Appetizers - Cuban Cuisine

   •   Vegetable Soup

   •   Tomato soup with potatoes
   •   Chicken Soup

   •   Pineapple Surprise

   •   Creamed Fish Soup

Vegetable Soup (5 servings)

•  200 gr. potatoes •  125 gr. carrots •  150 gr. green beans •  60 gr. celery •  60 gr. leek •  60 gr. cabbage •  70 gr. Swiss chard •  70 gr. onion •  150 gr. fresh tomato •  1.75 L chicken stock •  60 gr. butter •  salt

Sauté the cubed vegetables in butter; add stock and leave to cook for approximately 25 minutes and season with salt.

Tomato soup with potatoes (3/4 servings)

   •  1 lb potatoes
   •  2 cups water (1 ½ liters)
   •  1½ lb ripe tomatoes
   •  1 large or 2 small onions
   •  1 tbsp butter or oil
   •  5 tsp. of sugar (approximately)
   •  salt and pepper

Peel the potatoes and put to boil until soft. Approximately one and a half cups of water from the potatoes should be left over. While the potatoes are cooking, wash tomatoes well and cut into small pieces with half the onion. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring constantly so as to avoid sticking.
Sauté the rest of the finely chopped onion in hot butter or oil. Push the potatoes and the water they were cooked in through a sieve, together with the tomatoes. Add some of this mixture to the onion and leave to cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Mix everything and push the mixture through a sieve again or use a blender. Season with salt, sugar and pepper according to taste. Heat over a low flame for around half an hour.

Chicken Soup (5 servings)

   •  300 gr. chicken
   •  100 gr. noodles
   •  1 small onion
   •  15 gr. carrot
   •  15 gr. red peppers
   •  5 gr. celery
   •  1 clove garlic
   •  1.75 L water
   •  salt
   •  1 pinch vegetable coloring (Bijol)

Remove bone and cartilage from the chicken, place in a saucepan over heat and skim after a few minutes. Add the spices and the diced vegetables and cook for approximately 25 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the broth; add the Bijol and cracked noodles to the broth and leave to cook until the noodles are al dente.
When serving, add a portion of chicken to each serving.

Pineapple Surprise (5 servings)

   •  5 medium pineapples
   •  600 gr. fruit salad
   •  50 gr. melon scoops
   •  10 gr. yerbabuena (herb similar to spearmint)
   •  145 ml orange juice
   •  50 ml Carta Blanca Rum
   •  25 ml grenadine

Wash the pineapples well and remove leaves. Cut the top off at approximately 6 cm below the crown of the fruit in a zig zag pattern.
Take off the top and empty the fruit, leaving 2 cm thickness. Fill with the fruit macerated in the rum and grenadine. Garnish with the yerbabuena and the melon scoops and finish by pouring the liquid mixture left after the maceration. Put the top of the pineapple in place and keep in the refrigerator.

Creamed Fish Soup (4 servings)

   •  500 gr. potatoes
   •  250 gr. pumpkin
   •  1 fish head
   •  500 ml water
   •  2 tbsp. oil or butter
   •  1 small onion
   •  3 cloves of garlic
   •  1 tsp. finely chopped parsley
   •  2 tbsp pureed tomato
   •  salt
   •  1 bay leaf
   •  1/8 tsp. pepper
   •  1/8 tsp. cumin
   •  1/8 tsp. oregano
   •  1/2 lemon juice or 1 tbsp. wine (dry or white)

Boil the cut potatoes with the fish, the pumpkin cut into cubes in 1 and a half liters of water. When the potatoes soften, remove the fish head and add sofrito and salt along with the spices. Leave to boil, covered, over a low heat for 15 or 20 minutes longer. Meanwhile, take all the meat thoroughly off the fish head and shred. Five minutes before serving the soup, sieve the soup and add the pieces of fish. Leave over a low heat but only to keep warm; do not let it cook further. Before serving, add the lemon juice or wine. Serve hot with toasted or fried croutons.

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* Ajiacos (stews) and Potajes
* Meats
* Salads
* Side Dishes
* Fish and other Seafood
* Cakes and Pastries
* Desserts

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