Background image: Ingredients for picadillo.
Food as a Heritage
As I tackle cooking in this next facet of my project, I am reminded of a beautifully written piece by Jewish-German poet Heinrich Heine, “Princess Shabbat”. This lively poem imparts the story of a prince cursed into the body of a dog, but who reverts back to his human form on Shabbat. A memorable line of the Shabbat tale is Heine’s acclamation of the traditional Ashkenazi stew, cholent. In his playful verse, Heine extolls that “this cholent is the very / Food of heaven, which, on Sinai, / God Himself instructed Moses / In the secret of preparing” (Heine). Heine’s writing particularly stood out to me because of his elevation of cholent, even if comically, to that of a sanctified, God-given sustenance. Cholent is not mundane—rather it is sacred in its own way as an integral piece of the identity of Shabbat in Heine’s work.
Growing up in a Cuban-Jewish household, I spend my years enjoying and learning how to cook our own unique dishes, including picadillo con yuca y platanos, frijoles negros, bistec empanezado, and ropa vieja. And while I didn’t eat cholent, the resonance I feel with Heine’s poem remains. These dishes, both comfort and holiday food alike, are themselves an integral piece of my family identity. Just as God “instructed” Moses on how to cook cholent, so, too, is food also part of a Juban heritage, passed down through generations of family.
In this part of my project, I revisit and cook some of my Grandmother Ena’s Cuban recipes. Here, I upload scans of her original handwritten recipes and try my own hand at making these dishes. In doing so, I seek to express this culinary legacy which still leaves its delicious impact on my family’s everyday life.
Growing up in a Cuban-Jewish household, I spend my years enjoying and learning how to cook our own unique dishes, including picadillo con yuca y platanos, frijoles negros, bistec empanezado, and ropa vieja. And while I didn’t eat cholent, the resonance I feel with Heine’s poem remains. These dishes, both comfort and holiday food alike, are themselves an integral piece of my family identity. Just as God “instructed” Moses on how to cook cholent, so, too, is food also part of a Juban heritage, passed down through generations of family.
In this part of my project, I revisit and cook some of my Grandmother Ena’s Cuban recipes. Here, I upload scans of her original handwritten recipes and try my own hand at making these dishes. In doing so, I seek to express this culinary legacy which still leaves its delicious impact on my family’s everyday life.
Cooking Picadillo con Yuca
Picadillo is a savory stew of ground beef and chopped olives, raisins, and vegetables. In Cuban cuisine, picadillo is often served on a bed of rice with sides such as yuca root cooked in mojo. Picadillo is one of my favorite dishes because of its rich flavor, hearty but also sweet thanks to the inclusion of raisins. Yet the dish is also special to me because my family's version of the recipe was first pioneered by my grandmother. The dish has evolved alongside my family as we continue to make tweaks to that original recipe, experimenting from time-to-time with new ingredients, sides, and spices.
Below I include a scan of grandmother's original recipes for picadillo and yuca, along with a typed transcription. Afterward, I cook and enjoy these dishes while documenting my process through pictures.
Below I include a scan of grandmother's original recipes for picadillo and yuca, along with a typed transcription. Afterward, I cook and enjoy these dishes while documenting my process through pictures.
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Ingredients for Picadillo:
Set aside all ingredients and put the oil in the skillet. When hot, dump everything in and cook, stirring occasionally so [nothing] sticks to the bottom. [Cook] for 20 minutes in medium heat. Preparation of Yuca: Peal, cut, and wash the Yuca. Cook in a big pot of water with 1 tablespoon of salt until soft. Add mojo when ready to eat. |
1) First, the yuca must be washed and its waxy skin peeled off. We then cut the edible root into bite sized pieces.
3) Finally, we flavor the yuca by soaking in mojo sauce, a favorite in Cuban cuisine. This fragrant sauce of garlic and citrus complements the yuca well to make quite a tasty dish.
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2) The root is then simply boiled with salt until it is soft in consistency,
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Frijoles Negros y Plátanos Fritos
Two more dishes often served alongside picadillo are frijoles negros and plátanos fritos. Frijoles negros are a simple but wholesome stew of black beans that is often served on rice. Fried plátanos, meanwhile, are a starchy and sweet treat. I can eat a whole bowl of these!
While my grandmother did not write down these recipes, she passed them down orally to my father. Now, my family knows these dishes by heart, through we still often tweak and experiment to try new takes on these much loved favorites.
While my grandmother did not write down these recipes, she passed them down orally to my father. Now, my family knows these dishes by heart, through we still often tweak and experiment to try new takes on these much loved favorites.
Frijoles negros
1) Soak dried black beans in room-temperature water overnight to soften (We now often used canned black beans instead). 2) Finely chop a clove of garlic, one onion, one green pepper, and half a cup of cherry tomatoes. 3) Heat half a tablespoon of olive oil, then sauté the onions, garlic, and green pepper for about two minutes. 4) Add the black beans and tomatoes, then stir. 5) Add a dash of cooking wine and about two teaspoons of mojo sauce. 6) Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about thirty minutes. |
As I cook up these dishes, I feel closer to the memory of my grandmother. Food is a piece of this legacy that she passed down through our family, a Juban heritage that we continue to express in our daily lives today.
Site Navigation
Expressing Spanish and English as Juban languages through poetry and textual connections.
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Recounting family history through story and pictures and exploring relations to works from our course.
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Food as a Juban heritage: Transcribing family recipies and cooking traditional Cuban dishes.
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Bibliography:
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