By Jay Amberg Bloomberg.com
Lifestyles. Fri, 12 Jan 2001, 11:48am EST
New York, Jan. 11 -- Based on my experiences growing up in the 1960s in a
Cuban-American neighborhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and numerous visits to
Cuba in the 1990s, the island's cuisine has changed dramatically in 40 years.
The changing face of Cuba's cuisine is the topic of a talk to be given
Wednesday evening by Cuban native Olga Hernandez Rigsby, a food writer and
editor, and her daughter Vicky Rigsby Keiser, at All Souls Church in New York.
Starting at 6:30 p.m., the speakers will discuss Cuban cuisine past to
present. During the talk, a selection of Cuban appetizers, accompanied by rum,
will be served.
The Cuban dietary staples of rice, beans, plantains, pork and chicken remain
the same as four decades ago.
But as the island's tourist base increases, modern-day Cuban cuisine is
being influenced by visitors from Italy, Germany, France and even Japan.
Only a few months ago, the first Japanese restaurant opened in Havana,
staffed by Cuban chefs and waiters who were trained at the Japanese embassy by
their Japanese counterparts.
Havana has always had a Chinese population that served its own rendition of
Chinese dishes to the local population, but now pizzerias and even steak houses
are joining a diverse group of new restaurants.
Cuba's Afro-Caribbean heritage and culture has always had its place in the
Cuban kitchen. Historically, the island's cuisine has also been influenced by
Spain, but given its proximity to Cuba's western provinces, the food from the
Yucatan Peninsula and adjoining Mexico have surprisingly never been very popular
with most Cubans.
Cuba's long association with the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc
countries also was a catalyst for changes in the Cuban diet, as foods from
Eastern Europe were imported and distributed throughout the island's ration
stores.
In some U.S. restaurants, what diners often assume to be authentic Cuban
food is nothing more than a mix of Latin-based cuisines.
Caribbean fusion cuisine, with its roots in Southern Florida, is also
mistakenly passed off as Cuban, when in fact it borrows from the island's
cuisine but isn't 100 percent Cuban.
Finding authentic Cuban food and defining Cuban food are topics just now
being explored by a handful of people familiar with both pre-revolution and
post-revolution cooking and dining in Cuba.
The event is being sponsored by the Culinary Historians of New York and
tickets are $25.
All Souls Church is located at 1157 Lexington Ave. at 80th Street, New York.
Reservations for the talk can be made by calling Lois O'Wyatt at (212) 557-5612,
Ext. 213.
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