This island, the first Spanish colony in America, witnessed the gestation of Hernán Cortés' conquest in the rest of Latin America. After the disappearance of the Aboriginal culture, food became the main reflection of pre-Hispanic traditions.
Food during the Spanish conquest
The main crops of the indigenous people, and almost the only ones, were corn and cassava, a plant with a high starch content.
However, due to their privileged geographical conditions, they also had a large variety of wild tubers and fruits. The coasts, teeming with life, provided large amounts of protein with their rich fishing grounds full of mollusks, fish, and crustaceans.
The Caribbean's own ecosystem also led reptiles and turtles to become part of the Aboriginal diet. A little further from the coast, large rodents like the hutia were hunted and integrated into meals.
The conquest of the table
Criolla-style Chicken Broth
The criolla-style chicken broth is a delicious variant with noodles, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes. A recipe that highlights the traditional and essential flavors of Latin American cuisine, bringing pleasure to the palate with every spoonful. A comforting gastronomic experience.
The main goal of the conquerors, upon realizing the mineral wealth of the newly discovered land, was gold.
Subsequently, large estates arrived, along with livestock exploitation, and then agriculture focused on commercial products in high demand in Europe, such as tobacco, coffee, cotton, and sugar.
This led to a scheme dependent on the importation of food in the Caribbean, which soon became natural. Cuba does not have the necessary expanse to rely on its own cereal cultivation, despite this, thanks to the Spanish tradition, large quantities of wheat and rice are consumed.
After the conquest, plant species of African origin began to be imported and adapted to Cuba, such as yams, okra, and plantains, a favorite in Cuban cuisine.
Additionally, the import of European products that would later become part of the Cuban basic diet began, such as wheat, oil, and fauna like poultry and cattle, which reproduced extensively and without problems in their new habitat, mainly pigs, which currently occupy a privileged place in the Cuban diet.
Beans, together with chili pepper, tomato, and rice, began to shape what today constitutes traditional Cuban food.
However, the dietary adaptation and homogenization took at least 400 years. Cuban gastronomy ultimately blended the dietary pattern of European Spanish conquerors, African slaves, and indigenous ethnicities.
Grilled Pineapple Sweet
Grilled pineapple sweet combines the natural sweetness of the fruit with a caramel touch thanks to cooking. Its elegant presentation makes it an ideal dessert for special occasions. A simple recipe that will delight your guests.
This gastronomy became so entrenched that it even survived almost unchanged subsequent massive migrations of Galician or Asturian Spaniards, and later Asians and Eastern Europeans.
Additionally, since the conquerors did not have suitable planting techniques and did not rotate crops, it diminished the already low agricultural capacity of the island.
If we add to this that the first corn crops were intended for pig feed and not for human consumption, it was only when it began to be used to feed slaves and the lower classes that we can get an idea of the great agricultural production deficit that the island faced after the conquest, a deficit that still persists to this day.
Industries from the Spanish conquest
Cuba was discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, but its true colonization began in 1510 with Diego Velázquez.
The goal of Spanish colonizers was the extraction of gold and precious minerals, which led to the enslavement of free indigenous people. Subsequently, crops such as wheat, pumpkin, and various tubers were introduced.
However, none had as much success as sugarcane, which over time would become one of Cuba's most important economic industries.
Malarrabia
Malarrabia is a typical Cuban sweet, very popular in Latin America. In each country of the continent, a different variant of this delicacy can be found. Here we present the recipe in Cuban style.
Cuba became the hub of trade between Europe and America. Rich in tariffs and taxes, it was not only a large exporter of sugar, tobacco, and derivatives, but also a major market for continental exchanges to the New World.
