cuba IV: when in cuba...

...eat like Cubans!! The food was overall very yummy and I didn't eat too many things out of my comfort zone. Lots of rice, beans, plantains, fresh fruit, delicious cafe, and my favorite avocados. But not much added flavor...everything was pretty natural tasting and fresh. They use garlic of course but not many other spices like salt and pepper.

The hardest part was not drinking the water. We bought gallons upon gallons of bottled water during our stay and kept as hydrated as possible.

I tried not to disappoint and take several pictures of the food we ate...so without further adieu here is the food we ate in Cuatro Esquinas!

but first, here is the team of the 4 hardworking ladies that cooked for us all week!
leave it to the micas for bringing the gator nation to cuba! gracias!

this was our breakfast spread every morning...
smiling elizabeth gets the award for totally immersing herself into cuban food!

my breakfast looked like this every morning: fresh pineapple and eggs, cuban bread and a glass or two of cafe. I learned to eat eggs that week. not to say I liked them, but I needed the protein!

fresh guava, pineapple and mangos

dinner or black bean and rice, squash topped with onions, avocados and plantains that were to die for

we gathered in the main church room in the front of the house for our meals. this room also served as the boys bedroom.

this was an example of our lunch while out in the town...for some reason cubans really love pizza. I think they only make one kind - ham and cheese. no comment.

cooking lamb one night for dinner

each night for dinner we had a buffet...which was great because we could chose what we wanted. the only rule was...eat everything you take!

lamb, black beans and rice mixed together {there are so many ways to eat beans and rice!}, cucumbers, yucca, green beans topped with onions, and more plantains

the.best.dessert.ever
these were this amazing fine grain flour/cornmeal fried into pancakes with a very naturally sweet syrup...yummmmm.

we loved our cuban hoe cakes!

broiling lobster tails and frying tostones;
david was obsessed with this cooktop!

lobster tail...my favorite meal in cuatro esquinas

fish stew over rice, green beans, okra with bacon and tostones