oil giving life and flavor to the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. I could write poetry about the perfection that is a sofrito that signals the beginning of most Cuban meals.
Cuban food is, of course, my favorite, because…Cuban. (Duh.)
I imagine such is the case for everyone who has grown up with a certain kind of food. Cuban happens to be mine. And because Cuban food is very often on my mind, a few years ago I made a list of Cuban foods I would like to cook and photograph and share here on my blog.
This is my favorite, but that’s not important right now.
Here’s the beginning of that list.
- Maduros, because that’s what I would eat at every meal if I could.
- Pastelitos de guayaba. Because HELLO?!
- Pan Cubano because I could live on nothing but Cuban bread forever and ever. Amen.
- Carne con Papas which is my kids’ favorite.
- Picadillo.
- Frijoles Negros.
You get the idea. All my childhood (and adulthood) favorites.
But I’m an artist and I thought it might be fun to take this list of favorite foods and compile them into a decorative “subway art” type poster to hang in my kitchen. I had just painted my kitchen a Tiffany Box teal and added red and black accents. The poster was perfect!
Then, I thought, “I bet other Cubans would like this in their kitchens, too.” And it turns out they did! And they wanted it for their uncle’s Cuban restaurant in Texas (true story), and for their sister’s food truck in New Jersey (true story) and for Tia Cuca for her birthday (slight exaggeration). Or for Christmas. Christmas is coming, people!
So I opened an online shop, Marta Darby Designs and started selling my poster there.
And people started finding my shop and asking for other kinds of food. Honduran Food. Salvadorian Food. Costa Rican Food, Puerto Rican Food. Even Scottish Food. (<–Please do yourself a favor and check out the Scottish one. It’s become one of my favorites, but that’s not important right now.) So I’ve been busy trying to fulfill all these orders and sharing my love of all foods with the world. I’m adding a new one practically every week and having all the fun.
Inspired by all this wonderful food, today’s giveaway is for a Cuban Food Poster. Actually let’s make it 3. Three lucky MBFCF readers will each get a Cuban Food Poster – the winners can choose their preferred size and color.
Yes! This pleases me greatly.
Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of my Cuban Food Posters and please answer the following question:
- What’s your favorite Cuban food? (Or maybe the first food that comes to mind.)
I’ll choose a winner at the end of MBFCF BLOGIVERSARY MONTH on Friday, October 28th, 2016. You have until then to enter.
If you can’t wait for the 3 winners to be drawn next week and you want to go ahead and order your own Cuban Food Poster immediately, Please click over to Marta Darby Designs and order your own.
Thanks for celebrating with me and for entering. You are the best!
Love it…….
Arroz con pollo…my mom made the best rest in peace beautiful mama!
Vaca Frita
It’s hard to pick a favorite but I would have to say, pastelitos de guayaba. Love your blog!
My Cuban family would love this!!
I love bistec empanizado con arroz blanco maduros y limon! Carbs carbs and more carbs! Que Rico !!!
Love it. Me encantaría tener uno de tus posters en mi cocina cubana. Me encanta tu blog. Saludos desde miami.
Harina con Carne de Puerco with maduros, if I had to pick just one. But that is really 3 together!
Nothing like lechón asado con arroz y frijoles negros. Noche buena cant get here quick enough!
Love the Blog.
PS. A Spanish themed food poster would be a lovely add to your collection. Paella, crema catalána, brazo gitano, etc.
Because there is nothing better than frijoles negro!!
I would have to say that my favorite cuban food is
Ropa Vieja with white rice. You never can go wrong with that dish and it’s deliciously filling.
Ropa vieja y tostones!!
Bacalao a la vizcaina….and picsdillo and ropa viejs and arroz con pollo a la chorrera and….. there are so many and so little time….yummmm
What a great reason to celebrate! Wishing you all in the #bigcubanfamy many more years ahead. Que Santa Barbara los cuidé. My favorite Cuban dish hands down…. is the vaca frita!!!! With a batido de mamey. 🙂
Love it all!
Love the poster! There is nothing better then Cuban fooooood!
We are redoing our kitchen the poster would be perfect as we make the Picadillo.
I would love to win one of your posters. My absolute favorite Cuban food is my Abuela’s lechon asado con congris, maduros y ensalada de aguacate ❤️
Love this poster!!!
Too many to pick from, but Vaca Frita is one of my favorites. Of course empanadas de guayaba for dessert.
Love them all, but my all time favorite is vaca frita with frijoles colorados and maduros. <3
Love your blog! I’m a Cuban American from Miami currently in Boston for school and your page makes me feel closer to home. I recently made the pastelitos de guayaba from your page and my friends are now as obsessed as I am. Continue with the great work. Truly an inspiration. Sigue pa’lante
Ropa Vieja or Guava Pastelitos. Thanks for the chance to win. 🙂
Vaca Frita! Always and forever!!
My favorite is Ropa Veja. Love your blog and instagram.
I have been following you for quite some time and your recipes always make me happy! This poster is so creative and if I win I know it would make a great present for my Abuela.
If I really had to pick a favorite I would say congri con puerco asado y una ensalada fria…with maduros of course! Jajaja.
I love it all!! But Picadillo on white rice with a fried egg on top is my ultimate big fat favorite comfort food!!
Ropa vieja con arroz blanco y maduros!
Arroz imperial. LOVE the posters!!!
Thanks for teaching me how to cook the must yummy Cuban food.
The best poster for any Cuban to have in their Kitchen! Love it!!!?❤?
To me there is nothing like my mom’s vaca frita! Yum! I would love to win one of your signs, it would make the perfect birthday/push gift since October 28 is my birthday and my due date!
My father-in-law who is from Cuba would absolutely love this poster! Definitely a great Christmas idea!
I love, love MY poster and would LOVE to win one for my sister!
You mentioned all my favorite Cuban dishes!! Oh how I miss Cuban food that my Tia made!! Whenever I’m in Miami LaCaretta is the place to go! Anyway I would love to be so lucky to win a poster!! Thank you! Crossing my fingers!!
Thank you so much for creating and doing a marvelous job on this blog!
Despite being the gringa of my family and no longer living in Miami, thanks to your recipes I was able to have a very delicious and authentic Cuban dinner party of my own!
Now my tias can no long say that this cubanita gringa can’t cook!
Super grateful to now being able to cook the meals from my child hood.
Also, I almost forgot. My favorite food is pastelitos de guayaba! I made some the night of my dinner party and they were absolutely to die for! You can never have too many pastelitos!
I love any pastelitos queso,guyaba,carne,coco…..you name it I will eat it ?. Love your blog! Your Vaca frita recipe is the best!.
I’ve always loved tostones and arroz con pollo.
Picadillo- my Dad taught me how to make it but mine is never as good as his!
My favorite cuban food is definitely ropa vieja… When I travel to Miami, I buy pounds of ropa vieja and freeze it to take it back to Tennessee! I love it!
Would sooo love this! About to move in to a new place after a rough year. It would go perfect in my kitchen and my Cuban family would love it almost as much as me. Would be super SWEET to have a reminder of my native country in my new home. Thanks in advance for your consideration!
Que viva Cuba ?? Libre.
My favorite cuban food has to be croquettas. I can eat them all day!!
My favorite is Lechon, with white rice , black beans ,and tostones.
I love to see your comments when I am paging through facebook. I appreciate your Cuban recipes, especially for the guava pastelles. Thank you! But then I would also ❤️ one of your lovely posters in my kitchen.?
I miss my Abuela’s picadillo! I’m 2nd generation Cuban American and I love eating and making Cuban food ?
Arroz con pollo! My father, Eduardo Zayas-Bazan, makes the best!
Fricase de pollo!
Ropa Vieja has always been and always will be my favorite Cuban food!! Mine isn’t as good as my grandmother’s 🙁
Nada como un tipico tamal cubano. Desgraciadamente solo lo como cuando voy a Miami, aqui en el oeste de la nacion no encontramos ese maiz.
MADUROS! I think I dream about them…Arroz con pollo, mimas is still the best in the world. Carne con papas y arroz blanco…ay que rico. I’ve finally perfected my moms ropa vieja recipe…love it. Me encantaría tener uno de tus posters para regalárselo a mi mama! Saludos desde Tampa.
Picadillo! It’s my favorite food and my go to recipe when I have people over for dinner! 🙂
I love this poster! Being able to hang it in my Mima’s kitchen would give her so much joy as she is getting down in the kitchen 86 years old, making that Cuban food. Que rico!
Oops! Ropa vieja is her favorite!
Hmmmm, picking a favorite Cuban dish is like asking a Cuban to lower their voice; IMPOSSIBLE!!! But if I had to pick two, I would say ARROZ CON POLLO A LA CHORRERA and VACA FRITA with WHITE RICE AND TOSTONES!!! QUE RICO, my stomach is growling right now!!!
I love croqueticas de jamón, too!!!
My favorite is lechon with black beans and white rice with some maduros . And don’t forget the Ironbeer too .
I have the Cuban one girl, I need the Puerto Rico one dont forget. Oh wait I’m not going to let you forget. Lol
Croquetassss always 🙂
Just so many Cuban dishes that I enjoy. My favorite is Moros y Cristianos…My mom makes the best, thank God that she showed me how to cook this dish. Love to cook Cuban food. Enjoy reading your blog. keep on blogging..
I’m a big mojo person! Me encanta! I have to make it in large quantities because my husband and son like to out it on everything! Roma viejas is my favorite Cuban dish. I’ve perfected it I would like to think! lol
La buena comida cubana….es buena vida !
My problem? I love it all! But really – the poster is great; hmmm will all my American friends/family who LOVE, LOVE Cuban food as well think it to be a “Menu”when they come over & start ordering???!!! LOL It’s a chance I’m willing to take!
Ropa Vieja for sure
One of my favs is my mother’s best dish…straight out of Nitza Villapol’s recipe book – Boliche – stuffed with Ham and prunes, and of course papitas in that amazing sauce served over white rice, I might just have to make it this weekend!
I love foo foo (not sure if that’s the right spelling) lol! Pics Dillon and baca frita too☺️
*picadillo and vaca frita darn the auto correct
Nothing better than some warm, soft, buttery pan cubano! I think i just died lol!
Palomia with rice and beans!
It’s a tie between picadillo – a classic comfort food – & vaca frita??❣
I could live at your house! My favorite is Carne con papa.
My mom came to the US when she was 17 with her family to escape the oppression my grandparents knew was coming. My grandparents never thought they would leave their beloved homeland and dreamed of going back one day. They never had that chance. These posters make me smile and remind me of the proud Cuban heritage I have. Even if you don’t pick me, I’ll order some anyway. I think they are beautiful!
And my favorite food is Maduros and piccidillo, my moms signature dishes!
The older I get the more Cuban I feel. True story! Love your stories.
I miss home (Miami) so bad, I would love this as a reminder of my heritage ❤️️
Mi abuela’s rabo encendido con arroz blanco y tostones. The memory is making my mouth water because it was soooooo delicious. She’s too old to cook anymore, so I’ll be calling my mom the next time I’m hungry for them. In the meantime, I’ll savor the memories of my Mima!
Ropa Vieja is my favorite. I’m originally from South Florida, but married into the military & we keep getting stationed in parts of the US where Cuban food, even just the ingredients to make some myself, are hard to come by! I miss home & especially the food. Would love the poster as a reminder of it all!
I would have to say my favourite is congris and my favourite dessert is pastelitos de guayaba.
Bistec empanizado con tamales..and because Christmas is coming
Seriously I have to choose a favorite?! Okay I think my go to food would be Bistec Empanizado, arroz blanco and tostones! Love your posters. Have purchased for many in my family. Maybe Santa will bring me one this year 🙂
One of my favorites (and my youngest son!s) is Mima’s Chicken Soup (aka Cuban Chicken Soup). My mother would make a big pot and my son Christian would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner until the pot was empty! Well, that leads me into a story about the time We were visiting my grandparents in Cuba. I did not like soup in the summer because it was too hot. That was my excuse and I was sticking to it! My Granfather Augustine, look up to a palm tree in their backyard and said ” Do you see that vulture, you better eat your soup or it will come and get you!” You have never seen a child seven years of age devour Cuban Chicken Soup so fast! The soup…it was delicious!
My favorite is CUBAN bread which I can’t find here in the Midwest. I tried ordering it online but it comes stale. My daughter is learning how to make it from scratch and she is getting pretty good at it. I would love one of your posters for my kitchen. Love it.
Thank you,
Didi Menendez
Arroz con pollo a la chorrera, That’s on top of the list of my Cuban favorite dishes.
Rabi Encindido
Rabo
Arroz Imperial!
So many good dishes it’s hard to choose! But I think my favorite is ropa vieja con arroz blanco, que rico! We just got a new home and I would love to put one of these posters up in my kitchen!
Ropa Vieja y maduros!! Felicidades Marta. I love your blog, keep up the great work. Congratulations on 10 years of MBFCF.
Ropa Vieja !
Rabo encendido!! It’s sinfully good.
My daughter is marrying into a Cubsn family and she could not wants for a more loving welcoming family. Her father in law to be is an an amazing cook and I think my favorite thing he makes is pernel because he microwaves the skin whim it is done so the skin is crispy and fat fee.
My favorite Cuban food is ropa vieja and ofcourse cuban
Pastries. .. I love your blog and post thank you for your wittiness and all your mothers stories yiur remind me so much of my mother. I lost my mother in 2009 and she didn’t leave many recipes I had to remember then I live in NC so I used so many of your recipes thank you ! Que Dios te bendiga ! And my the way I would love to win that cuban poster ??
I have to pick one??!!?? Well, yucca con mojo then! Love your blog!
My Bita’s croquetas de jamón are and always will be my favorite food of all time. Bless her soul for waking up early & staying up late just to make sure she had plenty for everyone at our birthday parties and family get-togethers. My love for all things Cuban came from her ❤
well for me its starts with my moms cuban cafetera running at six a.m.,que rico,gives my kitchen a distict aroma,then nothing like un pan con lechon,or media noche for lunch,and to top it off dinner cant be without arroz ,frijoles done with aji cachucha,carne puerco,yuca,and plantains…love your article
ONE?! I can’t pick one! Croquetas. Or ropa vieja. Or vaca frita. And flan. Definitely flan. <3
My favorite Cuban dish is Ropa Vieja, with papas rellenas, pastelitos de carne, and Refugiados right behind!
My favorite is avocado mushed in between Cuban bread! I could live off of that combo forever!!
Arroz con pollo y maduros!
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I’ll say arroz con pollo.
Vaca Frita & of course Cuban Bread
So hard to pick just one! I think I have a three-way tie between Boliche, Vaca Frita, and Ropa Vieja as my favorite.
Love you! Love this blog!! My favorite Cuban dish is my grandfather’s Arroz con pollo.
Lechon, lechon, y….lechon!
Tostones!!!!
Love it all, but my favorite is arroz con pollo, tostones and an avocados salad.
I want it all!!
Carne con Papas, Picadillo, Ropa Vieja, Arroz con Leche…I can’t pick just one!
Home made croquetas!
My favorite Cuban……that would be my husband who I fell in love with when I was 10…He came here at age 11 and we met in 5th grade! He has just retired after 35+ years in the AF Combat Search & Rescue….CHIEF…..HIGHEST ENLISTED RANK…showing that you can come to this country with nothing but the clothes on your back and with hard work achieve anything! THAT IS MY FAVORITE CUBAN!!