CU food essay
29 October 2003

Northwest Arkansas Times - LETTERS FROM CUBA - (note: Will Jordan, 20, a University of Arkansas student and a Fayetteville native, is attending the University of Havana in Cuba this semester as part of a Sturgis Study Abroad Grant. He is the first UA student to study in Cuba through the grant program. During his time there, Jordan will write occasional diary entries for the benefit of Northwest Arkansas Times readers)

Food in Cuba comes down to two options: pesos or dollars. The average traveler staying a week or two comes away with a completely different experience from those who live here. This is to say, it is completely possible to stay in Cuba without ever truly experiencing Cuban food. Extranjeros, or foreigners, rarely have the opportunity to spend the national currency, or pesos, and instead have access (through hotels and touristy restaurants) to almost all of the comforts of home. The truly unique experience comes in the form of peso food. Walk around the corner from any hotel or tourist district and peso food stands can't be missed. Kiosks are set up on corners throughout the neighborhoods; Their meager offerings are displayed in glass boxes. Cubans gather around for a ham sandwich (10 pesos) and a glass of juice (1 peso), lunch for less than 50 cents. Also frighteningly common is the peso pizza. This pizza is nothing like anything I've ever had before. The fried crust is scantly covered in "Cuban cheese," which resembles cheese almost ready to be thrown out. Ranging in price from anywhere from 4 to 10 pesos, peso pizza is a staple in the Cuban diet.

If the food isn't enough of an experience, the restaurants surely will be. "Pie in the Sky," a well-known pizza place, is on the third floor of its building. To order you have to stand on the opposite side of the street, get the cook's attention, and shout your order to him. Five minutes later the cook lowers the pizza down in a basket. Look a little harder, and you can find a cajita stand. It may take walking down an alley, but the $1 (25 peso) meal is well worth the experience. A cajita is typical criollo food - rice, beans, cucumber, potatoes and a slice of pork - served in a small cardboard box. The lid of the box doubles as a scoop as they are rarely served with a utensil.

The best bargain and certainly the most palatable is the peso ice cream. One-peso (4-cent) "frozens" are as common as ham sandwiches, which anyone in Cuba will inevitably get tired of. The "frozens" resemble frozen yogurt in the U.S. If you are willing to splurge, you can venture on down to Coppelia where they serve ice cream in stainless steel platters. Both Cubans and tourists frequent Coppelia, a park dedicated to ice cream. The park along with the flying saucer-like structure where they serve the ice cream takes up a full city block. In the evenings the lines to get in wrap around the park and can take up to three hours. Four scoops of ice cream will set you back 6 pesos (25 cents). I once saw a couple order eight platters, four scoops in each. When you get tired of ham and are in need of a homecooked meal the same two options apply. There are produce markets scattered around town selling the in-season fruit and vegetables, and occasionally meat. These markets, known as agros, sell fresh products for pesos.

Havana also has supermarkets, sparsely spread around the city. The supermarket shelves are filled with foreign goods, but in keeping the Cuban tradition, there are very few options. At most, a couple of different brands of a particular item will be available. For example, one aisle is completely dedicated to olives and pickles. Good luck finding peanut butter, meat other than pork, the occasional chicken, or fresh milk. There is such a great difference between visiting Cuba and living here. As a student and only living here a short time, I feel caught in the middle. I have the option of going out and having a nice meal and paying in dollars. I also have the opportunity to understand the economics and pay in pesos. Using pesos is an integral part of the immersion. The economic limitations have created a large gap within society. Having dollars means more than financial liberty; it also entails entrance into a parallel society designed outside of the socialist system.