Cuban Traditional Cuisine - Spain Influence

Article Index Cuban Traditional Cuisine Aborigen Legacy African Influence Spain Influence Other Influences All Pages Page 4 of 5 Spain Influences In turn, cereals from other lands were imported such as wheat (the flour) and oats, as well as a lot of seasonings such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cumin, as well as herbs like garlic and onions, followed by parsley, marjoram, basil and coriander. In the early centuries of the colony, Spaniards came to Cuba, mostly from the south of the peninsula. They were friteros, who reinforced this habit in the country. Later the large Catalan influx strengthened the consumption of rice. Spaniards arrived from all regions in the early twentieth century, publicizing a great number of  Spanish recipies. However, the Creole Cubans were removing from those recipes some ingredients for example: from the fabadas and Galician broths were excluded bacon, sausages and cabbage leading to the Cubans stews. In turn, it was decreasing the use of pepper and other spicies to make the dishes most digestible and adaptable to our climate. Our traditional cuisine was formed, little by little, through the years; by removing, replacing, mixing and adding new ingredients to create, new flavours, textures and colours. The best known European dishes were expatriated and it was emerging a natural cuisine, authentically Cuban and highly creative, with few species, among which are the marjoram and cumin and predominates the sofrito (lightly fried onion, garlic etc). << Prev - Next >>