Tag Archives: Cuba

Sacred Ceiba & Guije!

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Did you know that in Cuba the “Guije” live in the Ceiba trees??

The Ceiba tree is one of the family Malvaceae of which there are 10 known species. Its appearance makes it easy to spot; thick straight trunk with spikes on it, forming buttress roots and an umbrella like canopy of leaf and flower cover. The flower which appears before the leaves, develops into seed pods which split to release large quantities of soft, fibrous Kapok, used to fill mattresses, pillows etc. These trees can grow to great heights and live many years, but the wood is only of use for dugout canoes, as it is light and buoyant. For this reason the Ceiba is often the only tree left standing when the forest has been cut down for building materials! The flowers are pollinated by fruit eating bats at dusk or during the night and in Cuba the Ceiba tree is home to the Guije!

Travelling around the island you will encounter many enormous Ceiba trees in the plazas and elsewhere. Around the base of these trees offerings will be placed by devotees practicing the “Santaria” religion dominant in Cuba. Offerings of various types of food, animal blood, flowers or over ripe plantain for example, are placed on the ground around the tree trunk and in return the Ceiba or Chango or Santa Barbara will reciprocate a favour or some kind of help!

The Ceiba represents energy and life, abundance and force, and the force it represents is the strength of Chango or his catholic counterpart, Santa Brabara.

Chango or Sanata Barbara are represented by the colour red; thus the blood offerings!

So would you want a Ceiba in your garden?? NO you would not!

Forget the beautiful flowers and the vast quantities of kapok you might benefit from, the Ceiba tree is also home to the Guije, and you really don’t want to set eyes on him!!!

 

“What type of creature is a Guije?” I hear you ask! “He is not mentioned in my Guide Book”! well…  He is black as coal, and very short in height. His head is big with long straggly plaits. His eyes are enormous and shiny and bright and he only comes out at night!!!  He has two arms and two legs like you and me, and he’s always close to the Ceiba tree. You might catch a glance of him in the corner of your eye looking out from beside the tree trunk, but in an instant he is gone!  Now you have seen him you better take care you better beware!!! He is up to no good and he is always hungry!!!

His favourite food is “Funche” which is made from sweet potato combined with flour into a type of a soup to which alcohol can be added or offered separately!!!

No one wants to see the Guije and no one wants a Ceiba in their garden! If they do have one then they put plates of Funche for the Guije to keep him calm and hope he stays happily in his tree home!

There is so much to enjoy in Cuba why not book onto a tour this year?

“A Cuban Snapshot” takes in Havana, Vinales and Trinidad 7 days
https://encompasstours.com/tours/cuba/a-cuban-snapshot-7-days/

“Mi Cubita” extends the tour to the delightful Pirate city of Camaguey!
https://encompasstours.com/tours/cuba/mi-cubita-cuba14-days/

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Caribbean Cocktails, Havana Club and ….

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Summer is here in Europe despite the rain and our thoughts are turning to holidays. White, palm lined, beaches, and cool refreshing cocktails to sooth the heat of the mid day sun!!

Here in Cuba the cocktails are always at hand, all rum based and plentiful combining locally grown limes and herbs into tangy mouthfuls bursting with flavours!

Havana Club is the local poison and it comes young fresh and white or more mature and dark aged for 3 years, 5 years, and 7 years! The most popular among Cubans is the white rum and “Rum Collins” would be the typical home made party drink in down town Havana. It combines simple ingredients that are fresh and local and can be found in most homes without prior planning. White rum Havana Club, lime juice, ice, sugar

Here’s how!

Choose a long glass or tumbler and squeeze the juice of a small lime into it.

Add a teaspoon full of sugar (more if you have a very sweet tooth) and mix together to dissolve the sugar in the juice.

Pour in a good shot of Havana Club white rum and stir together                                         

Fill your glass with ice cubes and top up with sparkling water!  ……………………………………………...Enjoy!!!!

Most visitors want to try a “Cuba Libre”,  which comes in a tall glass, garnished perhaps with a slice of lime, lots of ice and mixed with Cuba’s  very own “Tu. Cola”.  “Cuba Libre” was the battle cry of the soldiers during the war of independence from Spain in 1898 but Cola from the US did not arrive in Cuba till 1900 brought over my the armed forces. Its certain that the combination of Cola and Rum was quickly found to be delicious in a tall glass packed with ice and garnished with a slice of lime…….so the birth of this drink can be traced to 1900and has been popular the world over ever since!

Mojitos have a much longer pedigree, are 100% Cuban and fun to make, if you can get your hands on some “Yerba Buena”.! This drink needs a little more preparation but delicious and refreshing it will wake up your mouth and set your taste buds tingling! It’s been around for centuries and was popular with the pirates of the 17th century who sweetened the available “aguardiente” (a crude predecessor of rum) with “guarapo” (freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, see our news item “the sweetest sugar in the world” https://encompasstours.com/2012/05/the-sweetest-sugar-in-the-world/ ) Freshly squeezed lime juice was always on their menu to prevent scurvy at sea so adding some alcohol and flavours made it much more attractive!  These days if you can’t get your hands on Yerba Buena then any fresh mint will do, guarapo can be substituted with a couple of spoons of sugar and we have the luxury of ice and sparkling water that the pirates would have lacked!!

Hemmingway’s Daiquiri is world famous but more popular outside Cuba than among the island population! It is totally Cuban in origin and made popular abroad through the maritime connection and trade with the US during the 1940s. Originally a long drink it has evolved into a shaken short with crushed ice, sugar, lime juice and rum!

Drink it cold and short…..

…….time for another?????

Have a party this weekend!  Get your friends around for a taste that is pure Caribbean and get in the mood for summer.

Get yourself a bottle of Havana Club, half a dozen limes, some sugar to taste, a tray or two of ice cubes, big bottle of sparkling water or sparkling cola, a big bunch of fresh mint , if you can’t get Yerba Buena and with a couple of friends have a Cuban fiesta!!
Or why not invent your own!!?
Send us your personal favourites with a foto and we will feature the best one on facbook and on our web site!!!
cuba@ encompasstours.com
Or fill in the comments form below! Don’t forget to leave your name so we can let you know if your recipe is chosen!

Book your Cuban Holiday now!
“A Cuban Snapshot” 7 days tour
https://encompasstours.com/tours/cuba/a-cuban-snapshot-7-days/

“Mi Cubita” 14 days tour.
https://encompasstours.com/tours/cuba/mi-cubita-cuba14-days/

 

Dulces de Coco: Coconut Sweets

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Coconut Sweets and deep fried pasta!

Every country has its junk food and street food and Cuba, despite all its shortages is no exception!

”Necessity is the mother of invention”  so the saying goes, and never a phrase more truly represents all aspects of life in Cuba today. Locally sourced home grown food is no luxury here, is all that’s available, and Cubans make the most of what little they have.

You need not search for pre packaged bags of potato crisps, colourful snack size bags of peanuts nor huge selections of biscuits and cookies in beautiful plastic wrappings!

What you will find out on the streets are snacks made at home by hand, displayed on trays and advertised by voice! Some of the voices are amazing in their volume and your sweet dreams might be interrupted as you wake in the early morning in old Havana to the sound of “Tamales fresco” (fresh Tamales) “Coco! Coco!” (coconut)

Out on the streets, in the popular plazas and especially on the Malecon (the walled sea front where lover go to stroll at night and fishermen spend their days casting out to sea) these are the haunts for the street sellers. Frequently you’ll find old ladies and gents in straw hats carrying a bundle of cone shaped paper packages and ambling along in the sunshine. These old folks will be calling “mani mani” (peanuts) or “chicharrita” (which is a general term for junk food)   Some cones they are clutching are the size of an icecream, others thinner still, and here size matters! The thin ones are mani and the fat ones chcharrita!

If you are lucky the peanuts will still be warm from the roasting, they are small, salty and very tasty!  The chicahrrita is a totally Cuban invention, its deep fried pasta and comes crunchy, crisp and salty in the style of a pasta tube, like penne or macaroni.

For a few pesos MN (moneda nacional) any child or adult can crunch their way through these simple snacks that fill a gap between lunch and dinner!

Younger stronger bodies are needed to carry the trays of “Dulces de Coco” (coconut sweets ) that glisten in the sunshine attracting children like bees to a honeycomb! These street hawkers need strong biceps and walk the streets selling their wears which quickly disappear.

Coconut is the main ingredient and grows abundantly on the island, then you need a generous helping of sugar for which Cuba is famous. The resulting globes of sweet coco gleam like jewels on their trays. Irresistible!!

We can recommend you try a dulce de coco and a cup of Cubas delicious coffee, the perfect partnership!

Why not book your tour today to Cuba today and taste for yourself!

A Cuban Snapshot is our 7 day tour
https://encompasstours.com/tours/a-cuban-snapshot-7-days/

Mi Cubita is our 14 day tour
https://encompasstours.com/tours/mi-cubita-cuba14-days/

The sweetest sugar in the world!

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Guarapo Frio!

Celia Cruz was not the only Cuban to cry “Azucar” with delight and eager anticipation, but she put the island on the map for many people!

“Azucar” or sugar, is and has been the life blood of the island and an essential ingredient without which Cubans could not survive!

Life is sweet in Cuba and coffee comes automatically sweet…”Sin azucar???” (without sugar) you must be crazy!

The plantations of sugar cane are now much reduced from their peak following the revolution of 1959 when vast areas of land were cut and burnt to boost crops and foreign income. Sugar prices were high as was demand, but markets fluctuate and during the last three decades Cuban sugar industry has all but disappeared! Many of the the “centrales” or sugar refineries, have been closed down or even pulled down, and in some cases only the elegant tall chimneys remain. Workers have had to move on to other industries, and communities have shrunk or moved away. The trains too that were so important for the transportation to the ports are mainly to be found in the museums or abandoned and rusting at the end of the line!

Home consumption of sugar will always be  high as Cubans have a very sweet tooth, and one way of getting your sugar hit for the day is a delicious cup of “Gurapo Frio” cold sugar juice!

Kiosks selling Guarapo are popular all over Cuba and the juice couldn’t be fresher!  A stack of recently cut cane is piled ready and you can watch the machine as it crushes and squeezes the sweet sticky liquids from the stalks. It’s comes trickling out a light brownish colour and is collected in a bucket as it runs from the rollers.

Next a block of ice is pulverised in your mug and the liquid poured over!  Its quite frothy, very sweet and will give you a huge energy rush! Cubans love it!! On a boiling hot summer day what could be better mid morning!!

Holidays to Cuba available now!

“Mi Cubita” 14 days tour
https://encompasstours.com/tours/mi-cubita-cuba14-days/

“Cuban Snapshot” 7 days tour
https://encompasstours.com/tours/a-cuban-snapshot-7-days/

For the sounds of Celia singing “Azucar Negra” you tube link below!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCSAHyvslhU&feature=related

In search of Cuba’s National Symbols!

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What do symbols tell us about ourselves and our aspirations?

Columbus is not the only person who has exclaimed that Cuba is the most beautiful land ever created.

Cubans and thousands of tourists share this opinion. The island is fertile for agriculture with a beautiful climate and plenty of rain, providing an ample diversity of vegetation. Its geographic location is an ideal stop off point for migrating birds and there are some endemic species too! Cubans are rightly proud of their island and the national symbols that they have inherited!

In every village and community you will see these representations lovingly painted on the walls; a tall palm tree, a delicate white flower, and small bird with an unusual long tail!

Cuba has many types of palm trees, and this one is not an indigenous species, but it is sure to be the first palm tree that you see when you arrive in Cuba.  The “Palma Real” (Roystonea regia) or Royal Palm, originates in Florida and Mexico. It can reach an amazing 40 or 50 feet in height and stands majestic with a characteristic crowning crest of leaf fronds.  It grows everywhere on the island and despite its great height and slim trunk, can withstand hurricane force conditions. The Royal Palm embodies and represents the endurance of the people.

The choice of another non native species for national flower reflects the non indigenous nature of the islands population. The “Mariposa” (Hedychium coronarium) or White Butterfly Jasmine originates in Asia, Indonesia and India and is part of the ginger family and is found commonly flowering in the rainy season as it like damp conditions. The flower is a beautiful and delicate white with large petals and the flowers emerge from an encased and layered flower head. The scent is a deliciously fragrant, delicate jasmine aroma. During the wars of Independence the Cuban ladies wore this flower in their hair and it’s said they hid messages passed between rebels in the flower stalks! Today it’s a popular flower for religious offerings and personal decoration. This exquisite flower represents the purity, independence and rebellion of the people.

Cubans are fond of putting small birds in small cages but the national bird will never withstand this form of captivity!  It’s a shy bird that values its freedom and if caged will fly repeatedly at the bars until it batters itself to death!!

It’s not an abundant species but it’s indigenous and endemic to Cuba. It’s likely that most Cubans have never seen this bird in its natural setting and so we hired a guide to help us find it. The lovely elusive “Tocororo” (Priotelus temnurus) or Cuban Trogon can only be found in particular locations and it’s well worth seeing. The plumage is of white, red and blue, the colours of the Cuban flag and its name reflects is song “tocororo tocororo”. This beautiful bird is a representation of an idea of freedom and patriotism that all Cubans aspire to.

If you’d like to see these lovely species and more why not book a tour to Cuba?

“A Cuban Snapshot” 7 days
https://encompasstours.com/tours/a-cuban-snapshot-7-days/

“Mi Cubita” 14 days.
https://encompasstours.com/tours/mi-cubita-cuba14-days/