A Revolutionary Cuisine: Food, Liberation & Cubanidad

Abstract

In one of his infamous speeches, Castro challenged Cubans with the question: “Why should we eat peaches? We were made to think that peaches were the best thing going and when we’d visit someone’s house they’d offer us peaches. So we all thought that...peaches were better than mangoes, but peaches are expensive and foreign and mangoes are sweeter, cheaper, and much better.” Castro’s words spoke to how food, as an instrument of identity formation, allegiances, and community solidari- ty, is an intrinsic part of Cuba’s history. In a Cuban context, food and cuisine can be understood as a site of resistance given the daily role food has in defining Cubanness. Its function goes beyond a mere biological necessity of nourishment and can be understood as a signifier of cultural capital, economic mobility, and social status. This paper seeks to demonstrate the ways in which food is so intertwined with music, religion, and other social institutions that it has become a storytelling practice of the narrative of Cuba’s complex and nuanced historical, political, and socioeconomic reali- ties. Food is not just a matter of what appeals to some- one’s taste, but a matter of what appeals to someone’s ideologies. Cuba’s cuisine is an informant in understand- ing the intersections between the choices of individuals, communities, and the state-at-large.