Yes, Cubans can lay claim to arroz con leche, but it isn’t specifically Cuban—there’s arroz con leche cubano, arroz con leche mexicano (like this recipe), arroz con leche peruviano, and more. While it’s hard to know for sure, food historians believe arroz con leche originated in Spain, likely adapted from Arabic Moors who first introduced spices to the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages. The first recorded recipe was published in a Spanish cookbook in 1607. Spanish colonizers then brought the recipe with them across the sea, leading to Latin American countries adapting their particular versions.