Discover the fresh flavors of contemporary Cuba in this gorgeously photographed volume of stories and recipes from the country's enterprising restaurants.
Over the past decades, paladares—or private restaurants—have led a cultural and culinary renaissance in Cuba. In Paladares, James Beard Award-winning food writer Anya von Bremzen shares a fascinating journey through the country's new food scene. Born in Soviet Russia, Bremzen brings a unique perspective to the stories she hears from Cuba's chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, and food historians. She eavesdrops on passionate arguments about black beans and tamales; pries Daiquirí secrets from the legendary El Floridita (Hemingway's watering hole); and guides us to vibrant markets and visionary organic farms.
Through Bremzen's travels, we learn of Fidel's obsession with dairy cows and hear wrenching memories of privation from the time after Soviet aid vanished. We meet colorful expats-turned-restaurateurs and local hipsters who obsess over global culture glimpsed in foreign movies and magazines.
The more than 100 recipes in Paladares are as intriguing as the characters behind them. And Fawn Schlow's evocative photographs frame it all with the ramshackle glamour of old Havana, Cuba's stunning countryside, dishes that are earthy and innovative, and Cuba's incredible people.
Praise
“This amazing cookbook shares the challenges and triumphs of some of the most innovative and improvising chefs in the world. Through the ingredients and techniques, you can begin to understand more about this incredible country and its people.”chef and owner, minibar by José Andrés and ThinkFoodGroup, José Andrés
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“Cuban food authorities call their home ‘this country of inventors,’ and this exhaustively researched and gorgeously photographed book reveals how necessity sparked culinary magic. . . . I hope this book inspires greater understanding between the United States and Cuba . . . I know it will inspire us all to get cooking!”host of Chopped on Food Network, Ted Allen
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“Filled with intimate sketches of the people behind paladares, and beautifully photographed food you can’t wait to make, Anya von Bremzen and Megan Fawn Schlow capture the surreal and confounding contradictions of present-day Cuba with remarkable insight. Your mind will race ahead to imagine the possibilities for an island forever on the verge.”author of The Cuban Table: A Celebration of Food, Flavors, and History, Ana Sofía Peláez
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“In Paladares, Anya von Bremzen and Megan Fawn Schlow show us the unique intersection of cultures, history, and geography that define the home cooking of Cuba as elevated within a closed-door restaurant. Illicit, familiar, and exotic, these recipes stand on their own but also together to capture a moment in time when the paladar is ushering in a new set of standards by which Cuban cuisine will come to be known.”chef and restauranteur (Txikito, La Vara, El Quinto Pino), Alex Raij
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“Paladares captures the spirit of the country.”James Beard Award-winning author and chef, Zarela Martinez
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"Von Bremzen...has a gift for illuminating the irrepressible humanity in communist food cultures, and her storytelling here adds deep nuance like a good sofrita in a pot of black beans."The Philadelphia Inquirer
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"Gaining kitchen-door access to paladares, the privately owned restaurants that must navigate both the government and a crazy black market to survive, seems like a cheat code. It’s like discovering a secret passageway inside a secret passageway."New York Magazine's The Strategist, Drew Lazor, author of Session Cocktails: Low-Alcohol Drinks for Any Occasion
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