The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-06
Cuban Cooking.

From the American Kitchen Magazine.
The kitchen of the Cubans are always
either in the courtyard, back of the house
or on the roof Unlike the Irish, they never
dream of making the kitchen a sitting
or dining room. And, unlike the Ameri-
cans, they do not cook three times a day.
Twice day the Cuban servant or house
wife goes to her kitchen and does her
cooking at 10 o'clock to cook the break
fast, which is served at H. and about
O'Clock to cook the dinner, which Is served
at eight. Ia the morning at six or seven
O'Clock coffee is served, though for this
purpose the kitchen is not used. The cof-
fee Is cooked In a French coffee-pot on the
sideboard of the dinngroom. AS for coffee,
nowhere in the world, Paris and the Ger
man cities included do they make such
coffee as that made by the Cubans. They
use the coffee grown on the island ana
oftentimes the housewife picks the beans
from a coffee-bed I'm her court yard just
as we would pick green peas In our own
gardens Cuban coffee is very black and
strong, but never muddy like the TURK
ish. The coffee-bean Is usually cheap and
plentiful, and the Cuban cook has learn
ed that to make good coffee and not
brown water he must not be too sparing
OF the raw material. He never allows less
than a full tea-cup of ground coffee TO
a pint of water
AT breakfast. at every place, stands
bottle Of red Bordeaux or Catalonian wine.
which is drunk as freely as water. The
food Is usually abundant and nourishing.
After breakfast, and not with IL, coffee is
served.
AT breakfast they have the inevitable
honey, and fruit. and eggs, the last being
cooked in styles about the same as In the
states. In addition, a favorite breakfast
dish is a small tenderloin steak, served
with sliced fried potatoes.
The island has ninety different kinds OF
rice, which the natives cook in almost
ninety different ways. In Cuba rice grows
In the water or 1t grows on dry land;
some varieties come TO maturity in three
months. others not for four to six months.
Besides the ordinary way OF cooking rice
In puddinge, curries, and so on, the Gu
bans have dish OF their own, rice casSe-
role 1t Is usually served as an entree.
Its ingredients sufficient to fill moder-
ate-sized casserole. are a pound Of rice.
two pints of we ak stock, two slices of fat
ham, and one teaspoonful of salt. The
casserole, when ready, is used. of course,
as a border for ragouts and fricassees.
Translated from the Spanish, the Cuban
recipe for this dish is:
After having washed the rice In water
two or three times, drain II well and put 1t
in a stew-pan with the stock, ham, and
salt; cover the pan and let the rice grad
ualiy swell over a slow fire, occasionally
stirring to prevent its sticking. When II Is
quite soft strain it, pick out the pieces Of
ham, and, with the back of a large smooth
spoon, mash the rice into a perfectly
smooth paste. Then well grease mould
and turn ii upside down for minute or
two 10 drain, then put some rice all around
the bottom and sides of it. place piece
OF soft bread in the middle, cover 1t with
rice; press 1t In equally with the spoon,
and let it cool. Then dip the mould into
hot water, turn the casserole carefully on
a DISH mark where the lid Is to be formed
on the top, by making an incision with
the point of knife about an inch from
the edge all around. and put in very hot
oven. Brush 1t over with little butter,
and bake about half an hour, or rather
longer. Then carefully remove the lid.
which will be formed by the incision hav-
ing been made all around, remove the
bread in small pieces with the point of a
knife being careful not TO inJure the
casserole Fill the center with the ragout
or fricassee, which should be make thick;
put on the cover glaze 1t, place 1t in the
oven to set the glaze Serve as hot as pos
sible."