38 Cuba CooksPaladares all over Cuba and Cuba LibreFRITURAS DE MALANGA CON KETCHUP DE TAMARINDO Malanga Fritters with Tamarind Ketchup Malanga (taro) fritters are served as appetizers in almost every paladar in Havana. It’s no wonder, as malanga grows easily on the island and fritters are ubiquitous to Cuban cuisine. These crunchy, salty nuggets are the perfect predinner snack, but they do beg for a little something to dip them in. Most paladares offer a bit of honey spiked with black pepper, which is tasty but may be a bit too sweet for some before dinner. I came up with a spicier sauce made from a ketchup base that offers a touch of sweetness countered with the tanginess of tamarind, a combination I feel keeps the sweet spirit of honey but with a nice balance of flavors.Serves 4 Tamarind Ketchup7 jalapeño peppers, seeded and roughly chopped (about ¾ cup; see Note)5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (about 2 tablespoons)2 tablespoons fish sauce¼ cup packed light brown sugar⅓ cup white vinegar1 cup tamarind pulp⅓ cup ketchup3 pounds malanga (taro), peeled4 eggs, beaten¼ cup fresh culantro, chopped4 cloves garlic, minced2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning2–3 cups rendered lard, for fryingPrepare the tamarind ketchup: In a blender, combine the jalapeño, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, tamarind pulp, and ketchup and puree until smooth; you should have about 2 cups. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to thicken; tamarind ketchup will keep up to 5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Using the small holes of a box grater, grate the taro and place it in a large bowl. Add the eggs, culantro, garlic, and salt and mix until all the ingredients are well combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to help set and thicken the batter.Line a baking sheet with a layer of paper towels and top with a wire cooling rack. Heat the lard in a cast-iron skillet until it melts and reaches 350ºF when measured with a deep-fry thermometer. You will want to make sure the lard stays at this temperature during frying. Using a large spoon, drop about 2-tablespoon scoops of the batter into the hot fat. Do not crowd the skillet.Fry the fritters until they turn a deep golden brown, 3–4 minutes. Transferthe fritters to the cooling rack and immediately season with salt. Repeatwith the remaining batter; this recipe makes about 2 dozen fritters total.Serve the fritters immediately along with a small bowl of the tamarind ketchup.Note: Before you add the jalapeño to the blender, take a small bite of a seedless piece. If it is very hot, cut the amount of jalapeños in half and proceed with the recipe. If the ketchup could use more heat, add more chiles to the puree and pulse the blender to incorporate. Cuba Cooks Pass 4.indd 38-39Stick To Your Roots: The Fine Line Between Malanga and YucaCubans love their viandas as much as they love their rice and beans. Viandas are tubers such as malanga (taro), yuca (cassava), and boniato (Cuban yam). These tubers can be found simply boiled with a little mojo (a garlicky sour orange sauce) drizzled on top, or mashed into a batter and fried as is seen in many paladares. It is common to find frituras de malanga con miel de abeja (taro fritters with honey) served as entremeses or predinner snacks in paladares all over Havana. And while these predinner fitters can be made from almost anything, they are almost always made with malanga and never with yuca. As a matter of fact, yuca, or cassava, is not as commonly found in paladares as many would think.While Cubans love their yuca, they are very picky when it comes to its quality. It is not uncommon to hear someone ask about a yuca’s age before buying it. That is because the younger the tuber is, or the sooner it was harvested from the ground, the more gelatinous it will become when boiled. And that is the good stuff. Old yuca, or yuca that has been sitting on a counter for weeks after it was cut from its mother plant, will end up tough and fibrous, regardless of how long you boil it. Malanga, on the other hand, is is generally tender and sweet, and much less precarious to store for long periods. So, the best place to eat yuca is out in the countryside, preferably on a farm where the cassava was cut from the root and taken out of the ground minutes before it was cooked. That was how we ate it at La Finca de Miguel (see page 104), and that is how we wish we could eat it every time. Granja | Farm 395/1/18 9:31 AM96 Cuba CooksCuba LibreCOSTILLAS DE PUERCO CARAMELIZADAS CON SALSA DE RON Y GUYABA Caramelized Pork Ribs with Guava–Rum Barbecue Sauce The rough draft of this recipe, which is one of the more popular dishes at Cuba Libre, was engineered in Cuba. I was collaborating with a chef by the name of Alain on a group dinner and we brainstormed a recipe that caramelized lamb ribs with a rum sauce. After creating a wish list of ingredients, off we went to source the meat and were able to secure half a lamb at a farm outside Havana. By all accounts the dinner was a success, but I knew I could take the recipe to the next level with a few tweaks once I was back in Cuba Libre’s kitchen. The final version of this recipe, which is served at my restaurant, achieves a depth of flavor we were unable to reach while in Cuba due to the assortment of spices and aromatic vegetables available stateside year-round.Serves 6¼ cup coriander seeds, toasted and groundZest of 2 oranges1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon5 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped10 cloves garlic, minced1½ cups dark rum6 (1½-pound) rib racks, trimmed of excess fat Guava–Rum Barbecue Sauce2 tablespoons olive oil1 cup finely chopped yellow onion1 tablespoon minced garlic1 tablespoon ancho chile powder1 tablespoon sweet paprika1 tablespoon seeded and chopped jalapeño pepper⅓ cup Añejo rum⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce2 tablespoons tomato paste¼ cup guava paste ¼ cup sherry vinegarPickled pineapple (page 87), for servingIn a bowl, combine the coriander, orange zest, cinnamon, jalapeños, and garlic. Create a paste by adding the rum and mixing well. Spread the paste all over the racks of ribs, making sure to coat both sides. Place the ribs on a baking sheet and marinate them in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours.Preheat the oven to 250°F.Top two or three baking sheets with cooling racks and divide the racks of ribs among the prepared pans. Make sure the ribs are in a single layer on the cooling racks, not stacked on one another. Bake the ribs for 4 hours, then allow them to cool on the racks.Prepare the guava–rum barbecue sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions in the hot oil until they turn limp and start taking on a light brown color, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue sautéing until the vegetables begin to release their aroma, then stir in the chile powder, paprika, and jalapeño. Continue cooking the vegetables for a couple minutes, then pour in the rum, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, guava paste, and vinegar. Simmer for a couple more minutes before transferring the mixture to a blender and pureeing until smooth. Set aside while you grill the ribs.Preheat a grill to high heat. Cut each rack of pork into individual ribs and douse them with the rum-barbecue sauce on both sides. Grill the ribs until they are charred and caramelized, brushing on more barbecue sauce as needed, 8–10 minutes. Serve the ribs with pickled pineapple on the side.Cuba Cooks Pass 4.indd 96-975/1/18 9:32 AMCuba Cooks Pass 4.indd 190-191Postres | Desserts 191Postres | Desserts 191El Bolo | Trinidad, CubaMANTECADO CON SALSA DE CARAMELO Ice Cream with Caramel SauceCubans of all ages eat ice cream with great dedication. They simply love it. So much so that even during the Special Period of the 1990s, when scarcity was at it highest and it was rumored that ice cream parlors were using water instead of milk to make the ice cream, Cubans still lined up to buy their favorite dessert. And while Cubans love a variety of flavors, this straightforward cream-and-caramel recipe typifies the flavors I’ve seen Cubans enjoying the most. Serves 6Ice Cream1½ cups whole milk¾ cup heavy cream⅓ cup powdered milk1 cinnamon stickZest of half a lemon1 cup granulated sugar5 egg yolksCaramel Sauce1 cup light brown sugar½ cup milk½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter⅛ teaspoon kosher salt1 teaspoon vanilla extractPrepare the ice cream: Combine the milk, heavy cream, powdered milk, cinnamon stick, and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to sit for 20 minutes. Place the granulated sugar and egg yolks in a separate bowl and beat with a whisk until the mixture turns pale yellow. Slowly incorporate the cold milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, beating with a whisk to thoroughly blend. Transfer the ice cream base to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring continually, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Pass the thickened ice cream base through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, discarding any solids that are unable to pass through. Allow the mixture to cool before refrigerating it for 30 minutes. Transfer the chilled base to an ice-cream machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for freezing ice cream. Prepare the caramel sauce: In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the brown sugar, milk, butter, and salt until the butter melts and the sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes until the caramel thickens and turns a light amber color. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool at room temperature until ready to use.Serve each scoop of ice cream with a drizzle of the caramel sauce. 5/1/18 9:33 AMWe hope youenjoyed this EYB Book PreviewThe complete book is available from all major booksellers. 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