As fly fishers flood into Cuba, it was only a matter of time before some foodie friend went and brought back a recipe or two from the island nation.
As Jess noted during her recent visit to Cuba, while the fare served at many of the land-based fly fishing / tourist resorts is fairly simple compared to many other destinations around the globe, the food options for the average Cuban remain fairly stark, as reflected in the image of ‘the grocery store’ below.
Chef Libby was recently down there fishing for a week, and spent several days exploring some of the local food ‘off resort’; similar to Jess she was shocked at the simplicity of food stocks available.
She did say she loved this version of Cuban Black Bean Soup served her by a Cuban matron on the porch of her home-based ‘restaurant’ in a tiny village nearby. Libby said they insisted the beans be cooked only in water, then combined with the aromatics and whole spices (ground, prepared spices are essentially nonexistent in rural Cuba) to produce this version.
Libby added it was good enough to add to her catering menu back in Austin and well worthy of mention here.
1 pound black beans, cooked and drained
1 large onion, diced medium
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2-3 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, diced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
4 cups (more as needed) homemade chicken stock
2 bottles dark beer
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to tasteGarnish with a big bowl of Pico de Gallo
Combine the cooked black beans, onion, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro and stock in a large stockpot; simmer for 40 minutes.
Add the beer and simmer for another 20 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve piping hot with fresh Pico de Gallo added to taste.
Enjoy.
