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EDITOR´S LETTER Cubans and Their Music It was September 20, 2009, it was Havana, it was Revolution Square, it was 2:00 pm…. We had gotten dressed in a white T-shirt, just like other thousands of persons, and we had been waiting for hours for the concert to start, in that Square that I had never seen so full before. PRESIDENT HUGO CANCIO All ages, colors, lineages, languages and origins were there, and when [email protected] the music started my daughters moved to the same rhythm as that grey-haired man who only a few minutes ago looked like he was going to faint, exhausted by the heat, sitting by the sidewalk; and I moved and sang the same song as the lady who before looked so circumspect, so EDITORIAL DIRECTOR TAHIMI ARBOLEYA whitely dressed, trying to not stain her wardrobe, all the time watching [email protected] out for that, until the strains of that music were heard. What a strange thing! I thought, for a few minutes we had something in common.
After two hours, Juanes, Olga Tañón, Los Orishas, Silvio Rodríguez, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ARIEL MACHADO Luis Eduardo Aute, Miguel Bosé, Síntesis…and others had passed by [email protected] there. Two hours from the concert, with the September heat among that indescribable multitude, no one was wearing anything that was completely white, and the feet didn’t resist. There was a deathly silence, and my daughters begged that we already leave, their nine and 10 years SALES DIRECTOR JORGE RUIZ couldn’t withstand more. We advanced a few steps, a voice was heard [email protected] and afterwards an unmistakable “tumbao”. The two of them stopped dead and turned around, I thought they had recognized the band and asked them: what does it sound like? “It sounds like Cuba, that sounds like Cuba,” they told me in the midst of the euphoria of thousands who DESIGN & LAYOUT PATRICIO HERRERA VEGA turned around and jumped like us when Los Van Van started playing “Dale con el corazón, muévete, muévete.” PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR OTMARO RODRÍGUEZ We didn’t stop dancing until all those musicians (from here and there) finished singing Compay Segundo’s “Chan Chan” and José Martí’s Simple Verses in the style of Los Van Van, together with thousands of COPYEDITING CHARO GUERRA others. Some didn’t have the slightest idea what they were dancing and they hummed along, but continued dancing nonstop.
“For a single Cuban family”! was the last thing I was able to hear. TRANSLATION MERCEDES GUILLOT
* The “Paz sin fronteras” (Peace Without Borders) concert, organized by Juanes WEB EDITOR CUBA MÓNICA RIVERO in Havana on September 20, 2009, brought together 1.15 million persons, half of Havana’s population at the time. It is considered the third biggest concert in [email protected] history, after the two held in Rio de Janeiro, the first by the Rolling Stones and the second by Rod Stuart.
ON THE COVER: Gian Carlos Fonst, almost three, at home in the barrio of Jesús María, Havana, December 24, 2016 / Photo: David Garten Articles may be reproduced, in whole or in part, as long as the source is cited. Reproduction of photographs without the editor’s permission is prohibited. Any views or opinions expressed Tahimi Arboleya are those of the articles’ authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of OnCuba. Editorial Director > OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions. > OnCuba Travel is a trademark™ of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions. > Oncuba Travel a publication of Fuego Media Group, a division of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., a publicly traded company (FUGI). > OnCuba © 2012 by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. CUBA BY CHRISTOPHER BAKER CUBA’S ESCUELAS DE ARTE Cuba’s unique Escuelas de Arte have produced some of the country’s finest CONTENTS musicians—from virtuoso violinists to top jazz impresarios—while giving every ONCUBA TRAVEL MAGAZINE child island-wide a chance to fulfill his or her musical dream. 24
48 COVER LIGHTS AND SHADOWS Cuban Music Obsession Leonel López-Nussa: JOAQUÍN BORGES-TRIANA Innately Indispensable Cuban popular music has reflected the daily events of this country and through the lyrics of its melodies it has left testimony of the history that as a nation we ESTRELLA DÍAZ have lived. Leonel López-Nussa deserves not only admiration for the density and depth of his plastic and literary work but also a greater study of his work that also goes through 12 his way of interpreting life. The following phrase is only an advance, an invitation, to approach the certainties of this maestro: “I am not frightened of the world, it’s just that the world is frightening. As it has always been, and increasingly more. That’s why I try to counteract the frightening, making horribly beautiful things.” 30
PHOTO FEATURE CUBAN PEOPLE David Garten Teacher Lazo Rhythm Under the Skin MILENA RECIO A Cuban teacher is shaking the social media and giving a lesson on love. His TAHIMI ARBOLEYA name is Carlos Lazo and he teaches Spanish in a high school in There are persons who vibrate, who carry music within them, Seattle, in the state of Washington. His students learn more than a language; who, instead of words, tears or laughter, bring out music. David Carlos teaches them to be better human beings. Garten has taken pictures of them. 36 18 ECONOMY & BUSINESS ONCUBA RECOMMENDS Trump Measures Have A Different PaZillo Affected the Very Cubans He CECILIA CRESPO This site is not just any corridor, it is the only private bar in Havana where good Meant to Benefit live music can be enjoyed and in addition taste 23 flavors of “fixed” rums, plus 150 cocktails and 50 combinations of hamburgers. RAFAEL BETANCOURT When Trump announced his new Cuba policy last summer he said that his objective was 56 to bypass “the military and the government to help the Cuban people themselves form businesses and pursue much better lives.” Actually, what happened was the contrary. I recommend that you read this article that explains why. 40 BEYOND BORDERS Made in Cuba Welcome to an Unexpected Ketty Fresneda, the Cuban in Exchange: U.S. Students in MasterChef Spain Cuba MILENA RECIO A Cuban reached the finals of the famous MasterChef program in its Spanish ALFREDO PRIETO version and won second place. She surprised everyone with her style and her What I most like about traveling is the welcome to the unexpected and the fall of force. She confesses she got to Spain because she fell in love with a Galician and stereotypes. To say it in the terms of a well-known Cuban psychologist, because dreams with having her own restaurant, in Miami, Madrid or Havana, where there of that and other things, in my opinion traveling is worthwhile. wouldn’t be a lack of avocados or bananas. 46 60
IN THE MIX GASTRONOMIC REVIEW Mantilla, Leonardo Padura’s Ajiaco Café Circle and Cycle ALICIA GARCÍA Congratulations!!! We have initiated the gastronomic review section in OnCuba. CYNTHIA DE LA CANTERA TORANZO With a trustworthy and serious analysis, we will offer information that will provide Leonardo Padura Fuentes, probably the contemporary Cuban novelist most the right references to visitors and will guide them during their trip through read outside Cuba, 2012 National Literature Prize and Princess of Asturias Award the flavor of Cuban food. We are starting off with a restaurant we classify as for Literature in 2015, recommends those places where not only his life has EXCELLENT. I invite you to confirm why. developed, but also that of the characters of his novels. 66 50 CONTRIBUTORS JOAQUÍN BORGES-TRIANA TAHIMI ARBOLEYA A fan of the Industriales and New York Yankees Master’s in Communication baseball reams, when they win as well as when I like to listen. I love stories and the names they lose, I’m a happy fellow, less than what I that my grandfather gave his characters. I want, but more than what I can be. have lived many lives: imagining them.
Cuban Music Obsession or Cuba Is Its Music David Garten PAG. 12 Rhythm Under the Skin PAG. 18
CHRISTOPHER BAKER ESTRELLA DÍAZ MILENA RECIO RAFAEL BETANCOURT ALFREDO PRIETO CYNTHIA DE LA CANTERA CECILIA CRESPO ALICIA GARCÍA Travel journalist, photographer, author, adventure My great-grandfather was a lighthouse keeper Master’s in Communication Doctor in Economic Sciences Writer, researcher, editor and journalist. An Arab TORANZO There are times when I talk nonstop, although I The admiration for my father – founder of the motorcyclist, tour leader, romantic (and single). in the Morro, my mother was born in a wooden I am still perplexed about the course of my Being a professor in Cuba is being in an eternal proverb says: “If what you’re going to say is not My time of the day: dawn. My choice: also listen. My silent aspect is only seen when famous Rancho Luna and El Aljibe restaurants, Cuba—exotic, eccentric, and enigmatic—feeds house with a red roof built at the foot of the life and the signs I receive from the world. I social service. Privileged because I have a car, more beautiful than silence, shut up.” In 1851 Journalism. My city: Havana, so blue and so I cling to my keyboard. I have a passion for my philosopher of gastronomy and of all things my insatiable curiosity and passion. I feel like I’m lighthouse; I’ve always thought La Giraldilla increasingly understand less and increasingly my wage as a hired worker is not enough to Gustave Flaubert wrote: “The pearls don’t make intense that I can’t deny I am its daughter. Rarely family and for a long time for Cuban culture about life – has enabled me to value the culinary Cuban in my heart and soul. enigmatic and beautiful…I feel very linked ask questions. pay for the gas that takes me and brings me the necklace, it’s the string.” As I see it, both are loved, inexplicably misunderstood. and a delicious book I am writing to distribute and food culture not just to delight myself but to Havana and I believe it is because of my back from the university. But the satisfaction North and South of any possible compass. among my friends: Practical and Exotic Cooking also as a fundamental space to understand CUBA’S ESCUELAS DE ARTE relation with the sea: could it be because I am a Teacher Lazo of teaching grateful and interested students Mantilla, Leonardo Padura’s Circle and Cycle Handbook. the human essence. I am a co-founder of the daughter of Yemayá? Fulfilling José Martí’s dream PAG. 36 makes up for it, at least in my case – once in a Welcome to an Unexpected Exchange: U.S. PAG. 50 Gourmet Festival and author of several books PAG. 24 while – they contribute with their teaching work Students in Cuba OnCuba Recommends on Cuban food. Leonel López-Nussa: Innately Indispensable Ketty Fresneda, the Cuban in MasterChef to my research themes. All yin has a yang. PAG. 46 A Different PaZillo PAG. 30 Spain PAG. 56 Gastronomic Review PAG. 60 Trump Measures Have Affected the Very Ajiaco Café Cubans He Meant to Benefit PAG. 66 PAG. 40 12 COVER
Cuban Music Obsession
Joaquín Borges-Triana
Photos: Unsplash
Photo: Bruno Cervera of the type of music which in each period of our evolution as a nation has been THAT IS ONE OF THE building the sensitivity of the common citizen, the ways of seeing the world, the corporal experience, the generational “I” MOST FAITHFUL OF in the people. It should not be overlooked that there is consensus among the spe- cialists in that music, beyond the artistic, ALL THE POSSIBLE is a cultural phenomenon that gives rise to identities. According to the aforemen- tioned, it involves diverse elements for its HISTORIES, SINCE IT IS socialization: discourses, symbols, lead- ers or heroes, attitudes, aesthetics, ritu- als and imagery. These elements can be CONCEIVED FROM THE called paramusical or sociomusical. The study of the history and legacy of the CRITICAL VIEW OF THE work of a large group of popular music makers is a form of opposition to the ten- dentious exclusion of the most peripheral COMMON CITIZENS, creation of the hypothetic cultural corpus of our country. It happens that, in the pro- fession of writing history, without being A VERY IMPORTANT necessarily abandoned, the traditional perspective seems insufficient, restricted Photo: Chris Bair by its own position: from the center it is SOURCE FROM WHERE impossible to cover at a glance an entire society without writing its history in an- A universal language with too much un- It’s worthwhile recalling the double na- other way than reproducing unanimist ROOTS, MYTHS AND explored wealth, music plays a singular ture of globalization, which increasingly “BECAUSE discourses. role in the composition, coordination and brings human beings closer making them IT [POPULAR sustainability of identifying networks. assume homogeneous values, while lead- Which is why writing a history of Cuba RITES EMERGE…, Regarding its importance in the historic- ing to the search for and strengthening MUSIC] IS through the music that has been made cultural evolution of the Cuban nation, of our roots. Don’t forget that one of the during the evolution of the nation is ex- personalities have expressed themselves, principal debates of the late 20th cen- SOMETHING tremely interesting. That is one of the INCLUDING, OF COURSE, like Fernando Ortiz, who in 1911 affirmed tury and of the 21st to date has been the most faithful of all the possible histories, that the practice of popular music came importance of the local and the global MORE THAN since it is conceived from the critical view from a sociocultural space that, when in the philosophy about production, dis- of the common citizens, a very important POPULAR MUSIC IN ALL shared by the entire people, in turn of- semination and reception of popular cul- THE VOICE source from where roots, myths and rites fered a road to achieve a higher level of ture and that even above the excluding emerge…, including, of course, popular national consolidation. And he concluded models they already have thinkers trying OF ART, IT IS music in all its manifestations. ITS MANIFESTATIONS. with prophetic words: “Because it [popu- to cross the polarities of the universal lar music] is something more than the and the particular, like Roland Robertson THE VOICE voice of art, it is the voice of an entire (1995) with his concept of the glocal, or people, the common soul of generations” Jan Nederveen Pieterse (1995) with his OF AN ENTIRE (Ortiz: 1987). notion of “interculturalism” or interpre- tation of diverse cultural logics. PEOPLE, THE To speak of the identifying function of music it is necessary to start with the Throughout the history of popular mu- COMMON principle that all culture has music and sic in Cuba, it has always acted as a dia- it, as a sociocultural product, has an logical factor that has favored a sort of SOUL OF identifying function, which can be eth- self-reflection, of introspection and of nic, social, etc., being the reflection of a pointing toward the different events GENERATIONS” specific culture and an identifying instru- of daily life in/of our history, from the ment valid for human beings and that, as point of view of the social as well as pri- pointed out by Rubén Gómez Mun (n/d) vate problems. “is characterized for being permeable and flexible in the face of the different That’s why, if at present we are discussing attitudes existing in an increasingly glo- the identity of the Cuban and the cultural balized world.” heritage, we must not forget the analysis
14 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 15 Photo: Spencer Imbrock
Bibliographic references In our case, music has contributed to us to assimilate everything that gets to Cuban popular music has reflected the saying what we are and to cooperate in us from other parts of the world and, con- daily events of this country and through THE OBSESSION WE CUBANS HAVE Gómez Muns, Rubén (n/d): “Una a very efficacious way, first, in the con- sequently, to a successive and perennial the lyrics of its melodies it has left a tes- FOR MUSIC, EVEN EXPRESSED aproximación a la función identitaria de solidation of the identity and, then, in its transculturation. timony of the history that as a nation we la música”,
16 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 17 18 PHOTO FEATURE
DAVID GARTEN RHYTHM UNDER THE SKIN Tahimi Arboleya
Photographer David Garten entered Cuban table of elements, or the guaguancó, or the Batá music together with Irakere. The first thing drums, or the timba’s “mechanisms,” they make Garten heard in the late 1970s, when he was me feel very alive. Ever since I discovered it 40 studying at New York University, was the years ago while I was at university, I thought mythical jazz band, and Cuban music became that the percussionists deserve the Nobel Peace one of his passions. He started traveling to Prize because they are true pioneers. the island since 1994, and has accumulated a valuable register, some of his photos have been Second, I believe that the synthesis of Africa published in The New York Times, JazzTimes and and Spain has resulted in a very powerful OnCuba, as well as in ballet and contemporary hybrid that unites us to our universal roots. dance books. And third, I love the omnipotence of daily live His photos have been the cover of records for Cuban music, which exhibits a very healthy Chucho Valdés (Irakere’s director), Los Van Van culture. and Síntesis. He works in New York for Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, he What do you take back with you every time has also illustrated two of the Cuban-American you travel to Cuba? musician’s covers for three Grammy Award Above all I bring back inspiration. The times winning records. I’ve been in Cuba have given me a language, a culture, and people I didn’t have before. I “Rhythm Under the Skin” shows the Cuban find it is the antidote to many of U.S. society’s passion for music. Eleven portraits of Cuban problems. If I contribute something, perhaps it musicians playing live which provoke the is the link I offer between the people of Cuba senses, almost to the point of being able to and the people of my country when I make hear them and feel their passion. expositions and give lectures about Cuba in the United States. I try to pass on a present Why do you have a passion for Cuban music? information about our neighbors with whom First you have to start with the rhythm, or the we lack so much contact. clave, which I believe belongs to the periodic
Francis del Río at La Trpical during the Musicabana Festival, May 6, 2016
18 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 19 Ibeyi (Lisa-Kaindé Díaz and Naomi Díaz) at La Tropical accompanied by the Alfonso-Valdés family of the Síntesis group (Eme Alfonso, Ele Valdés, X Alfonso and Carlos Alfonso), during the Musicabana Festival, May 5, 2016
Daymé Arocena in the Campoamor Theater, Juan Formell rehearsing with Los Van Van at the Telmary Díaz at La Tropical during the Musicabana Festival, May 5, 2016 December 14, 2017 Jazz Plaza house of culture, in El Vedado, February 21, 1994
20 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 21 Chucho Valdés in concert with Irakere at the Hotel Habana Libre, March 14, 1998
Miguel Angá Díaz, in the National Theater’s Sala Avellaneda during the Kazz Plaza International Festival, February 9, 1996 Jorge Reyes after playing in a concert with Irakere in New York’s Carnegie Hall during the JVC Jazz Festival, June 27, 1997
22 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 23 24
CUBA BY CHRISTOPHER BAKER CUBA’S ESCUELAS DE ARTE
Students practicing piano at the Escuela de Arte Leonardo Luberta Noy, on Isla de la Juventud FULFILLING JOSÉ MARTÍ’S DREAM I’m at the Escuela Provincial de Arte Edu- Darianna Videaux Capital, now 27, was as- are admitted. Nationwide, an average of “IT’S NOT ardo Abela, in San Antonio de los Baños, signed the double bass due to her height. 9,000 students attend EVAs. with a group of American motorcyclists “I was eight years old. I didn’t know what NECESSARY on a “people-to-people” tour. Several are a double bass was,” she recalls, laughing. The goal? To turn each child’s natural THAT THEY hard-drinking Republicans with a “damn “I hated it! It was years before I began to ability into technical virtuosity. the Revolution” mentality. As group lead- appreciate it.” KNOW HOW er I’ve brought them here to learn about It demands a rigorous routine that (and hopefully appreciate) Cuba’s lion- “We try to accommodate each child’s de- amounts to a double work-load. Students TO PLAY AN ized education system. sired instrument,” claims Elizabeth Labra- receive music tuition in the morning and INSTRUMENT,” da Mariño, director of Cienfuegos’ Benny regular academic classes in the afternoon, Music is in Cubans’ DNA. So, it’s no sur- Moré arts school. “It’s not always possible. or vice versa… plus evening practice and “WE LOOK FOR prise that the country treats music A small child can’t play the double bass.” vacation projects on top of their regular education the way America treats little homework. (The academic portion doesn’t RHYTHMIC league baseball. But the Escuelas Vocio- A visit to the Benny Moré school is a comprise a full curriculum, however. Ekat- APTITUDE, nales de Arte system speaks to a vision highlight of National Geographic Ex- erine had to study remedial classes to earn and commitment far deeper. peditions’ “Cuba: Discover its People & sufficient credits for admittance to the PHYSICAL Culture” programs. My group members University of Havana when she chose to At his ‘History Will Absolve Me’ trial fol- pepper Elizabeth with questions. How earn a degree in child psychology.) ATTRIBUTES, lowing the failed Moncada Barracks attack do you select the kids? How do they AND THE RIGHT in 1953, Fidel named José Martí—leader of choose their instruments? Every student learns the piano, in addi- Cuba’s 19th-century independence move- tion to his or her primary instrument. The PSYCHOLOGICAL ment—as the attack’s “intellectual au- Every year a panel of teachers visits all focus is on classical music, including thor.” Martí’s vision of a fully literate, non- schools in their respective province to as- such foundations as solfège and counter- METRICS. THEN discriminatory post-independence society sess every child between eight and ten point, though students also study Cu- WE AUDITION informed Fidel’s revolución, launched at years old who wishes to audition, we’re ban vernacular music and may eventu- Moncada. The 1961 Literacy Campaign told. “It’s not necessary that they know ally end up playing in jazz ensembles or THE BEST FOUR was the first stage in a comprehensive how to play an instrument,” says Eliza- salsa bands. The curriculum is centered education reform that turned a nation beth. “We look for rhythmic aptitude, around group lessons for music theory HUNDRED with more than 20 percent illiteracy in physical attributes, and the right psy- and history. But when it comes to their CANDIDATES.” 1958 (at least half a million children had chological metrics. Then we audition the chosen instrument, they’re the benefi- no schooling whatsoever) into the world’s best four hundred candidates.” Only forty ciaries of one-on-one private tuition. first fully literate country, while also creat- ing a state-funded schooling system that guaranteed full and equal opportunity for every Cuban, regardless of color or class. The Escuelas Vocacionales de Arte (EVA) are the zenith and epitome of this revolu- tionary achievement.
Fidel was the only Cuban male of his gen- eration never to have been seen to sing or dance. Nonetheless, he established that Adianez Morel with a viola gifted by U.S. visitors at Escuela de Arte Eduardo Abela, music be taught in regular schools on a par in San Antonio de los Baños with math, history, and other key subjects. In parallel, the EVA system was created Adianez Morel is only nine years old. Di- with a single specialized school—16 in to- minutive, even for her age, she seems un- ADIANEZ MOREL tal—in every province (plus four in Havana) dersized for the violin in her hands. Her IS ONLY NINE charged with identifying kids with special teacher, Ekaterine Triana James, steps talent and training them for a life as pro- forward, adjusts the placement of her YEARS OLD. fessional artists, musicians, and dancers. fingers on the instrument’s neck, then DIMINUTIVE, steps back. By 1968 the Castro government had also EVEN FOR HER nationalized every business. Musicians “¡Ya, dale!” Begin! AGE, SHE SEEMS became state workers. Hence, the num- ber of students admitted to EVAs varies Adianez hesitates. But Ekaterine’s words UNDERSIZED FOR annually according to each province’s of encouragement help calm her. Adianez projected needs: X number of violinists… THE VIOLIN IN HER A student at Escuela de Arte Benny Moré, nails Concerto number 1 for violin by Jean- X saxophonists… X choral singers…. And Cienfuegos, performs for a National Baptiste Accolay—no easy piece for a child HANDS so on. Pretty much every requirement of Geographic Expedition’s ‘people-to-people’ in only her second year of music study. a full orchestra is catered for. tour group
26 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 27 Dianna Solís Sánchez steps forward and Most staff are EVA graduates. Few are be a famous musician. I want to go to ISA,” bows. She’s wearing pink sneakers; her full-time teachers; many double as she fires back, excited, using the acronym hair a crazy mop. She’s fifteen and this is professional musicians. Rafael heads for the Instituto Superior de Artes. her final year of guitar study at the Benny the Orquesta de Guitarras Ensemble, Moré school, she explains with a pixie- which he founded. Ekaterine—a gradu- These are no schools for dilettantes. ish smile. Then she adjusts her mustard- ate of Havana’s Conservatorio Amadeo “There’s only one route to success,” says colored mini-skirt uniform as she sits. Her Roldán—has played with a gazette Elizabeth. “Practice… practice… practice!” flawless rendition of Cuban composer Leo from the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional In many ways, Adianez has given up a Brouwer’s exquisite Etude 17 earns a stand- to Eliada Ochoa (of Buena Vista Social normal childhood. ing ovation. Her professor, Rafael Gallardo, Club fame) and pop-trova mega-stars beams. Tears trickle down one of my tour Buena Fé. Most EVA graduates return as “I’m from the countryside,” Ekaterine member’s cheeks. teachers, too, assigned for three years tells me. “My parents were poor, but they on minimum wage as “pay back” for were educated by the Revolution. They Dianna is from Cruces, far enough away their education. had dreams for me and my brother. I that she boards at the Cienfuegos school loved music, so I wanted to audition,” she Monday to Friday. Her parents can visit Though inordinately rich in culture, adds. “The school totally changed my life. mid-week. cash-strapped Cuba is materially poor, I don’t regret the sacrifice. It taught me due to its sclerotic state-run economy the value of discipline. It’s the only way to Next year, she’ll move to the next level— and the crippling U.S. embargo. The win- attain your dreams.” the Conservatorio Olga Alonso, in Santa dow shutters at Cienfuegos’ art school Clara. At fifteen most students move on to are falling apart. The seats decrepit. It helps that in Cuba all education is free, EVA conservatories in Havana, Santa Clara, Roofs leak, the plaster and paint falling at every level. “Everybody has the chance Camagüey, or Santiago de Cuba. From here away like scrofulous skin. And although to study and be somebody, no matter who they graduate as professional musicians, every student is given his or her own in- you are,” notes Darianna. “I feel grateful.” while the elite ascend to Havana’s Instituto strument for exclusive use throughout Superior de Arte—Cuba’s equivalent of the their school tenure, Adianez’s violin is Darianna is black. So is Ekaterine. And Julliard or London’s Royal Academy of Music. no Stradivarius. Adianez. So, too, Dianna—a mulata A student practicing piano at the Escuela de Arte Leonardo Luberta Noy, on Isla de la Juventud (mixed black and white). Black and female. Cuba’s taller (workshop) for string instru- DESPITE THESE ments, at Minas, in Camagüey province, When dictator-president Fulgencio Ba- supplies the schools with violas, violins, tista—who was a mixture of white, Chi- HANDICAPS, cellos and guitars hewn from native hard- nese, and black—arrived at the exclusive CUBA’S woods and pine. “They were bad,” recalls Havana Yacht Club, they turned the lights Darianna, who studied at Camagüey’s Es- out on him to know that although he was ESCUELAS DE cuela de Arte Samuel Feijóo and is today president, as a mulatto he wasn’t wel- ARTE CONTINUE a contrabajista with the Orquesta del In- come. It’s a side of pre-revolutionary real- stituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión. “The ity that white Cuban-American exiles for- TO GRADUATE strings were awful. The alma—sound get. The social advantages that opened posts—kept falling off. We had no luthiers up after the Revolution have resulted in WORLD-CLASS in Camagüey. We learned to repair our the abolition of such lily-white scenes. MUSICIANS. own instruments however we could.” To- day the Ministry of Culture imports instru- Watching Adianez and Dianna perform A-LIST ALUMNI ments from China—a small improvement. brings home how much Martí’s dream of INCLUDE social and racial equity, opportunity and Despite these handicaps, Cuba’s escuelas integration have been realized thanks, not CLASSICAL de arte continue to graduate world-class least, to Cuba’s Escuela de Artes program. musicians. A-list alumni include classical PIANIST FRANK pianist Frank Fernández... Jazz impresarios “Wow! That was impressive!” exclaims FERNÁNDEZ... Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcaba…. the most ardently right-wing of my mo- And popular music maestros Juan Formell, torcyclists as he fires up his Harley. His JAZZ Isaac Delgado, and Geraldo Piloto. Flam- eyes glisten, tears welling up, as the kids boyant musicians whose verve and flair wave us off. IMPRESARIOS reflect their training, infusing impeccable CHUCHO technique with an extroverted splash of VALDÉS AND Cuban color. GONZALO “Do you have goals? What do you dream of A student at Escuela de Arte Benny Moré, becoming when you grow up?” one of my Cienfuegos, practicing the flute RUBALCABA… motorcycle group asks Adianez. “I want to
28 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 29 30 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
Leonel López-Nussa (Havana, 1916-2004): Draftsman, painter, engraver, illustrator, LEONEL narrator, journalist and art critic. A Innately maestro who knew how to wield in parallel the pen, the brush and the gouge, and create a family included among the most representative of the contemporary LÓPEZ-NUSSA panorama of Cuban music. Indispensable
Estrella Díaz Photos: Archive of Krysia López-Nussa
Barely two years ago, in 2016, Cuba com- memorated the centennial of Ele Nussa: that’s how Leonel López-Nussa signed – between the 1970s and 1980s – his witty criticisms, reviews and comments in the pages of the magazine Bohemia. His lu- cid, incisive and enjoyable writings are not only the testimony of what was hap- pening on the island in terms of plastic arts - during those decades the term vi- sual arts had just been coined -, but also in other parts of the world. His texts, of great depth, could be understood by the average reader without leaving aside the solid argument and, on occasions, a certain dose of irony and pungency. Hav- ing a high ethical sense, he always said what he thought, which is why many of his criticisms were not well-received. Na- tional Prize for Plastic Arts Pedro de Oraá has correctly said that López-Nussa’s criticisms “encouraged against all odds and for many years an almost deserted sphere of thinking in that specialty, to the point that his imprint, after he retired from journalism, is still remembered.”
Photographer: Errol Daniels / Taken at his home, in 2000, at the age of 84 López-Nussa put drawing in a privileged place of honor. In 1964 he published El dibujo, a book in which he expressed his ideas regarding the line. That text, vital for the understanding of drawing in the development of a painter, was reprinted in 2010 by Letras Cubanas publishers.
It’s not by chance that in 1983 plastic art- ist and poet Fayad Jamís affirmed that “his painting, which has dealt with the most diverse subjects since those series of Mambí independence fighters, pass- ing through his innumerable musicians and his long series of homage to Picasso, is always original, fresh and beautiful. López-Nussa’s plastic work is an exam- ple of the rigor in drawing.”
In 1975 is made a very interesting se- ries of lithographs which he titled Breve historia del magisterio en Cuba: beauti- ful, close and heartfelt homage to his mother – Laura Carrión -, a rural teacher who worked in the countryside in west- ern Pinar del Río. In that series, the word climbs to the work and inserts itself comfortably – something that many other artists have done -, but López- N/T, 1977, Músicos cubanos Nussa uses the word with a marked Series, overtone of denunciation. Between 1974 Lithograph, 53 x 35 cm N/T, 1962, Drawing, 18.5 x 29 cm
and 1976 he increasingly focused on the world of sounds and, from this approach, STANZAS AND two extensive series emerged: Músicas (72 pieces) and Guitarras (22 pieces), and POPULAR he also conceived others – although less numerous – like Músicos cubanos, SAYINGS FULL OF Orquestas, Orquestas de mujeres, and a great amount of drawings, notes and oil GRACE APPEAR paintings of different formats, the larg- est was Orquesta típica, which appears ACCOMPANIED in the book Memoria del siglo xx cubano. BY A CLEAN In that decade he produced a series of lithographs called Poeta en actos, in LINE, AND THEY which the word again is a perceptible protagonist. Neither did Martí’s ideas ARE A DISPLAY escape his eye, and from this came a se- ries of engravings that have as support OF THE ARTFUL the simple verses and places Martí im- mersed in the Cuban countryside. The DRAWING THAT collection of Spanish proverbs is a zone also touched by the artist: stanzas and CHARACTERIZED popular sayings full of grace appear ac- Músicas 48, 1975, companied by a clean line, and they are HIM. Músicas Series, a display of the artful drawing that char- Lithograph, 30 x 42 cm acterized him.
32 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 33 MUSIC, A THEME EXPLOITED AND EXPLORED IN DEPTH BY THIS SINGULAR CREATOR, FOR DECADES WAS THE CENTER OF HIS WORK
Leonel was in close contact with Mexican considered myself a farmer and perhaps The exposition La pintura respetuosa in- “He was a great music lover: he was edu- ways had been present in his work since Left culture. An extensive series of works and that is why, when I met Samuel Feijóo in cluded some of his works published in cated in a musical context, his sister was the early 1940s until 2000,” said Krysia Amadeus, 1991, Mixed Technique on bristol vignettes was born from that relation- Havana, we became close friends,” López- diverse publications, photos, books, illus- a musician and he met my mother (Wan- López-Nussa, daughter of the creator and board, 43 x 35cm ship, and they assimilated popular say- Nussa said on one occasion. For many trations, personal objects, small-format da Lekszycka), who played the piano, in a who has been in charge of preserving, Right ings - Gato viejo, caza guayabitas -, and years he continued attached to the print- drawings and works from the collection conservatory in the United States. He was conserving and promoting her father’s N/T, 1982, Orquestas de mujeres Series, they incorporate the particular icons of ed letter and to illustration: all that rich of engravings belonging to the Cuban an attentive listener, he had an excellent works, in an interview with OnCuba. Lithograph, 43 x 66 cm death so well-known in that country. universe was shown in two expositions Museum of Fine Arts. collection of records and in his studio, for his centennial: La pintura respetuosa, with the aid of an old record player, he Perhaps the iconography associated to Another of López-Nussa’s relations with in which special emphasis was placed on Music, a theme exploited and explored enjoyed classical music and jazz. But, the music is among the most promoted of his the publishing sphere – precisely with il- the abstraction of the initial years, the in depth by this singular creator, for de- Cuban popular sounds entered through pictorial work, but it must be recognized lustration – was thanks to the magazine new figuration, surrealism, pop art and cades was the center of his work. He the windows: that was the creative at- that, if something characterized this in- Signos, published by the then National his attraction to cubism and western never abandoned the musicians or the mosphere that surrounded him. I believe nately indispensable maestro, it was the Council of Culture in 1974 and headed by art, borne out of his long periods living instruments and that, I believe, is a ges- that one of his merits is having inter- wide-range of specialties and supports his great friend the writer and plastic art- in Mexico, the United States and Europe. ture of absolute fidelity. preted the world of sound and taken it to in which he moved and made incursions ist Samuel Feijóo, with whom he shared And, of course, eroticism, always present plastic arts. Among other topics, music al- with true skill. the taste for the popular. “I have always in his work (from 1950 to 2000).
34 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 35 36 CUBAN PEOPLE
TEACHER LAZO Milena Recio Photos: Courtesy of Carlos Lazo
Carlos Lazo, a Cuban teacher from Seattle, has gone viral in some social media after having posted a video in which he sings with his young U.S. students the song “Cuba Isla Bella,” by the Cuban hip-hop trio Orishas. His gesture and that of his students moved thousands of Cubans and transmitted the power of the friendship between the two countries which Lazo recognizes today as his mother (Cuba) and his father (United States). The road to reach those feelings has been full of hurdles….
His students not only learn a new language, they learn to love another culture Alone in Havana “I was in a world of my own.” And the dis- Illegal exit a library.” He organized and disorganized Miami-Havana: round trip die in this war and can’t see my children “At 15 I was alone and I learned to cook. appointment grew when he found out One night in 1988 he left the country by them. “I became a variant of Penelope to “When I got to Miami everything looked again, it won’t be because Cuba prevents When I was afraid of the dark and the they wouldn’t let him study Medicine be- sea through Baracoa beach on a rustic gain time in my favor.” wonderful to me.” it but rather Bush.” cockroaches, I would walk to the Malecón cause “he didn’t have the political-moral raft with a friend. He was 23 years old and I would sit there facing the sea until I conditions.” A mother in the United States and his vital compass was always di- His greatest aim, and secret, continued be- He worked in a cafeteria, delivering piz- At that moment Carlos Lazo was the link felt sleepy.” and a brother exiled in Peru were sufficient rected to the North. They spent two days ing to get to the United States. In 1991 he zas, he learned how to drive large trucks in a chain of progress that explicitly or dis- motives for the filters of the time. drifting until they were captured by the again took the risk, without being able to and was a technician in mental health in a cretely was promoting the still unfinished In 1980 his older brother was able to go Cuban coast guards close to Jaimanitas, say goodbye to anyone, not even his two home for the elderly. “I used to take my gui- process of political normalization between into exile in Peru with the events of the “For me Cuba was the worst country in the the small coastal town where Carlos small children who remained in Cuba. tar and I had a nice time with them.” both countries and peoples. embassy, and his mother traveled to Miami world.” Lazo had been born in 1965, in a socialist a few months later with the idea of staying country. Second time… On July 12, 1994 he returned to Cuba for the At 40 he at last decided “to go to school” there and recovering her sons, even though After that he didn’t even try to enroll in uni- It must have been 5 in the evening when they first time, when his father became sick and and became a teacher. Since then, study- legally that could be very difficult. versity. He was a stevedore in the docks, he This time his journey ended in the Quiv- started seeing a red light rather far away. It thanks to a special permit he was able to ing and teaching has been one of his worked in La Epoca shop’s warehouse, he icán jail. He was sentenced to one year in was the third day they had been adrift. get from the Red Cross. greatest motivations. About to conclude Everything in him, all his energy, was worked in a vegetable stand downstairs prison for the crime of “illegal exit from the a doctorate, having finished two BAs, two ready to “leave” Cuba. His father, a revo- from his home, as a butcher in Lawton. He national territory and illicit appropriation” They lit a fire with everything they still had The country was choking from some of the masters, he feels an intense motivation – lutionary, continued being the amorous won over friends everywhere thanks to his (because he had taken on his trip some flip- at hand since the 1951 American Champion extremisms that had been committed, bat- from Christianity – to contribute to heal father from his childhood. He would go ability to get along well with people. pers he had rented at a camping site). engine stopped working seven hours after tered by the deepest economic crisis and the separations between families and visit Carlos every week. But their lives leaving Havana on route to Florida. But the at the door of the great “rafters’ crisis.” The people. “Love never fails. But where there went their separate ways. Politics be- “I had ‘counterrevolutionary’ clients who “Prison was a period of growth,” he says. red light became increasingly smaller. Special Period and the Cuban Adjustment are prophecies, it will never cease.” (Cor- came an impossible subject, although said I reminded them of the salespeople He read “everything I could get my hands Act drove more than 30,000 to the Straits inthians 13:8) everything else, beautiful, he continued from before 1959 because of my friendly on”: Víctor Hugo, Dostoyevsky, Verne, On the boat one could hear the murmur of of Florida. growing among them. And it was like manner. And the ‘revolutionary’ clients said Hemingway…. “One day an officer came to a prayer among six persons, shipwrecked that until the last day. that I was like the New Man.” ask me to turn a room full of books into for some minutes in their own unmention- Carlos Lazo recognized himself in them. able terror. It was the mother of the three- He was also a rafter, but he was back. He year-old boy that could be heard. “We understood that he would no longer re- aren’t going to be able,” she cried. Then nounce Cuba again. Carlos Lazo took out one of the two books he was carrying with him. Seattle-Iraq-Washington-Havana When he decided to move to Seattle he “Open it,” he told her. “Wherever it falls you felt he was really in the United States. Note: will find an answer.” The woman opened Imbued with gratitude to his new coun- Carlos Lazo teaches Spanish in the book at Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shep- try he enrolled in the National Guard a senior high in Seattle, in the herd, I lack nothing.” And she continued with the idea of being useful during fires, state of Washington. His 10th whimpering the next five minutes while earthquakes…. But in 2004 Iraq was his grade students in Bothell’s she read out loud the rest: “Even though I unsuspected destination. North Creek High School are walk through the darkest valley, I will fear learning a language that is not no evil, for you are with me.” The Cuban, who until then had only finished theirs, a grammar with strange senior high, was trained as a nurse and be- rules, a phonetics that at times Lazo could have also shared with her his came Sergeant Lazo. “I don’t wish war on it is too hard for them…with the other small book wrapped in nylon. But anyone.” For him it lasted until 2005. so unrepeatable “r.” he thought it was not the right time for the verses of a poet, a Rafael Alcides During a short vacation, while he was But for those kids, aged between thankful as a dog: “today I welcome all I posted in Iraq, he decided to return to 15 and 17, Spanish is above all a have and all I am.” Cuba to visit his children. At Miami air- motivation to have fun, learn port they didn’t let him travel. The then the love of the homeland, train It was then that someone made the an- President George W. Bush had decided in respect for different cultures nouncement – how to remember now, 27 that family visits to Cuba could only be and, under the influence of their years later, who was the Rodrigo de Triana made every three years. And Carlos Lazo teacher, accumulate admiration of that expedition. had already used up his “quota.” for Cuba.
A flickering green light started approach- A road to liberation started for him: he In April this year Lazo took a ing until it was possible to see it, com- lobbied before congresspersons in Wash- group of 37 students to the is- pletely, on the bow of a yacht with a ington and in Miami, with the dignity of land, and last July another with Florida license: “Wait there, we already a Cuban father and at the same time of a students, parents and teachers. notified the Coast Guard!” The red light U.S. soldier. He made a statement in the His next dream is to be able to was still lit on the stern. They were very Senate and for weeks he was referenced go with a bigger group and sing lucky and received the grace of restarting in several media in the United States. “Cuba Isla Bella” together with their life in the United States. From Iraq he had recorded a video: “if I young Cubans.
Teacher Lazo with a group of U.S. students in Cuba
38 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 39 40 ECONOMY & BUSINESS
RUMP MEASURES HAVE AFFECTED T The 56.6% drop in arrivals of U.S. visi- —forced withdrawal of the majority of in the second half of 2017 compared to tors since the restrictions imposed by the officials of the U.S. Embassy in Ha- the first half; 66 percent has experienced THE VERY CUBANS the Donald Trump administration in vana and, the other way around, of the cancelations from their travel partners June 2017 boosted a 7% contraction in Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. (universities, museums, professional as- the total of foreign visitors in the first sociations, etc.), and 85 percent forecasts HE MEANT TO BENEFIT three months of 2018, according to offi- —the Travel Warning issued by the De- less people-to-people travel reservations cial Cuban data from last April.1 In 2017, partment of State in September 2017, and in 2018 than those of 2017. Rafael Betancourt after Obama’s policy of opening, almost TPhotos: Otmaro Rodríguez 620,000 Americans visited Cuba, six —the Department of State’s new Travel The principal reasons they cited to ex- times more than the previous year. Advisory system presented in January plain the drop in U.S. visitors were: 2018, which classifies Cuba as a Level 3: 1. Department of State’s Travel Advisories Since June 2017, Trump has announced a “reconsider traveling due to the attacks (84 %) series of restrictions and policy changes against the health of the workers of the 2. Supposition that new U.S. policies ban that include: U.S. Embassy in Havana.” its citizens from traveling to Cuba, espe- cially individually (75 %) —new regulations to restrict individual, A survey by the Center for Responsible 3. Concerns about risks to health in Cuba self-directed, people-to-people trips Travel (CREST), in which 42 U.S. tour oper- (56 %) ators that took more than 17,000 persons 4. Concerns about safety in Cuba (50 %) —ban (for U.S. nationals) on making any to Cuba in 2017 participated,2 revealed 5. Fear of being subject to an unnecessary financial transaction with a group of 180 that 85 percent of the surveyed enter- inspection by the U.S. authorities on their entities allegedly linked to the Cuban de- prises saw a greater drop in their reserva- return to the country (37 %) fense, intelligence and security services tions, or an increase in their cancelations “People can still go to Cuba independently but practically no one knows about it,” said John McAuliff, executive director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, which promotes engagement between Cuba and the United States
“People can still go to Cuba independent- As part of their ongoing work, the profes- have stayed in all the surveyed B&Bs. Out tele fall 20% to date in 2018, compared to ly but practically no one knows about it,” sor and 5th year students of the subject of them. 97% also stayed in B&Bs linked the same period in 2017. Its expectations said John McAuliff, executive director of of Urban Economy, of the San Gerónimo to Airbnb. for this year are of a still greater decrease the Fund for Reconciliation and Develop- de La Habana University College, adapt- since the reservations have been consider- ment, which promotes engagement be- ed the CREST survey and applied it to a Compared to American tourism’s perfor- ably reduced. Among the causes for the tween Cuba and the United States. “The sample of businesses and entrepreneurs, mance in the first quarter of 2018 and the drop, they point to the “ban on American private bed and breakfasts are hurting; state-run and private, between March same period in 2017, these two B&Bs re- individual trips to Cuba” and the “increase the airlines and private restaurants are and April 2018. Following is a summary of port a decrease of 8 to 10% and a third one in the price/costs to travel to Cuba.” hurting. Between the travel warning and the results. that received eight travelers in 2017 hasn’t changing the categories of travel it has received any to date this year. However, Another team concentrated on a group taken a toll.”3 A team of students interviewed private while the rest of the interviewees said of gastronomic centers – large and small bed and breakfast owners in Havana. Two they had no expectations in terms of U.S. state-run and private restaurants – which While informal conversations with Ha- of the eight that were interviewed are tourism in 2018, the two B&Bs that work cater to Americans. They summed up vana’s private bed and breakfast, res- linked to Airbnb. Among the eight, they with Airbnb expressed favorable expecta- that the surveyed large ones lost 11% of taurant and bar owners, craftspeople, received a total of 286 American visitors tions for the rest of the present year. their U.S. clients in the first quarter of taxi drivers and coachmen, who last year in the different modalities during 2017, 2018 compared to 2017, and from 5% of had a numerous American clientele, con- of which 97% stayed in these two B&Bs, A surveyed travel agency, which mainly the individual tourists they went to 80%, firmed that their businesses have signifi- mainly in groups. The others received cli- works with the Puerto Rican and Domini- which shows the strong drop in group cantly suffered, no research had been car- ents principally from other countries. To can Republic market in the multidestina- tourism. Something similar happened ried out regarding this. date this year, a total of 62 U.S. tourists tion modality, saw its Puerto Rican clien- to the large state-run and small private
42 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 43 restaurants: a decrease of 10 to 25% of In the other, where sculptors and silver- These hotels have felt the wane in Comparing 2017 and 2018, until now American tourism, especially group tour- smiths were interviewed, the drop oscil- 1 American tourists, especially those the income from American tourism has ists, and the small state-run restaurants lated between 3 and 16%. When asked in the Historic Center. decreased by more than half. Some of said they had only serviced individuals what expectations they have for the rest In response to Trump’s measures, the causes they point to are: the ban on and had suffered a more than 50% drop of 2018, they estimate a wane of 25-50%. 2 many of these tourists travel Americans’ individual trips to Cuba [sic], in their U.S. clients. Among the principal causes they point- through third countries and no the U.S. government travel advisories and ed mainly to the ban on individual trips longer stay in hotels but rather in concerns about the health risks or safety Two students who also work as sales- [sic] and the U.S. government’s travel private B&Bs. in Cuba, the latter associated to Hurri- people in two crafts fairs in Old Havana advisories, as well as concerns about the Group tourism has greatly de- cane Irma that hit the country in 2017. interviewed several private craftspeople, health risk and safety in Cuba. Despite 3 creased; in the case of a hotel asking them: what type of U.S. travelers this they highlighted the satisfaction of that appeared on the list of enti- Another team went to see the coachmen did you tend to in your business in 2017? the tourists who visit and buy in their ties banned for U.S. nationals and and vintage car drivers who offer their They said that 25-45% were individual establishments. which had a contract with a cruise services around the Parque Central. The tourists; 10-15% group tourists; 5-20% Cu- company, when these measures first form part of a cooperative and the ban Americans and 15-30% travelers from A team surveyed nine hotels, three in El were announced the company second are private workers. These said other countries. In one of the fairs the Vedado, three in in the Historic Center of closed its contract, seriously affect- they had not been affected by Trump’s numbers oscillated from 10 to 25 tourists Old Havana and three in the outskirts to ing the hotel. measures, since they cater to individual a day in 2017, for approximately 4,000- the east, all of them state-run. They were Individual tourists and Cuban tourists from other countries, more than 9,000 visitors in the year. In the first quar- unable to apply the formal survey in 4 Americans are not these hotels’ from the United States. Even so, they are ter of 2018 that amount dropped between some of them, but in these cases the desk strong points, since the reserva- not very optimistic about 2018, since they 5 and 20 tourists a day, for a 25-45% wane workers informally answered. The follow- tions are almost always included in preview there will be a general decrease compared to January-March 2017. ing conclusions were revealed: the tourist package. of tourism in Cuba.
The business establishments on Te- In short, the results of this preliminary niente Rey Street in Old Havana were survey suggest that the Trump measures surveyed by another team. They found and subsequent reduction in tourism that private businesses predominate from the United States have indeed af- over the state-run ones, which receive fected almost all the Cuban tourist ser- all types of tourists that appear in the vice providers who benefitted from the survey: individual and in groups, from 2017 boom, large as well as small, state- the United States and from other coun- run as well as private, and it has sown tries. All the establishments said that pessimism for 2018 and while the current in 2017 they had tended to between 20 White House tenant lasts. and 60 U.S. visitors a day, which in some cases represented 50-60% of their cli- When Trump announced his new Cuba entele. In 2018 a considerable wane is policy last summer he said that his objec- being felt in the amount of U.S. clients tive was to bypass “the military and the and some businesses said they had al- government to help the Cuban people most received none to date this year. themselves form businesses and pursue The impact is big: they affirm that it is much better lives.” Actually, what has a very demanding tourism but that it happened is exactly the opposite. leaves good tips. In one case, the bar- restaurant became very popular among U.S. tourists in 2017, all of them ready to pay more, which is why the establish- ______ment increased the prices. Now, with the decrease in this tourism, European 1 http://www.cubadebate.cu/noti- and Latin American travelers refuse to cias/2018/04/24/crece-en-un-7-llegada- pay those prices and its business has de-turistas-a-cuba-en-primer-trimes- increasingly dropped. tre/#.Wt_MLC7wbIV
In general, they express pessimism in 2 http://www.responsibletravel.org/ terms of U.S. tourism improving while whatWeDo/cubaCoalition.php Trump is still in government. The causes of the decrease are attributed to the travel 3 http://www.miamiherald.com/news/ bans, the U.S. government advisories and nation-world/world/americas/cuba/ar- the increase in costs, as a consequence of ticle212497419.html#storylink=cpy traveling through third countries.
44 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 45 46 BEYOND BORDERS
In 1999, another Cuban colleague and place): entering an unexplored territory A lifetime’s experience I were talking with a U.S. professor in with certain preconceptions or knowing Amherst, Massachusetts. I had been in- nothing (or almost nothing) about the vited to Johns Hopkins University; my country. That course thus places them in colleague was a poet and literary critic a comparatively advantageous position. It WELCOME who at that time was enjoying a research offers alternative visions – not exempt of sojourn in Hampshire College. This dia- critical elements – about a historical-cul- logue led to the idea of creating a cul- tural process that cannot be understood tural exchange program between Hamp- based on Eurocentric perspectives, stereo- shire and the Union of Writers and Artists types and common places. And once on TO AN of Cuba (UNEAC). terra firma, they interact and meet in dif- ferent socialization spaces with persons It would be impossible to not refer to its of all social strata and conditions: young main raison d’être: the students. Before people, seniors, whites, blacks, mestizos, their departure they study a semester Catholics, Protestants, Santeros, atheists, UNEXPECTED about Cuba which provides them with the trova musicians, rockers, salsa and reg- essential basic information to not fall into ueton musicians, private workers, state one of the holes of all those who arrive for workers, artists, writers, informal vendors, the first time to the island (or any other unemployed, heteros, gays, lesbians…. U.S.EXCHANGE: Students in Cuba Alfredo Prieto Photos: Courtesy of Teachers and Students One day, while a young Cuban professor was visiting Hampshire College, he took a copy of the Michigan Quarterly Review, with texts by Ruth Behar, Lourdes Casal, Louis A. Pérez, Jr., Flavio Risech, Nancy Morejón, Jorge Luis Arcos and Carilda Oliver Labra, among others. It was the first time he saw under the same cover Cubans from both sides of the Straits. He read there that when a wall collapses, it can become a bridge.
It is precisely around there that the na- ture of the problem lies.
Each end of semester they are given an anonymous survey where the students express their experiences:
“People are excited and willing to help you as a student. Five minutes into a conversation was I invited to someone’s house to discuss my work? Blind calls to so-and-so who so-and-so thinks could help you, it can be scary, but always fruitful. What have you got to lose? This is especially applicable for ethnographic projects where meeting people is key. In my experience, people run in very small circles here. Insert yourself into the circles that interest you and your proj- ect will thrive. Make haste in talking to The program decided to accommodate States. They get to understand that far The title of the pamphlet they bring in people about what you’re doing here. its students in private homes, officially from representing a form of harassment, their backpacks resides in that summary Get those first few weeks of nervous- authorized to rent, and with their corre- it’s a question of practices proper of ac- of paradoxes: CUBA: WELCOME TO THE ness out of the way as soon as possible. sponding permits. Experience suggests tors who want to express feelings of em- UNEXPECTED. Get in there, make connections, feel that staying in these homes has demon- pathy, curiosity and even disposition to comfortable; and your project will take strated its multiple benefits for the intel- help. In the end, many students get to The students learn that Cuban society shape. Your role here as a student with lectual, human and personal growth of identify with these behaviors, which are and culture – in which market and cen- an independent project is distinct, and the students. The first, allowing them to not exactly typical of their culture. tralization, altruism and individualism, should not be forgotten about. Don’t share the family dynamics in multigener- shortage and consumerism, criticism return to the US wondering what your ational homes. For three months they are Most of them realize that Cuban society and censorship, machos and LGTBs co- project could have been….” exposed to an interaction that enables is a complex one in which there is no ac- exist – are much richer and diverse than them to acquire new knowledge beyond cess to many of the services and facili- what has been given as established. And “Cubans are very friendly and they le- the tutor, the lessons and the readings, ties of what they identify as “an average that, on the island, due to a group of his- gitimately are extremely likely to help while also helping them improve their American,” including cell phones and In- toric factors that are also analyzed-dis- you. Coming from the States it’s hard to skills in the Spanish language, without ternet, despite the recent past’s changes cussed in their classes, there does exist believe, but it’s true. Speaking of host which it is impossible to completely and in both domains. But, by comparison, reactions of attraction/rejection toward families, they are a resource too. Ask utterly understand the codes, motiva- they see in their daily routines the uni- the United States, as if it were two sides them if they know how to buy some- tions and culture of the Other. versal access to free social services, be- of the same coin. And that Americans thing without being ripped off, or if they yond the shortages and certain needs are not treated as enemies, which al- know anyone that would be useful for In their efforts to integrate into their due to the crisis. A country where the ways has an impact on them. your project, or what the best product or culture, language, traditions and eating three daily meals can represent a prob- service is in the area.” habits, the students rapidly grasp certain lem and where official wages function as And they always perceive the changes, aspects of the Cuban social psychology. very brief sighs, but with free of charge compared to the idea that Cuba is just “Cuba is always changing, so no matter They become familiar from the start with open-heart operations; a country in an the land of old cars, architecture in ruins what we say now, things might be differ- that proclivity we have of relating to each economic crisis, but whose streets are and the Buena Vista Social Club. A muse- ent once you get there. Many things were other, to open up, to give of ourselves, safe – compared to many Latin American um piece, a relic from the Cold War which different for our semester from what the even touching each other – something countries that some have already visited has to be touched before “the change” year before told us, so just be smart and that is usually not done in the United -, something they had never seen before. comes and “the McDonald’s take over.” Alfredo Prieto and students keep an open mind!”
48 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 49 50 IN THE MIX MANTILLA Leonardo Padura’s Circle and Cycle Cynthia de la Cantera Toranzo Photos: Otmaro Rodríguez
Leonardo Padura Fuentes, probably the contemporary Cuban novelist most read outside Cuba, 2012 National Prize for Lit- erature and Princess of Asturias Literary Award in 2015, recommends those places where not only has he lived his life, but also from where his novel’s characters come from. When I was born, this was a normal barrio. It could have almost all the necessary things Mario Conde and the rest of the characters in his novels were born here Mantilla’s Catholic church
Mantilla’s bus station Leonardo Padura prepares coffee in a with her older sister, who lived with her Havana and the 68 that ended in El Ve- small expresso coffee pot, sweetens it husband in a wooden house by the San dado’s Línea Street Tunnel. Both left later in a large cup and directly drinks Rafael de Arcángel church. from the route 4 bus station, a point of from it. He is standing, in the kitchen in reference for the residents of Mantilla. his home. He watches the street through In front of the church was the grocery the window over the sink, the former store where Leonardo Padura father Leonardo was born one year after the Camino Real del Sur. The street of his en- had his small business. Alicia and Leon- house’s construction. When he turned 10, tire life. ardo fell in love. They got married five the Revolution had already triumphed years after their engagement. In 1954, six years before. He was a boy who Leonardo Padura is the journalist, the the young couple would build their played baseball in the neighborhood. Ev- writer, the one who gave life to Mario house. The same one in which we are ery night, at about eight, he would take Conde, that character that grows and now talking. the canteen with food for his father, who matures with him. But right now he is was returning from covering the route also someone who has never changed “When I was born, this was a normal bar- as a bus driver. “That bus station was the where he lives. He says to me, sitting and rio. It could have almost all the necessary social and economic center of the bar- resting a bit his wrists on the kitchen ta- things: schools, pharmacy, grocery stores, rio’s life. A lot of people from my family ble: “Of all the places in Havana, my point hardware stores, hair-dressing salons, a worked there.” of departure, of return, of perspective, of bus station, two social centers so people creation, of dreams, of my own personal- could dance…. When you needed some- He says that in the 1990s the 4 and 68 ity…is here in Mantilla.” thing very special you would go to the routes disappeared. One day a big crane commercial area of Havana. Here in Man- came and took down the meter-and-a Alicia Fuentes was 15 years old in 1943. At tilla people still say they’re going to Ha- half high concrete sign that said Route the time Mantilla was a town between vana when they go to the zone of Monte, 4, in blue letters. “It’s like the demolition Arroyo Apolo (what today is La Palma) Reina, the zone with the large shops.” of a memory and a site people felt they and El Calvario, 12 kilometers to the south belonged to. And those are wounds in of Havana. The Fuentes family came from There were two principal bus routes that the identity, in the sense of belonging of Cienfuegos and they sent Alicia to stay went to the big city: the 4 that went to the people.”
52 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 53 There were also the groves. Mantilla was a zone with a great many plots of land dedicated to agriculture, mainly fruits. Mangos, avocados, plums. Padura’s grandfather used to buy the ripe man- goes in the farms and sell them in a small fruit stand or in the only market. It was a very common way of making a living. Until in the name of the famous Havana belt (a failed plan for the cultivation and development of coffee in the 1960s) only a single tree was left to tell the story.
Out of everything that previously existed in Mantilla, the only thing left now is the church. The same one where Padura did his first communion.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the young Padura started expanding his geo- graphical universe. It was the time of the senior high, the Vibora senior high. The time of transition from adolescence to young adulthood.
“It is a place that later became the space for my novels. At some moment I de- cided that all the cases that Conde re- ceived and would resolve would come Padura in the patio of his home in Mantilla from his classmates in senior high. In my last novel, La transparencia del tiempo, a senior high classmate goes to see him There were because someone has stolen his statue of a black Virgin Mary, and from there also the everything develops.” For a student, life around the Vibora se- nior high became very attractive. There groves. was the Alameda movie theater, where premiers were shown and where Padura saw Spartacus, La vida sigue igual and René O. Reiné Senior High School in La Víbora Mantilla was part one of The Godfather. There was the Vibora Coppelita (the small ice cream camp had started causing, they under- parlors were called coppelitas after Cop- stood they couldn’t live apart and they a zone with pelia, the large ice cream parlor located decided to get married. in the heart of El Vedado); as well as the bookstore. The apartment became a house in 1998, a great many just as it is today. Even though it is 10 Padura bought his first books in La Polilla meters from the avenue – the Calzada bookstore: Un perro amarillo, La aguja de Managua - through which the buses, plots of land hueca, detective short stories…. Today it trucks and other vehicles roar, the house is a place dilapidated by time, “impover- maintains a peculiar sound resembling ished like all Cuban bookstores since the silence. It isn’t absolute silence. Once in a dedicated to 1990s,” he says. while the plants hanging from the walls, It is the first of the concentric or standing on rails, let certain weak nois- When the Special Period came, Padura es drift from outside of Mantilla. circles of Padura’s universe. agriculture, had built a small bachelor’s apartment Circle and cycle. Where on top of his parents’ house. His girlfriend It is the first of the concentric circles of Pa- Lucía lived in La Palma. But with the rav- dura’s universe. Circle and cycle. Where he he was born and where he mainly fruits ages that the collapse of the socialist was born and where he always returns. always returns.
54 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 55 56 ONCUBA RECOMMENDS
A Different
Cecilia Crespo PaZilloPhotos: Courtesy of Pazillo The hamburger and tapas bar, PaZillo, is the Creating a different night with carefully a group of friends; an interior area with several plants and spices or mixing it with only private site in vogue in Havana where chosen and diverse good music was the the bar, stage and tables, which remains juices. It can also be fixed with almost ev- you can enjoy a varied live music program. criterion of its founders. Breaking with open or with AC, and the lateral corridor, erything, and it is drunk as an aperitif or the superficial imposed by the cultural which has been well taken advantage of digestive, in addition to providing its aro- Around these days, when it is celebrating industry, in the environment’s music as with tables and stools, excellent for the ma in some dishes. According to the wait- its first anniversary, it already classifies well as in the live presentations, contin- evenings and to taste the gastronomic ers, the favorite is the one with hot spices, as a space won over from the capital’s ues being their objective. offer. Patrons can find more than 50 com- although the one with sugarcane and cof- R E S T A U R A N T E & B A R nightlife, although starting noon its bar binations of hamburgers with diverse gar- fee grains has a special charm. and its stoves offer interesting proposals Its stage has been graced by the perfor- nishing, aggregates, sauces and breadsAM toIG- O in a relaxing chill out atmosphere. mance of artists of dissimilar styles and gether with varied tapas. They are already “The base Rof E Sall T A ofU R themA N T E is & Havana B A R Club 123 generations: Ray Fernández, David Tor- famous for their quality, size and unique Añejo Blanco and we serve it on boards. As the name suggests, its principal area is rens, Frank Delgado, Raúl Torres, Reinier recipes, the beef as well as the lamb, pork Not many leaveAM the placeIGO without tasting a corridor, of the typical lateral spaces of Mariño and Grethel Barreiro, among oth- and chicken hamburgers. the novelty. A client12 tasted3 them all in one El Vedado mansions (5ta, between 4 and ers. Very important: no reguetón or pop- same night, others become addicted and 6), a few meters from the Malecón. ular dance music, just sound related to Another of the right moves made by the try new ones in each visit,” Paz added. the peaceful atmosphere perceived right PaZillo is its varied cocktails. More than The name, according to what its owner, from when you enter. 150 cocktails, some exclusive to the site PaZillo is an atypical bar that is comple- Maikel Paz, said to OnCuba, is a spelling because of the complex elaborations and mented with the attention and quality mistake which he detected among the Thematic activities are also carried out the raw material used to prepare them. of a sincere and authentic gastronomic proposals for names. And he saw that it like PaZillo Pride, dedicated to an open They follow the international tendencies proposal. worked better that way because in addi- and unprejudiced public, among other like mixology, while offering traditional tion it had the z from his surname. events in addition to the music. cocktails and others based on versions like the favorite of many; the Mojito Open, warn and illuminated, this innova- Its easygoing and original decoration fa- PaZillo, made with 7-year rum, fresh rose- tive site is sensual and attractive beyond vors the sensorial experience of those who mary, white wine and soda water. its environment’s view and atmosphere. go to this original PaZillo. Its service, inti- Its variety and value for money turns it mate, personalized and colloquial, makes There are cocktails for all tastes and a AMIGO into an indispensable place to meet with clients feel at home and wanting to return. wide range of fixed rums prepared in the friends, socialize and chat, accompanied house. Right now they have 23 flavors; it is Calle 5 #604 e/ 4 y 6. El Vedado, Havana by mild melodies as well as the well- A menu is proposed in tune with the deco- the only place in Cuba with this offer that +53 7 8351106 | +53 5 3349570 known live presentations of the best con- ration. It has three areas: a garden with a has been very welcomed by the public. The [email protected] temporary Cuban music. comfortable couch and cushions, ideal for rum is “fixed” through the maceration of @pazillo.restaurante
58 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 59 60 MADE IN CUBA
KETTY FRESNEDA The Cuban in MasterChef Spain Milena Recio Photos: Courtesy of Ketty Fresneda
That day some three million persons were connected to the broadcast of MasterChef 6 Spain, the toughest and most tear- jerking contest, according to the Span- ish press comments. The emotions over- flowed on the dish, a rather neck-to-neck duel to get the title in which a Cuban, Ket- ty Fresneda, came in a second place that tasted gloriously for her after 13 weeks of a difficult competition.
Ketty and Marta Verona in the Final Duel of MasterChef 6 Spain Did you have some difficulty because you were Cuban? Did you feel any disinclina- tion toward you during the competition? Actually, I did feel a bit of prejudices at the beginning. They saw me as extravagant, a pretty face and they thought that I was there to show off. But they were wrong. I’ve been working in Spain for seven years, helping my guy in his kitchen, not going around looking pretty, but rather in a kitchen taking out dishes. I didn’t go to MasterChef to sell my face, I’m a work- ing girl. We Cubans are used to that. The good part is that little by little I started demonstrating that I was “dangerous,” “I’m super happy, of course I would have not because of my appearance but rather loved first place, but I think the competi- because I like to be in the kitchen and I tion was fair.” feel comfortable in the kitchen.
In the last match, Ketty delighted with During the program there were times a seafood salad with a coconut cupula, when they pointed you out for your a monkfish in its juice and, as desert, a strong, extroverted character. Is that a sponge cake with a “Cuba libre” flavor. trait of your Cubanness? It’s a combination of everything. I have a “I was rather nervous. But I’ll stay with strong character. I’m a person who says the good part: I’ve learned a great deal, what she thinks. I don’t run around the I’ve met a great many good people and bush, and of course a have frequent run- doors are going to open for me to study, ins and that created problems for me. to grow and train to be a chef, which is Not everyone wants to hear the truth. what I like.” Then it’s a mixture of my character and my Cuban origin. And the experience of In October, the Cuban, who lives in Pon- arriving in Spain when I was very young, tevedra, Galicia, will be able to attend the at 23. I faced the bad reputation that Basque Culinary Center, one of the world’s some Cuban women usually have here. I most important cooking schools, and, had to use that character to put a stop to from there on, she will start materializing some people. her dream: to open her own restaurant.
62 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 63 Would you mix Galician and Cuban cui- sine in your restaurant? I would always use typical products from Cuba, like avocados, which are wonderful. They can be combined with everything: fish, seafood, meat. Bananas would also always be in my recipes. They are very versatile. The sponge cake with Coca-Co- la flavor I made for MasterChef’s final had as a base banana, which gives it texture. It barely takes wheat flour. On the other hand, I have fallen in love with vanguard cuisine. I could create a dish called “Ropa vieja” and that it not be the same as the one your grandmother serves you. It’s the type of things I would like to do. And of course I would like to combine with something of Galician cuisine, which has that privileged seafood. It has a sea that produces spectacular products – among the best in the world -, and make combi- nations. For example, serve an emulsion of beans with some seafood.
Outside the kitchen, what decorative at- tributes couldn’t be missing in your place? A must is very low music that would re- mind me of my island: Celia Cruz, Benny Moré, the Old Trova. No matter how so- phisticated and modern the restaurant is, I would like it to always have that music, that it is noticed that there’s a Cuban in the restaurant.
Her mother is a great support and a source of inspiration for Ketty Fresneda How could you help other Cuban persons who have the same vocation for cuisine and for enterprise? And how did that character treat you in I would love to have a blog. Right now I’m the contest? more focused on my Instagram, where I In the contest I found wonderful people. usually post recipes. I would love to place They are the friends that approached me, emphasis on the usable cuisine: let’s not that took care of me, who were interested throw out what was left over from yes- in me because of what I am not because of terday, we can reinvent and make very how I look. They respected my culture, they delicious dishes. I have shared some respected my Cubanness. They played mu- recipes and I have received many thanks. sic at home so I would dance and to make When I finish my studies I would love to me happy. We are real friends. teach others. For my island, whatever is necessary. You’ve said you’ll open your restaurant. Will it be in Pontevedra? What was your family’s reaction in Cuba? I’m still not sure. My sister insists a lot in They are very proud of me. They have that I open it in Miami, but it could be in been surprised with how fast I have ma- Madrid or in Havana. I’ll decide that after tured; things are clear for me. When I pre- I have my title as chef. sented myself for the contest that is so important, which as is known is no joke, Havana could also be an option for you? they were a bit scared. If MasterChef is My husband would love it. He is Galician, hard for those from Spain, imagine for but he is in love with Cuba. His eyes shine. the foreigners. Then since I took the step I’d like for things to continue changing forward, they are proud. Now I have to there so it would be more favorable. With her best friends, who also live in Galicia With Marta Verona, the winner of the competition, who has become a good friend for Ketty continue working.
64 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 65 66 GASTRONOMIC REVIEW AJIACO CAFÉ by Alicia García A culinary expert. Daughter of the found- er of the famous Rancho Luna and El Aljibe restaurants, she learned from him to value the culinary and food culture not just as a delight but also as a fundamen- tal space to understand the human es- sence. Cofounder of the Cuban Gourmet Festival. Winner in 2004 of the Special Prize of the Jury in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for the book about her father: El Aljibe, un estilo natural. Gradu- ated in Gastronomical, Nutritional and Enological Journalism in Cuba.
Photos: Otmaro Rodríguez
EDITOR’S NOTE
OnCuba is initiating its section on gas- tronomic review. Given the culinary art’s boom taking place on the island, a phe- nomenon that is being consolidated and expanded, it has become necessary to find serious, trustworthy and diverse ref- erences on where and what we eat and drink and which are the places where we can live a unique experience. There are very few trustworthy sources in Cuba that include this type of information.
We will prioritize those spaces that have a notable accent on traditional and contem- porary Cuban cuisine. In addition to the analytical text, we will make assessments to appreciate the scales that specify the individual ranking of each restaurant or paladar. Therefore, the invitation has been made: first read, then taste and you will confirm if you agree with our expert. (fried egg, white rice, tomato sauce and we will be able to live the experience of money. With the courtesy presentation of fried ripe plantains) together with the activating the “sensorial memory” of our the card Friends of the House to clients rice with chicken with slices of pimen- palates. We are specifically referring to – chosen for being repeat patrons -, they tos and bathed with beer or the seafood guava shells with cream cheese – a distinc- apply the marketing technique to under- rice, among others. The fresh fish of the tive dessert but complex for foreigners’ line success; in this case they get 10% off. day sautéed with basil, tomato and gar- taste -, which should not be accompanied lic can be accompanied by cassava with by hot strips of fried dough, or served in an The card of Friends of the House is given garlic, oil and vinegar sauce, an unusual old fashion with sugar on its rims or honey to repeat clients and clients suggested by combination that extolls the natural to accompany. This presentation proposal regulars, that is to say, it is given to per- flavor of the rock bass and the contrast conspires against the original formula and sons motivated to make a repeat visit to between the well-carved tomato and the has an influence on inadequate tempera- this restaurant. ivory of the boiled tuber also merges with ture changes and in a deceiving percep- balanced levels of acidity and the slight tion of its physical characteristics (color, We invite this paradigmatic restaurant to flavors of spices without relegating the texture, flavor and smell). maintain the recipes of which Cuban gas- “taste of sea.” The combination of lobster tronomes and many clients have unique and shrimps made with rum in a Cuban Ajiaco Café’s cocktail making is distin- memories, those that the Ajiaco Café’s sauce, fish made with a sort of bouilla- guished. The bartender works with pro- team has relocated with an in-depth and baise made of a mix of fresh fish and sea- fessionalism the proportions of ice, the sustained research of our culinary and food Caibarién Salsa de Perro sauce, the mixtures with beer and with Cuban rums, cocktail-making history. typical home-made jerky and the prepa- and is crowned with the strong and aro- rations with fresh corn (meat stew with matic cocktail of the house, Mojito Ajiaco A question: do they prepare the Bull? We corn and tamales in leafs) are its most (special Añejo rum, bee honey, natural love that refreshing drink that appears “Cuban” offers to not be forgotten. lime juice, mint leafs, soda water, ice). in many Cuban cocktail recipes and of which we lost track a long time ago. Long We recommend working on home-made They do not include the 10% for the ser- live Ajiaco Café! desserts based on original recipes, thus vice and maintain an attractive value for
What more than seven years ago was the It is a space which we return to because car porch of a home in Cojímar (a coastal something different always surprises us. town in the outskirts of Havana) is now We once discovered evocations of the a thatched roof ranchón with its wooden indigenous cooking in a taro soup and stools and tables, one of the most re- cassava with small mounds of meat; on nowned in the new Cuban restaurant another occasion we read on the board business: Ajiaco Café. about the suggestions for the day: fried sweet potato and taro, both with a veg- It is one of the few paladares that prefer- etable filling, how delicious! (I have only entially is betting on Cuban cuisine with seen here these other variants of fried recipes from yesteryear and more con- plantain with fillings, so in fashion in cur- temporary ones that excel in their right rent Cuban gastronomy.) since the moment in which we read the day’s board and open the “captivating” Its cuisine’s seal is extolled with the and different menu to what is imposed house sauces made from tropical fruits, as tendency. Taro fritters, fish croquettes rum or herbs and spices. We recommend and mixed pasties, all very Cuban, are the version of the classical barbecue served as a courtesy of the house. Also sauce made with honey and guava for exquisite are the bag of house fritters pork chops, lamb with tamarind sauce, 9.6 (made from codfish, cassava, corn and the starter with octopus with a coriander sweet potato with jerky) and the prepa- and cayenne pepper vinaigrette and the rations with fresh corn (meat stew with robust beef in rum and coffee cream. corn and tamales in leafs). And, of course, the dish for which this paladar was Its cuisine is honest: as soon as we sit named, its stylized version of the Cuban down the dishes and products of the day EVALUATION: ajiaco (meat and vegetable stew), which are announced. Its aromas do not deceive, Salon: 9.3 stands out for its ideal linking of ingre- they are not disguised, and Pedro Tejeda Kitchen: 9.8 dients that make it lighter and give it a (the manager) is not afraid of proposing Bar: 9.8 more agreeable taste. the simple and popular Cuban style rice General: 9.6 EXCELLENT
68 OnCuba Travel, Aug.-Sep. 2018 Aug.-Sep. 2018 oncubamagazine.com 69
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