The posts I've seen have been old so I'm asking again. I eat seafood and chicken but also like vegetables and fruits and definitely try to minimize greasy food. One casa particular I looked up has a hotplate and small refri in the room. I've also read that other casa particulares are likely to let the visitor cook. Is that true and how much time and energy would I be spending to eat food that's good for me? What other options are there? Any recommendations of particular casas?
1
zedmans
The casa owner is out to make as much $ as possible. They would love to cook for you. Have some meals there, tell them what you like. Cook for youself if you wish, and get out and eat as well......
2
2025
OP, one of the problems with self feeding is that it's not always easy to buy what you would like, there aren't many super markets around.
Casa cooking is generaly very good, as mentioned above let your casa host know your likes and dislikes and they will prep food accordingly, there are also a number of paladars (private resto) and restaurants around where you can get a fill of whatever you like.
Havana is a big town, for casas you should decide which end of town you'll be staying in then look at houses in those specific areas.
3
davfitz
OP
#2 has probably led a very sheltered life.
The trick is twofold:
1. find a CP suitably equipped for self catering. This means fridge, stove, utensils, cutlery and crockery, etc. I have done it and it certainly is possible. Cooking food actually involves shopping for it: you know finding, meat, vegetables, oils and seasonings. While supermarkets as known in North America do not abound, shops and agro-mercados are ubiquitous; and
2. understand what cooking from basic ingredients is all about. If your idea of cooking is heat and eat - forget it. I have met well-fed Cubans who have never seen a can opener and did not know how to work one when I presented it. Lucky them!
It takes effort and knowledge. If you have both, you will be well-fed and will enjoy cooking in Cuba.
Have fun!
4
rainbow2
That would be hysterical Davfitz if it was not so TRUE!!!! I gave a can opener to a mid 20's lady from Gitmo and she had no idea what it was. Her idea of a can opener was a big knife and a ROCK! Three whacks and she had half of the can opened. I could not believe my eyes! She did however know how to work the screw cap on a rum bottle pretty good. JeJeJe!!!!
There is no problem getting what you need in Havana but in the outlying areas, you get what is availible. You are much better buying the food and letting a Cuban cook it for you "Cuban Style". Some of the best meals I have had in Cuba were in Butthole Nowhere and prepared by the little old ladies in that little two donkey town. We went to market.... they pointed... I paid..... they cooked.... and we, and the neighborhood ate like kings. Total cost.....$12.00 (plus rum and beer of course) Funky1 is down there right now and I am jealous as hell!!!!
5
ttjpdo
I pretty much live on veggies, fruit when I can find it, and rice when I am in Cuba. No problem. Unless you particularly want to spend your vacation learning Cuba's complicated shopping system (like where to find when when and where), and if all you really want is to eat well, my recommendation would be to tell your casa host what you want to eat and leave him/her to it. The sooner you provide them with the necessary information the better, because it gives them that much more time to shop for it. Also, the more clear you are about what you want, the better. They will of course think you are crazy if you don't want meat or seafood, but all the casa hosts I have encountered go out of their way to prepare what you want. And on the whole, they are good cooks--much better than the ones in hotels and state-owned restaurants, where I believe that in order to hold the job, they must attend a special chef school where they learn how NOT to cook well. In casas, where I have always found the best vegetarian food, I normally pay 3 CUC for breakfast, and 5 CUC for a large, purely vegetarian dinner. (I do not eat seafood, although it is reputed to be excellent).
Although only five or six Cuban food products meet the European standards for "organic," Cuban fruits and vegetables are grown with an absolute minimum of pesticides, and many are organic. For this reason (and lack of refrigeration), the fruits and vegetables you find in the agro-mercados are not North American "pretty." But they are, on the whole, more recently harvested and much safer.
6
rainbow2
Being a full blown carnivore means I always want something on my plate that had eyes but I have found that the fruits especially taste better in Cuba. The bananas taste more "bananaly,.....the mangos taste....well.... better, and the oranges, while looking pretty sick sometimes, just make better juice. Ohhhhhhh and the zapote....there is nothing like it when it is ripe. I think it is the lack of hybredization and forced genetics that makes the difference. Kind of like the Cubans themselves!!! They just let the genes fall where they may. JeJeJe!!!!
7
anonymous
Get your self a casa with kitchen ...
Some examples for Havana:
Casa Argeo
Casa Elvira
Casa Mario
Succes
CJ
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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