During this time my father was in a labor camp, for the crime of wanting to leave the country. Alone, and with few provisions, as my mother struggled to care for us, she was struck with inspiration. One day she went out to the back patio to do the wash and saw a cute little frog sitting by the door to the kitchen. My mother has always liked frogs, and this little frog by the kitchen door gave her an idea...
My father and I were very close, but I did not always get along with my mother, so even though she was a marvelous cook, I had never been interested in learning her cooking secrets. However, after my father’s death, I witnessed my mother’s severe deterioration and overwhelming sadness. Looking for a way to engage her, I had the idea to ask her to teach me how to cook like her...
A great many of the delicious foods that came out of Mamina’s kitchen began with a sofrito. It is the seasoning base for many Cuban dishes. Sofrito is sauted onions, peppers, garlic and sometimes tomatoes....
This is a very simple cake that comes with many memories. First the birthday parties when my sisters and I were very young. The cousins, aunts, uncles, friends. All the great party foods like bocaditos, croquetas, cangrejitos, etc. The music, dancing with my father, what great fun! The cake was usually from a bakery, but sometimes my mother made it. This was all before the Communists began to suck the fun out of life.
Later memories are different. My father was in the labor camp, because we were "worms" who wanted to leave the country. We were allowed to visit him once a month. The prisioners in the camp were nearly starving, so my mother would prepare food out of our meager rations, to take to our father. She would toast bread slices on a pan (the toaster no longer worked and in a Communist regime there's no such thing as going to the store and buying a new one), till they were completely dry. She would then store these in tin containers so they wouldn't spoil in the humid tropical weather. She would also make him a cake (no frosting), though she was not always able to obtain all the ingredients. She "baked" the cake in a pressure cooker, on the kerosene stove my father had built. Our gas stove and oven had not been operational for years, since we could not buy gas because there was none available. There was no need to try and preserve the cake, the men devoured it as soon as we got to the camp; sweet relief to their constant hunger.
Now Cuban cake always fills me with gratitude for freedom, my parents and the sweetness of life.
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour pans. Beat the first 5 ingredients with a hand mixer. Add flour, salt and baking powder and fold into wet ingredients, without beating it. Pour into pans, Bake for 30 minutes.
MERINGUE FROSTING
4 cups sugar
1 cup water
4 Tablespoons sugar
4 egg whites
First make syrup. Cook the 4 cups of sugar and 1 cup water to soft ball stage. (That’s when you drop a small amount of the syrup in cold water and it forms a soft flexible ball). Let it cool. Beat egg whites until they make peaks, add the 4 Tablespoons of sugar. Pour the syrup into the meringue slowly, and beat until spreadable consistency.
Frost cake and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.
ACELGA- Swiss Chard
This is one recipe I am particularly fond of because it reminds me of both my parents. My father loved to garden, grow food. When we lived in Miami (and in Cuba of course) he grew platanos (bananas of many kinds), mangos, papaya, vegetables, etc. When my parents moved in with us in Utah, he continued to grow vegetables. Sometimes one garden was not enough, but fortunately we had kind neighbors willing to let him plant gardens in their yards!
Swiss chard was one of the vegetables my father really liked and always planted. Even in Utah it has a long growing season, withstanding heat and cold. Sometimes it would even come back in the Spring, after having been covered with snow for months. It is very dark green, so it has lots of nutrients and a strong taste. My mother prepared it this way and it's delicious. Sometimes I leave out the tomato sauce.
Prepare a Sofrito:
Olive oil to coat frying pan
1 onion
3-5 garlic cloves
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce, you can use fresh tomatoes, but Mamina rarely did
A big huge double hand full of chard, it cooks up into almost nothing
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cooking wine (optional)
Wash chard, cut off thickest part of stalks, chop and set aside. Chop the onions and garlic, sauté in olive oil for 2-3 minutes, then add the Swiss chard, tomato sauce, salt and cooking wine. Stir then cover it with a lid and simmer on low for 5-6 minutes. I like to serve it on rice.
