What Cubans Eat!! American Reveals WILD Cuban Food!! (Full Documentary)

dude i've seen rice stuffed in a in a turkey and a chicken i've never seen a pig stuffed with rice like this yeah i bet that other pig would eat this pig oil have some figure cuba the trip begins officially right now this moment cuba an island of about 11 million it's only a one-hour plane ride from the us yet for decades because of tensions between the two countries americans traveling to cuba was nearly unheard of only in the past few years has traveled to cuba become a possibility i would like to take a moment to thank all of you here it is my first day in cuba looks cool it's a place i've heard so much about since i was a kid but didn't really know anything about until today and so just want to say gracias okay now in spanish these days tourists from the mainland have begun to trickle in in larger numbers but filming in cuba is still its own unique challenge oh my heart oh my god i'm actually gonna cry so about a year ago we tried going to cuba the first time two days before we were supposed to take off we got news that the whole trip was cancelled now instead of a tourist visa my team is headed to cuba on a journalist visa working with a local production company who worked with the cuban government ensuring we have approval for our video topics locations itinerary and schedule shooting like this in cuba is only a recent possibility do you know this that for americans traveling here we're not allowed to support any government-owned places if it's a government hotel government restaurant can't go there government soda this series is a delicate balancing act with the end goal of showing you the cuba you have never seen before today we're on the search for street food in havana right now we're heading to vinales today we're in sia naga di zapata right here from baracoa me and my longtime friend oro are on a mission to document the most unique cuban food are you kidding me life and culture now you need to be silent and very careful because this is a dangerous process [Music] traveling all the way from cuba's west coast driving over 20 hours to its east coast [Music] starting in the countryside city of vinales oh dude look at this it's like a pool of oil exploring the country's capital of havana coast on my left buildings on my right i'm in the back of a convertible then heading eastward going off map to hunt down the most dangerous meal you'll find in cuba no come on no more acting just catch it what do you mean acting i'm look at that oh i feel your nipple finally we complete our journey with the fiesta on the country's east coast in the city of barucoa the move imitates kind of what they do in the field is one of them like this [Music] joining me on this mission cuban native oro padron oro was born in cuba and lived there well into his twenties years later he moved to korea that's where we met all right so this was this story eventually he moved to miami and i took off to vietnam all right i'm gonna go into my character now are you ready last year oro and i joined forces in miami where he introduced me to my first taste of cuban food i can't tell is this healthy or not healthy or not it's really hard not to fall in love with it now with your support and with a lot of preparation the best ever food review show is making youtube history with the food journey of a lifetime today begins our best ever food journey across cuba starting in the west in a town known as vignales [Music] vignales is a region dominated by agriculture fruits vegetables coffee and their country's infamous tobacco here we are day one vinales my first morning in cuba today is all about a classic dish of this country i think so anyways it's a classic dish in the philippines we're talking about lechon but look at that it's like a pool of oil oh my lord this place has a special way to make it because they make it like in a hammock they're like you know what i mean how you call this long time friend and cuba native oro padron will join me as we take on the classics of cuba this area is famous for tobacco somehow i'm gonna have oro teach me how to smell it no i never i never put anything in my mouth like smoking wise no i never so grab a horse grab a friend and get ready to soak up the traditional flavors of cuba oh [Music] listen we got our coffee here this makes it amazing man it smells like uh coffee yeah outside of havana deep in the countryside of vinales exists a small complex called los lorenzos housing five families oro and i are the lucky guests of the local community here and there's no better way to welcome guests than with the pride of cuba all right let's try out this coffee oh yeah this is strong brother it's so so it's like cuban jet fuel oh man this is one of the strongest coffee in the region in whole cuba normally to prepare the coffee first you get the powder and then you put hot water and you filter it right they do it different they boil the coffee with the water right that makes it even stronger it's kind of smooth for being so very smooth intense but man i feel this immediately i'm super alert and a little bit nervous yeah it gave me anxiety i'm like oral you are a man of no vices you don't drink you don't smoke no you don't even like coffee no so what is your advice my advice is dancing bro you made me red i don't get red but i am inside i'm red it's dancing i haven't told you yet but the rules of my families are from this area they have a culture of acceptance this region is famous for that right people being too kind too naive to kind of like childlike i just find out today that how i am has to do a lot with this region this is where this was made right yeah made in cuba the route yeah cuba was colonized for hundreds of years by spain during that time african slaves were brought to the island to work the fields now hundreds of years later cuba is a diverse melting pot of ethnicities this person this person this person though they may have different backgrounds they're all cuban and they all share the distinct culture that makes this place what it is you grew up in cuba how old were you when you left my early 20s almost 13 years how did your parents feel about that like the kids got went on to bigger opportunities that they couldn't find here are they sad that you're gone it's hard for me to know if they are sad or not they always like they're happy for you i'm like no but tell me if you are suffering so i can do something for you they're like no yeah is your your life walk [Music] i've tried the tone in the philippines not once but four times whoa that is like a work of art man oh my lord it's the very same dish inspired by spain but here in cuba they do lechon a little differently is this an old gate door this looks like a medieval torture device i love it yeah it looks like that right yeah that's why it's called hamon first in each crevice of the pig they rub in a mixture of garlic onion cumin lime and calamansi juice then a rub down of salt finally they prepare the pig to roast on a wire hammock why do they do it this way he say like this is to measure like how far they put it you know if they need more heat they can put it low and if they need less heat they can put it up and they can turn it around if it was so instead of adjusting the fire necessarily they can just move this around it would look like me in an hour [Laughter] this pig is gonna hang out here for four hours in the meantime oro shows me cuba's most addictive vice and what is still a hard to come by forbidden pleasure in the usa sir first of all thank you what is your name jose luis jose luis yeah nice to meet you cuba is kind of famous for its tobacco not just that like this area is like the most famous area for tobacco in cuba and in the world what makes the tobacco here so different from anywhere else in the world tobacco needs a climate where it's like here they have a little bit of heat but it's not too much at night gets chilled but it doesn't froze you know i mean so for that it makes the air right here very special and the creatures for the tobacco brilliant can he roll one for us that is like dried tobacco leaves and he's gonna turn that into drugs [Music] all i know is that you know growing up there's this embargo with cuba and there was like these prized cigars that were illegal to have in the u.s but if you had it it was like a secretive thing you can't tell anybody how you got it but nowadays i think people can get cuban cigars in the us so it's lost a little bit of the mystique oh what oh in the leg twist it twist it oh yeah look at this guy confidence right there looks cooler than me yeah he does [Music] oh what was that are you enjoying that or are you next by the way really yeah you gotta do it dude dude [Music] [Laughter] actually the flavor is not bad it's interesting because it's like it's eating spicy food you go through the pain and after the pain the flavors come back it kind of cinches the inside of your mouth that is the highly coveted cuban cigar here in cuba standing in a tobacco field next to two ox that has nothing to do with it but that's pretty cool huh hey stop okay cool [Music] roasting has been underway for a few hours now you can see it's mostly finished but right now they're gonna do a flip they're going to dismount it and then flip it i've seen so many flips in my day egg flips pancake flips but never have i seen a lechon flip there's so many hot juices that have pooled in here oh that sound is awesome oh that's pretty crispy it's like a cookie like a pink cookie can you ask them if it's overdone no matter they usually don't eat this part here they eat the rest sounds good now they're going to put it back on how much longer is this going to be on here one hour more this is gonna roast for one more hour and then dinner time [Music] by the time you left cuba until now it's been well over 10 years it's a good amount of time any city any country would change in over 10 years what changes did you notice some of the changes like how the country feels decade and it feels no advancing technology wise mentally the country feels like it doesn't have a clear direction of where it's going oh [Music] i'm very happy when i came here because it's very interesting how in the deep roots of cuba the culture is so pure and the education is so well preserved and they don't do it because they want to show the war or anything it's like we love how we are we love to be comfortable actually this kind of thing a little emotional because i'm like damn this is it like how pure is it [Music] boom it looks beautiful as one of the cooks you're the first one who gets hold of the pig is there some great section that you break off and sneak for yourself he said that he loved the little piece of skin because they become very tasty oh this one's really bubbled up this one's almost become like a pork rind it's crunchy but it's almost become fried in its own oil it's like a chicharron all right i'm gonna cut out this nose for you i want you to dry i don't want it but different texture it's kind of squishy a little dry yeah it's not gross but it's just hard it's like you need to fight for it it's kind of like a bacony nose i wish my nose tastes like bacon it tastes like bacon what no i don't know your nose well i know your nose but i don't know how it tastes it's hard not to know it it reaches out and greets you i want to show you his most favorite part wow look at this some crispy bits some juicy bits he just cut this from the underside what is it called feel it let's try it all right that's a ton this is different yeah i think that side is better because they were cooking this side yeah the underbelly side it's been like bubbling up in its juices all day wow that's so juicy the seasoning really came through sir mucho gracias [Music] juicy succulent lechon is just the start joining our countryside feast fried goodies made from plantains and taro root next boiled cassava known locally as yucca and kongri a staple of this region made with a base of black beans and rice then garlic katucha pepper cilantro onion and pork fat i would like to take a moment to thank all of you here it is my first day in cuba the fact that i get to come together with all of you meet you and and be met with such kindness and hospitality it's really kind of blown my mind so just want to say gracias okay now in spanish when you grew up is this a typical kind of dinner very typical in a place like this this is something that you eat three times a week especially in the countryside you cook after you walk the whole day it's not just like you go and watch a bunch of you too this looks stunning i'm going to try some of this rice [Music] that's some good rice and beans savory hearty great texture like so moist love it it's so simple but if you see every element they dance with the main dish which is the the pig the rice all the rest are their friends but he's a star they're just like dancing is it the salsa dance is it look at this big juicy bite of this lichon ooh that's unreal you know i've only had luchon in the philippines they take so much care with the skin and how they put soy sauce and different stuff on it oil to make it crispy i can say i appreciate that skin more but the meat inside here especially like that pork loin it's undeniable that's some of the best meat i've ever had how long have you been abandoned 52 years old is that water in your cup oh oh it makes me warm inside it feels like christmas morning you guys live in the countryside do you like that more or do you like the havana lifestyle more yeah they say they like to visit havana but no they like laid back their city is not healthy for them too much rum [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] my first taste of cuba the food i had no doubt about but the reception the lengths these people went to make me feel at home was even better our cross country cuba food tour is just getting started we're headed to the big city cuba's capital havana welcome to havana city of 2.1 million people today we're on the hunt for some street food that's right we're here in havana and why does sony have the cool car and i get today we're on the search for street food in havana i've been told don't expect a lot there's uh certain cultures that are hardcore street food cultures like vietnam certain places not so much maybe they're more in these places called paladeres what's that i bet oro could tell me paladar is a family-owned restaurant but at the same time any restaurant that is independent let's check out the food let's have fun and let's see if me and sonny can handle a full day of cuban street food [Music] no no no no no no no no no no [Music] street food in havana is about simplicity being creative and utilizing affordable ingredients that are easy to get here in el cristo park one food vendor plays by these exact rules at home he's baking up dozens of these his own creation then he hits the streets and starts to sell sir how long have you been selling food here almost six years how long does it take to sell out usually i'll do it two hours with confidence it's like this is coconut the one with the texture like that and this is huawei cheese can i try this one with the cheese yeah yeah let's do it let's do it like you certainly can so it looks like a biscuit some bread with some jam and some cheese on top yeah and this is like a biscuit with coconut on top what kind of coconut we call it coquito what they do is like they boil coconut sugar cinnamon for a half an hour until that everything evaporates and this is the result what's that ah it's a coconut and cinnamon reduction or amplification depending how you let's try that oh [Music] i like it it takes some getting used to it's kind of a dry biscuit and it's like okay oh no there's some jam on there and then you're like wait is that cheese that is cheese i want to see which one i like you want to switch this one's better though what's your thoughts i'm looking at your face i still like it that more yeah but what are your thoughts on that i like this i love that it's not all my love when you tell your friend they should date somebody and they're like tell me about them and you're like they're nice they're pretty i got that treatment a lot in high school [Laughter] just down the street a fruit cart has caught my eyeballs do not tell me this is an avocado are you kidding me please look at this i've never seen an avocado this is an avocado yeah i think i remember you telling me a long time ago yes like we have avocados this big like a watermelon you were like no not possible yes okay right here there's a special machine i want to see this at work can we try it out yes it's super easy you just need to like rotate okay i can handle this yeah you got it look at that you got it and it's all the way up skin you see we got it you see how long it looks like grapefruit texture inside no we gotta taste it oh it's good it's sour but it's good it tastes like an orange actually orange used to be bigger here in cuba we used to produce a lot of orange right now i think the production came down and the quality also came down a lot because the land hasn't been taken care of as well as before that's why we don't have better quality of orange but there was a time that this was very important part of the cuban economy oh it's good it was succinct it was a little sad too that's cute that's reality yeah contrast to bring me up from oro's sad fruit trivia a much needed sugar rush cuban sidewalk churros at churros locos the most local stall you'll find in all of havana this is churro evolution [Music] check it out man we're just standing on the street eating a churro you know about churros right yeah invented in cuba no no mexico no it comes from spain cuba has a lot of spanish tradition that's why we didn't harry the churros in our culture as well cheers cheers it looks like a cactus isn't it maybe that's why people think it's from mexico because it looks like a cactus that's a good churro it's a good churros i like that like me it has some imperfections like some parts are fat some are thin and crispy do you notice what is desire of the sugars the condensed milk condensed milk you know i love condensation yeah it's super sweet it's really sweet in this case they put inside of the churro which is good mixture they're building on what the spaniards started originally it wasn't stuff you see evolution i love it now one of the most unlikely non-cuban cuban foods you'll find in havana dude this is a pizza it's a real pizza pizza shops are everywhere in havana and with good reason every single street food that we met they have something in common they have really few elements food shortages are not uncommon here 70 to 90 percent of the country's food is imported after the 60 when we have a huge crisis we have to create food that is simple easy to make and really hard to get wrong so if you're selling ham sandwiches and you run out of ham you're out of luck but pizza pizza only really requires four ingredients water flour tomato sauce and cheese every cuban pizza is a personal pizza made for you and only you toppings range from ham to sausage or even hot dogs but the way they eat it is a style all its own you flip it like this like a taco exactly let's go for it it's rich it's super doughy i love how doughy it is is that hot sauce it's just covered in like a sour hot sauce sour tomato sauce yeah yeah this is good dude actually this is something that people eat at eight in the morning it's just quick easy and you get filled and get going very nice [Music] this is where havana goes to chill on weekends john lennon park in the corner a government ordered statue created in his honor in the year 2000 this is kind of baffling considering the beatles music was banned in cuba when the band was most popular a decade prior these days a more culturally liberal cuba blasts music of all kinds from this park luring in locals who might throw back a drink or grab some food what do we have right here so right here we have ancon croqueta which means pan is bread croquetta it comes from french from crockett that's the croquette right it's like seasoned fried mashed potatoes basically that's very nice and then this is the same thing but in a sandwich yeah the same thing due to its simplicity and practicality it can fill a lot of space this used to be cuba's go-to sandwich especially in the 90s bread fried croquette and a little bit of ketchup that's all you need here for a good time in your mouth i like it there's not much to say about it it's simple straightforward soft bread fried potato a little bit of ketchup in there a little bit of tomato kick at the end it's not potato it's made out of flour meat potato not potato it tastes potato way to me i'm so sorry but man this is filling it is filling all right let's get some beers i saw someone with beer over there let's check that out [Music] until just a few years ago private restaurants in cuba were illegal then due to an economic crisis the government made some reforms and that's how polidars were born they are family or privately owned restaurants originally they were run from people's homes and many still are today like here hidden away in the suburbs of havana right in front of the polidar owner's home her home is right there sits cafeteria a la barbecue a place where filmmakers and artists share ideas and grab some grub this is cuban diner food served fast making the most of what they have like their hamburger pan bread with hamburger since beef is scarce their burger patty is made with pork i'm gonna try that right now [Applause] i like it a lot i don't know if i've ever had like a pork patty for a burger but it's really good very juicy this seems like cuban fast food yeah but with good quality can she talk about how she prepares for the service what is how she prepares her team to act fast everything is prepared today because her goal is to keep everything fresh right what do you got there what i have here we call masas de puerto this dish epitomizes cuban cuisine at least in oro's eyes this is something that my mom used to make when i was a kid simple yet colorful and seductive a huge portion of rice grilled pork chops and in season locally grown veggies and sides this is a pork chop and you know usually pork chop to me can be a little dry but this is so good actually yeah but the way they make it here is super oily but she has a balance between that making not too dry but i feel not too oily which i love to finish dessert made inside a reused soda can right here the thing that you're drinking here they got it they put all the ingredients they boil it when they cool down it becomes that thing that you're eating right there that's really good very sweet and velvety soft on my tongue perfect way to end lunch cuba is a place of creation expression and fierce entrepreneurship waiting to unleash its innovation in this city one hardly known polidar is delivering seafood in a way completely unique to cuba check it out we're doing an interview in an inconvenient location but it looks great it works it's okay satisfied satisfied sir what is the name of your restaurant and you are none other than julio himself did you live here before it was converted into a place where people could come and eat familia this was his family's house seven years ago they decided to convert into a restaurant because you can see it has a beautiful view my understanding is that this is how the paladar started yes right now there is people owning restaurants but back then that was impossible so the first step was that family owned concert it was like a test can you tell me about what makes your restaurant so special that when we get into the home we don't feel like we are getting to a restaurant he's inviting us to his house he just want us to be welcome and what we're eating is what he will cook for his family sir thank you so much thank you and wide shots joining us at the table mr julio and his wife it's a beautiful evening i know we missed the sunset but it still looks beautiful here all the seafood cooked here comes right from the ocean no not the far away ocean i'm talking about the patch of ocean in front of his home the owner either catches it himself or has local fishermen do the deed reeling in fresh fish like this tuna his daughter and also our head chef mashes it up then combines it with onions and mayonnaise to create a filling for these plantain cups slices of plantain are shaped and fried until crisp and filled with creamy tuna goodness this is from a plantain and then inside they put this wonderful tuna and mayonnaise get it mango simple delicious crunchy and then nice rich tuna salad you're recording you got a cross section this is made with cgi you will put a laser so you can see how is inside is it is a joke happening right now next on our menu bite-sized sections of lobster tail cooked in a secret tomato chili sauce let's try this out thick robust delicious lobster tail this is a tradition to put sweet potato with any seafood oh really the sweetness of the seed potato with the sourness and the saltiness of the seafood let's get some tomato on there too yes thank you okay i'm gonna try it out i like that and it kind of draws out the experience too usually i just kind of down the whole lobster tail in two seconds but i like that our final dish garbanzo bean seafood soup this thing is stuffed with seafood there's so much seafood in here julio tried it in spain during a holiday and has been cooking it ever since but with his own twist he's replaced unavailable ingredients like spanish ham with seafood he caught in his backyard they cook it all in a big pot with a secret blend of spices garbanzo beans beer tomato sauce and garlic paste okay hold on i guess it's not really secret after all i gotta dislodge some of this so i can get down to the broth for you bro you're not pretending me to eat that whole thing right this is for you man you're the gust of honor i mean the the the hand how you call the crab the head yeah we just call it crab hands no he called crime hand well the crab hand how you how do you eat the crab hand all right see right here oh you see tech we got technology right here here we go [Music] oh that right there best meat in the whole pebble try it out [Music] you got it [Music] i've never seen a dish that has more seafood and more variety like every bite is a little different flavor different texture there's just so much in there can i ask how much that costs because i know in the us if you got that at a decent restaurant like i don't know and you just probably like twenty five thirty dollars it costs six dollars that's ridiculous he said that he's a hook there right hook yeah he's proud of it i love that this is so fun so just want to say one more time mucho gracias adapt and overcome this is the ethos felt around havana from pizza to five-star seafood what really makes cuba work isn't the ingredients it's heart [Music] today we're leaving the country's capital havana and heading east to the city of um the city of cochino's playa larga it's not that hard to say here we're taking on a food rare even in cuba you cannot try this dish anywhere else it's not even allowed but there's one small problem before we can take a bite we have to catch our dinner we all know and hope it doesn't take a bite out of us oh no there's another one behind it first my plan is to see if we can kind of work around their usual rules and restrictions and have oro catch a crocodile [Music] crocodile no why do you mean crocodile i touch them like be cloned someone gonna help me out of this boat [Music] in cuba business owners and locals wake up early to pick up fresh ingredients from small local markets like this today we accompany crocodile cooking specialist alexis we are with the crocodile cooker himself what is your full-time role is that all you do is cook crocodiles no no no he's more like a seafood cook but crocodile is one of his specialities at his restaurant he'll be whipping up a one-of-a-kind crocodile spread how do you say crocodile coco is it cocodrilo seafood he said that he has three flavors before cooking he can taste like chicken or pork but after cooking it tastes more like fish so he's tasted it raw no it's not recommended he's like nobody does that but i i do it [Music] right now we're off to a crocodile farm where he's gonna actually catch a crocodile hold on a second me or we i need to like tell the camera guys what to do i hear that from you before why you don't do it because i'm too fat when we weren't trying to jump no i don't wanna do it man jump oh bunchy chumps yeah four years ago oro and i made a concept for a show called the year of fear i encouraged oro to bungee jump which he wasn't happy about unfortunately i wasn't allowed to bungee jump because i surpassed the weight limit man now i'm encouraging oro to catch a giant reptile which he's also not happy about did you tell him that you're going to catch it in position right now he's just cutting right through oro's hopes and dreams crushing his spirit you hate to see it folks you hate to see it can you translate that he's like no way you can catch that only people who has born here can do it it's very dangerous but he can try what's the worst that can happen thank you we'll be back you'll see all of me and you might only see part of oro i can see alexis has shaken oro's confidence so before we go face to face with the crocodiles oro and i are going to carve up at a back alley factory where they're kicking out one of cuba's most unique foods i brought you to a place where they produce cassave cassave yeah casabe is the most authentic cuban food that we conserve today casabe is cuban flatbread a staple dish in this region inherited straight from the indigenous arawak people it played a significant role throughout cuban history because it required only one single ingredient cassava flour [Music] after they've created the powder we come over here and then my man just kind of cooks it a bit all right let's try it out that's fascinating it reminds me of eating like some kind of cereal that you would mix with milk and sugar obviously not really any flavor because this is just an ingredient for something more i think you are not extracting your palette because i can feel flavors let's take another bite and let's dip into it [Music] very airy very light and it seems like perfect for soaking up some sauce and some other flavors actually this is made to be in company all the flavors yeah i don't think about that we are like timon improvement you know timon and pumbaa yeah i've heard we are like that i just repeat what you say and i said it like it was my idea that's a good documentary but very sad not really yeah he was a documentary yeah i'm getting educated right here [Music] in just a moment my dude or i was looking for a stick we'll face his biggest fear too much but before that we're stopping here el escopao where we'll finally be able to try the casaba in the way it's meant to be eaten [Music] i wish those guys at the factory could see us now because we looked pretty silly eating this raw but now we have the final dish accompanied by a soft drink our sponsor tucola are you sick of one cola this is two cola you shouldn't sponsor this government oh is this government yeah are we allowed to drink it when visiting cuba american tourists are prohibited from spending money at any cuban government-owned businesses from hotels to restaurants as far as government-owned fizzy drinks i think that's still a defensible gray area oh [ __ ] did i just [ __ ] up my life i just drank it you are on your own holy crap dude what if i get arrested in the u.s for drinking a government-owned soda although i gotta say quite tasty yeah because it's hot caramel that's why let's try this out [Music] the outside is super chewy so huh you need to be really tender with it the sausage is delicious super interesting texture if you gave this to me and you asked me what it was made from i never would have guessed cassava so very cool [Music] time to catch a crocodile and the place to do that in cuba is here creadero de cocodrillos a crocodile breeding facility that's been protecting human crocodiles for more than 59 years sir first of all thank you for joining us today welcome it's a pleasure meet at diet he's been studying crocodiles here for 17 years today he's giving us a vip tour which ends with a very hands-on experience considering this is a place for conservation why is it okay for us to eat crocodile meat well well well uh is a good question we have four thousand animal here we can use 100 per year for sale the meat and the leather i mean we use all the money for conservation of course this is super expensive to have like 4 000 crocodiles and they're not eating corn they're eating like meat yeah but before we catch the crocodile we must understand the crocodile so at the end is showing us more so this is the reproduction area yes it's for reproduction but also for study so you're watching them reproduce oh is that what you're trying to tell me you're making it sound very scientific it sounds weird but maybe they need soft music maybe they need like a magazine these are the world's strongest terrestrial crocodiles that means they feel equally at home on land as they do in the water despite their modest size they can be highly dangerous to humans have you ever been bit yeah what what should i do you bop it on the nose huh yeah it's a weakness oh really bopping them on the nose is there a weakness you can kill them if you hitting hard in the nose ah don't give your back don't get my back not a problem come over here put your back on mine okay all right right now i think we're fine finally with valuable background knowledge in mind we're ready to go face to face with the crocs all right listen you have to approach these there was a reasonable reason to talk to build courage i may have a history of pushing oro into situations he's not totally comfortable with holy no i don't want other women but that's because oro is my brother and that's what brothers do they push each other if he gets bit we can definitely put this in the thumbnail oh whoa hey dude you don't have to do any more acting i'm not acting to be afraid dude what are you talking about oh i feel your nipple as oro's younger bigger brother i feel it's my duty to lead by example okay i think i'm going to get this one right here oh no i'm just going to pretend like i don't even want to catch any crocodiles [Music] i got one i'm going to reel it in come on buddy can we involve oro oro said he wants to get over here hold the neck ah i i do that yes you're gonna do that okay you gotta trust me man okay hold the tail don't worry okay you got this man commit when you do it 100 ah yeah you got it i got it oro you did it i did it i'm proud of you man that was pretty epic dude i did it brother [Music] the croc is dispatched and the processing begins the skin can be sold to further help fund the efforts at this center the meat is headed to the restaurant where alexis is waiting for us do you know how we got this crocodile uh-huh my man oro caught this by hand yeah this is you remember he said impossible right i went and did it i captured it i smoked it he's got you there it is small all right have you been able to speak english this uh whole time alexis communicates beautifully through his words but even more beautifully through his food around these parts he's known as a master crocodile chef and today he'll be preparing us three unique crocodile dishes first punta punta crocodile tail steak tips with veggies now right away before he puts it on it smells fishy but as he cooks it's changing the smell it becomes what more porky more chickeny more grungy crunchy [Music] let's try it out [Music] i like that oh my god it does taste a little porky it's a little bit of everything but you know what it looks like and meat has glass the meat of the one percent [Music] while the grill is still hot alexis throws on the butterfly tail meat for a dish i call pork chops all the crocodile i'm going to try this right here if you just gave this to me i would say this is a big pork chop yeah apparently it looks a little bit like pork with a big fish texture i'm going to try it out right now this one is closer to chicken but not exactly it's like it's a whole new texture it's a texture that's kind of between chicken and fish is it cheese it's a dish next enchilada starting with their in-house tomato chili sauce then the crocs neck and thymine season with black pepper and simmered until cooked through finished with the greens and veggies from the market this morning [Music] if you didn't know that this is crocodile would you say that this is three different meats yeah i would say that pork chop that might be some kind of fish and that might be chicken it's all over the place actually after chewing it it gives me a little bit of potato flavor so it can be the potato of the seed or the potato of the swamp right how long have you had this restaurant seven years he crushed it yeah oh i'm really impressed sure you killed it thank you my friend actually oro helped kill it but you did well with the cooking [Music] our cross-country cuba journey continues as we head to cuba's east coast to the city of baracoa welcome to baracoa we are here we have made it to our final destination in the middle of we are also due to its isolation this region surrounded by mountains is a side of cuba few outsiders have seen before it has a completely different feeling from the metropolitan vibes that you get from havana coming out here it's countryside a land that gave birth to a lot of our culture unlike cuba's more temperate west coast ideal for growing tobacco and coffee varacoa is bringing the tropical heat cacao not being used for chocolate but used as an ingredient to season other more savory dishes there is a fish that they cook with the cat today is all about the fiesta oh is that a pig it's like a pig pet are we eating that combining the best flavors of cuba's east coast into one spectacular meal have you ever had pork intestine i did not this way so brush up on your eighth grade spanish because this episode is about to be fuego perhaps it'll be my first time here in cuba trying a local cerveza or even better oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] country life where's oro shouldn't oro be helping [Music] my friend hurt himself dancing yesterday the only way to get him here through these kind of rocky roads this uneven path was to put him on a horse on our way to baracoa orwe and i are making a pit stop to visit a man by the name of asel a farmer a community leader a hard-working dude to get to his home you can take the arduous journey through rocks mud and water by foot or you can go in style can you tell me how long you and your family have been here he's 53 years of life he has been in is sugarcane your specialty here his speciality is more like agriculture but cacao is like the biggest food on this area [Music] cuba used to be a sugar cane heaven once the biggest exporter in the world until trade stopped with the us then later subsidies from the soviet union stopped coming in around the early 90s sugar prices crashed nonetheless acel still continues a small operation here on his farm in other places there's more sugarcane factory but here what he has is a trapeze [Music] [Applause] [Music] this trapeze egg is from france but actually trapeze in general was introduced to cuba by spanish people and it was a way to generate serum out of the sugarcane and they use that for the cacao for the chocolate alcohol also comes from there ah this is basically the origin story of for rum can you believe um he's an actual cuban he's never had rum no he doesn't drink that much either oh all right that's not what i was looking for after extracting the juice it's filtered to remove any unwanted bits cool it up with a bit of ice and we're ready to kick this refreshing drink back how often do you drink this almost every day because he works in the countryside he needs a way to hydrate himself in this case this is called guarapo all right let's try it out oh yeah it's kind of thick you know it's sweet but it's also a little bit earthy i didn't expect that it's really good actually i used to love this when i was a kid drinking with a lot of ice and it's super refreshing sugarcane is no longer the golden crop it once was to the point that cuba now imports sugar from other countries still sugarcane is an important part of cuban agriculture and an icon like cuban coffee and cuban tobacco now with a belly full of fresh sugar cane juice oro and i are finally headed to barucoa surrounded by mountains and situated along the coast right now we've just arrived at daisy's farm hi i mean hola hola como esta you sting i know i ran out of spanish this lady single-handedly tends to this piece of land all by herself from farming to gathering to protecting her home today we're going to find out why the people of this village call her the queen of cacao what did you eat for breakfast today oh probably means sir she respects me more than you well she doesn't know you yet she's the lord of cacao the whole day that's what you have what is so special about the cacao where i'm from all i can think of is just chocolate they have a traditional drink which called chorote ah well i know chocolate [Applause] when i was in middle school we sing a song pate pate choco latte does that mean we mix the chocolate and that is the end of my spanish being in the highlands and covered in shade this environment is the perfect place for cacao trees to thrive the seed pods of this variety are ready to pick after they've turned red right here you can see the bud would you call this a buddha de cacao pero lo casino it takes five years for a cacao tree to produce its first seed pods and you need ten pots like this to make one pound of cocoa or is it cacao i don't know eventually it's going to be chocolate and that's what really matters here she chops the pod in half revealing tons of cocoa seeds inside seeds get removed and placed on a bed of banana leaves where they ferment for 11 days when the moment is right it's time for these beans to roast cacao when it's very raw it's very good for the heart to give you natural energy when the cacao has a lot of bitterness it's very good for the blood pressure it's super good i'm looking for something that's going to help me be healthier look younger from the inside out honestly look at me how old do you think i am 22. yeah next the grinder transforming this cocoa from beans to a thick cocoa paste this raw fresh cocoa can be used to cook any number of dishes i just want to try this before it goes on to the next stage cacao seed it's super bitter you gonna taste the hints of chocolate like okay i can see how that would taste like chocolate eventually maybe i'm wrong it also tastes a little bit like coffee that kind of roasted yeah nutty flavor the chorote starts with water then freshly ground cacao powder cinnamon leaf milk powder banana flour and sugar mixing and boiling until it's ready and eso [Music] from the queen of chocolate let's try it out oh wow that's fantastic it's got like a heartiness to it it's not like a milk it's like a chocolatey puree it's so thick there's so much body to it she said that this is the contrary energy drink when you get all the nutrients for the banana and all the elements the banana brings with the energy sands and the heart opener of the cacao you get a drink that keeps the farmers strong and working hard to help it like barack obama red bull she says she's very thankful because this is something that is very normal like countryside can be boring but she's very pleased how much you have liked these trips thank you so much a short drive from daisy's farm we finally make it to our final location this is where the fiesta will go down in a matter of hours algo one of the oldest most remote settlements in cuba [Music] here we are we've come here for what is called uh the dance thing ah nanggong it sounds vietnamese a little bit but it's not fiestas here happen almost weekly and they're the only remaining community in cuba still doing a traditional dance known as the gangnam and koreba this kind of party they get together they put it all on food and share with each other they this is actually that they do what what about rum they have rome all right okay will you try some rum [Music] here it's all about eating local including these coconuts used in almost every dish also there's lechon in the west coast they cook the electron mold marinated and they cook it with the sauce in here they put the sauce after israeli so right now there's no flavoring of any kind no it's just natural getting burnt getting burned that sounds like great preparation you really are a food expert i am cool sounds good i have more to say i don't know now we can go down preparation is already underway for lunch or shelby called it pre-fiesta everything is served in guida is a local plant but you can find it all over cuba this hard shell was very important for them their first course crab rice just a few steps away in a local home a husband and wife team put their talents together to create this dish she does the cooking while he performs the important task of showing me around his homemade gym [Music] it's a combo of crab meat rice tomatoes and other local ingredients the rice is steamed until it's cooked through or until your workout is complete all right i'm gonna try some of this here's crab rice oh super good it's just a hint of earthy crap by the way milky you know this is spatulas they used to use it for vomit because they think that vomiting was a way to freedom your spirit so they eat a lot and the next day they use this it's real fish these golden fish get deep fried a little bit of onion and a smothering of rich creamy coconut milk pretty good it's like very fried it's like become a little leathery because it's cooled down let's try it together with this it's made out of bread fruit very good let's see i'm trying to try this one it's kind of like their version of a tamale this is kobakan the elements are like known like the tamale the outside is made out of banana leaf inside they scratch the coconut and plantain and they mix it with crab what makes it orange right there you see those red things it's called chote or behold and the seeds is what makes you discolored oh yeah you taste the coconut right away yeah i love the fact that they don't put a lot of salt really light flavors a little bit sweet and then just tons of coconut oil flavor [Music] just in time the lachon has survived its three hour journey through hell and we're ready to see what it's really made of so right now they're taking out the wood pole he's holding the head my man over here pulling the stick all the way out give it a flip and look at the stomach that's been sewn up here i think he's about to cut that open oh okay but next to this car he just made a new c-section scar oh man i've never seen this before all the organs has been cooked inside inside here yeah with rice you can just smell like all the pig fat has just entered and saturated this rice there's bean there's some liver on here too though i feel like i'm in a gourmet autopsy oh let's try it out [Music] whoa that's delicious it doesn't have a ton of seasoning it's just soaked up all that porky essence in there never throw anything like this that's good yeah he's really good oh he's also got some pork here for us i bet that other pig would eat this pig you ready oh so juicy it's very nice well actually have you ever tried this [Music] it's super crunchy huh which is good if you don't think about it from this point they're going to get this ready break in town cut it up and get it ready for our feast tonight let's do it in this village they know the best cut of meat comes from the inside i'm not saying this pig only had a lot of heart but it had guts too guts that our local chef turn into braids something i definitely haven't seen before the larger bits of intestines are filled with raw blood both are boiled cut into pieces then cooked again in oil before the fiesta kicks off there's one person we have to meet [Music] meet the man behind it all the fiesta the food it doesn't happen without him he even donated his own land to create the fiesta having area where this community gathers most weekends but his contributions don't stop there to complement all of today's bold and heavy flavors antonio is bringing something sweet [Music] this one that you see here that is which is more soft this traditional dessert is made by cooking down coconut water guava papaya and sugar for four hours creating a concentrated sweetness as the water evaporates [Music] oh surprise we have a winner actually i wanted you to go all the way here that's right for this one have you had this before yes man oh it's hard to explain the flavor a little bit like the inside is like that super rich sweet coconutty bit all kind of mashed together with some fruity guava notes on top of that this is my favorite thing in the world this is crazy this could be in like a five-star restaurant as a dessert can i ask how old are you [Music] what is your secret to a long life [Music] [Music] so when do you plan on retiring [Music] antonio like many others i've met here finds joy in the simple things hard work community and being grateful for what he has he's embodied the idea that happiness isn't a specific destination but something to be unlocked within ourselves at any time this moment makes me happy being able to interact talk to you and try this food it's mind-blowingly delicious that hidden away in this small kitchen on the eastern part of cuba is something that people around the world would die for so it's an honor to try it out um can you repeat sorry oh you look emotional i am [Music] they are the mother of something called song song is kind of like the father of salsa and other popular rhythms it's one of them like this uh this is kind of like embarrassing this ancestral dance has been here for over a century and people are doing their best to keep the tradition alive oro on the other hand i think he's just making it up as he goes the emotions that they do is imitating what they do in the fields and it actually feels a little bit like vowels you know what i mean oh waltz walls [Music] i got you this all right do you know what that's for uh water rum [Music] does it feel weird at all having seen my show so many times and then now being part of it i don't know man for other people you are the guy out of the show for me you're my friend you know before when we're living together we always have this kind of conversation the difference is when we had those discussions i was drinking and you were not yeah but today you're drinking and i'm actually i'll be drinking too [Music] i'm not responsible for what happened after this cheers did your dad drink a lot my dad doesn't drink that makes sense my mom they're coming out what the [ __ ] is happening here's what we need we need some food i'll be right back oh [ __ ] man this is burning [Music] this just made me want to laugh this is working right quickly though all right what are you guys talking about i didn't say anything are you drunk you want somebody or you want somebody is it my sister he's pretty give lonely half a shot listen we're about to finish things out here i got this because this is a great combination of the unique dishes here that they're making in this area including two things we're going to try that i know it's going to be out of your comfort zone okay the first one is this grab that okay no it's not that it's an intestine braid have you ever had pork intestine i did not this way [Music] that's good it's not bad dude that is drinking food if i've ever had drinking food i understand why people think alcohol and eat this exactly it's like fatty and porky super simple but man putting it together in that way creates this awesome chewy texture i like that a lot the last thing this one i love because this is like the most simple way i've ever seen blood sausage made yeah they just poured blood into the intestine [Music] oh it's so medium it kind of tastes like organ meat it's like halfway between heart and liver yeah if you give me like this by itself and i squish and i taste it i would think i'm eating a heart and you'd be okay with that fair enough [Music] at this point oro and i have driven completely across the country of cuba in just a few days sampling the country's most idazzled tongue-tingling cuisine i got the opportunity not just hang out with you but hang out with very humble people from my country coming here is more about this is what we got and we need to make it work and also find a way to be happy so for me that is very courageous my brother for real though i'm glad we did [Music] our grand finale takes place in the country's capital havana where we'll get to taste the cuba of the future [Music] where are my sunglasses here we are we're in havana coast on my left buildings on my right i'm in the back of a convertible over decades a history of economic restriction and a u.s embargo banning trade with cuba meant tough times here for any potential business owners in cuba it's very important to pay attention to the limits those limits can change the kind of food that you're making we'll witness how a country riddled with hardships and struggle has developed a culture of innovation adaptation and entrepreneurship excellent she said if you don't say so she will kill you from a michelin rated chef it's like have you ever been interviewed in your own show to a giant pizza oven that's completely homemade normally people buy these in other countries but they made these french fries did you draw a blueprint this is the story of how cuban people overcame the odds to bring delicious food to the masses why is your arm so close to mine for me coming to havana it's like coming to a car show why there's so many old cars here it comes from the 40s and 50s a lot of car companies came and tested the car here and just a year ago when the burger started we got stuck in laguna volvo with those old cars about five times a day i'll see somebody bent over the hood of their car yeah wrenching on something trying to make it work again how are people still able to fix these things that's the thing if you live in cuba and you have any tech you need to know how to fix it anything a computer a car [Music] our first location right here every day from 9 a.m to 6 p.m el cafe is offering locals and tourists a warm fusion of cuban and international food behind every satisfied customer is the man who spent six years in london mastering his craft not just cooking but learning how to run a restaurant at the same time his name is nelson nelson huge pleasure meeting you nice to meet you man you lived outside of cuba for some time why did you decide to come back well what problem in my life i need to come back to cuba to look after my dad in that moment cuba was developed about the private business up yeah we come here and decide to open our own cafe the cuba of today is a lot different than the cuba of a couple decades ago when government-owned and operated restaurants was the norm there was a lot of restrictions in the beginning so the possibilities for owners to own their own businesses it took a long time of course in a government-owned restaurant with no owner with no vision there was also no incentive for workers to perform at a high level these days as the government relaxes more regulations more and more private business owners are stepping up and when you're pouring your heart and soul into your own company the quality shows dude do you call omelets tortillas yes really where does that come from spain i've seen a lot of things in the omelet never banana in cuba there is a big relationship between banana and kids moms used to put bananas on the omelette to give it a little bit of sweet flavor and sometimes they even sprinkle sugar on top of it like this did you experience that too yeah sorry i need to check if this is it's weird but i don't hate it it's something very unique you're an entrepreneur you had an idea and it worked i'm sure you've built momentum over time but right now what are the challenges for entrepreneurs in cuba the supply the supply so you need to work for one two hours all day shop around the area to get just butter or milk being a restaurant owner in any part of the world is an unenviable challenge in cuba even more so she has an idea of the whole day she prepared everything for the menu and when she's running out of resources she started to wipe out every piece of element that she doesn't have until she run out of everything restaurants in general can have hundreds of items they need to stock regularly from distributors cooking oil dish soap meat napkins receipt paper in cuba breakdowns in this supply chain are still common so even something we may take for granted like butter may be easily found today and nowhere to be found tomorrow meet lizzy born and raised in cuba but she lived in italy for 14 years she returned to cuba and opened this restaurant two and a half years ago bringing her italian experience and fusing it with cuban flavors and ingredients what are the most challenging ingredients for you to find first of all she has a mother spirit so she brought that spirit to the restaurant where she needs to think ahead because your kids if they don't have anything to eat you can be like oh i'm sorry no you need to feed right as a mom so that's why she choose to make it simple not just for the palette of people but also for her to find ingredients the case of finding ingredients in season especially like cheese because she uses mozzarella cheese it can be hard to find or can just disappear but she found a local supplier that made it so they don't rely on the government to create that they relay in the connections that they make with each other that's what keeps business like this alive wow lizzy is serving up one of her favorite creations pico la escuena it's basically a cuban calzone placed cheese rope vieja a mix of beef and pork then fried sweet plantain in the middle of their homemade pizza dough fold it in half edge it up and they put it in their homemade oven where do you get a pizza oven like this she said that this is custom made by different locals in the u.s if you need a commercial pizza oven you just go online find a distributor and order one in cuba you hire a welder an engineer and a plumber to work together and make this from scratch they imagine what do i need and then with the materials that they have here they shape their own cuban made made in cuba [Music] [Applause] it looks like a giant calzone but i know it's stuffed with delicious cuban ingredients actually this is what we had in miami the rope it's softer than my grandma's thai my grandma caught herself i'm gonna dig into it oh look at this we've got some dough some cheese some of this delicious pork people always complain on my show that i take tiny little bites so i'm going to try taking a big bite let's go for it [Music] do you feel the roomba i don't know what that is it's a cuban dance yeah it's very delicious it's doughy cheesy and then i feel the plantain has some sweetness in there too yeah it's such a combination between savory and a little sweet oh and that mozzarella is very good it kicks really hard when you were a kid growing up in cuba could you get mozzarella cheese anywhere i didn't know why our next stop a hidden gem on the outside a not so noteworthy looking shop but inside you can't ignore the aroma of baked bread or the food laboratory put together by some kind of culinary mad scientist i've been all over the world with my show many different countries tons of different restaurants this is actually the first michelin rated restaurant that i've been to ever and it's right here in cuba meet alberto head chef and owner of salchi pizza thank you so much for having us today he was born and raised in cuba but lived in italy for 16 years becoming a master of his vocation now he's back sharing his passion for food creation and innovation in havana in 2007 he was the first cuban chef to be awarded a michelin star when did you first become interested in food his grandma inspired him to food but his mom wants him to be an engineer he has more prestige so he became a food chemist is it because he had to do something to satisfy his parents ah i don't know yet practically it's about compromising in the end it was actually more beneficial because he could understand food in a more technological level so you make science and art and you can make something that can go straight to the emotion my heart is not here it's here yeah but for him your heart is here exactly the menu today is well there is no menu the chef will take us on a multi-course journey of flavors after sizing us up and playing to our palettes to begin his pride and joy familia family is amigo bread is friendship an 87 year old family recipe for three types of whole grain bread served with homemade jam this is delicious super sweet like aromatic i taste it in my mouth i taste it in my nose we've got a little bit of pork and pink stuff is the mayonnaise made out of beets it's nice though having the window here we can just really see the magic happen [Music] the power of the beets that is completely transformed the color of this mayonnaise let's go for it [Music] is there more the beets themselves are very earthy and a little bit sweet what is interesting to me is like it has the cuban flavor history tradition all that is put in on this little thing for course three lobster tail minced and set atop a glass of squash puree finally drizzled with an infused oil the chef won't identify until i tried to give it a guess voila i know this is going to smell good oh truffle it's like this man has an old man this is really good delicious super rich truffle i could go to a bar get a shot of vodka and a shot of whatever that is now since he knows my palette he whips together a pasta and white sauce dish he calls the scent of forest i love this style where he kind of reads you with seasonings you like and gives you more of that next cod fish with a coconut corn tamale first he stir-fries the okra a shredded cot and his homemade secret sauce then he layers in flavor using a vacuum smoking machine he plates he drizzles he serves have you ever seen a tamale like this no he kind of elevated the traditions of eating okra mix it with a cow and man i never try also tamale with coconut oh really it seems like an obvious addition that's so good this hot is usually a very light fish but he's made it so rich very good yeah running a restaurant let alone a michelin rated restaurant is a huge undertaking in cuba alberto here is a true success story sir i gotta say beyond meeting you i feel like i know you better just from trying out your menu you're like a food alchemist and an artist all wrapped into one thank you so much this is fabrica de arte cubano a maze of art galleries clubs exhibitions and eateries all entangled inside what used to be an oil factory this is the ultimate community project pushing against limitations and now symbolizing the cuba of the future [Music] what do you think of this one interesting it's got a great body mm-hmm like me well i'm kind of jealous i heard this used to be an oil factory but now it's art what happened how'd that work that's the answer a heart okay could you maybe go more in detail for more than 30 years it was abandoned but now they get reconstructed into a cultural project i've heard it said that limitations push creativity cuba is one of the most creative inventive entrepreneurial places i've been in this eatery lizette the owner of tapas fac is introducing me to a food invented by cubans in tampa florida then adopted back into cuba the cubano made of roasted and smoked pork gouda cheese lettuce pickles and spicy mustard in baguette bread oh this is good excellent she said if you don't say so she will kill you [Laughter] super cheesy nice mustard cake and man that bread is perfect like soft on the inside nice cushiony bread toasty on the very outside i love that thank you yeah that's good this is your place this section of the factory are there just a bunch of different sections with different owners this is actually a team that works as independent they are private businesses all different but they kind of collaborate and interact as a whole team in this trip we've been all over cuba from west coast to east coast in the countryside meeting many different types of people many different types of cuisine this place is one of a kind definitely in cuba what does this place represent for cuba [Music] she doesn't have a lot to add because this place speaks for itself she's very grateful that she could create more than a team more than a group of workers she thinks this place is a hub of culture entertainment and love but also this place is made by cubans in just seven days we drove across the entirety of this country and back to its capital a week is hardly enough time to know a place well but still i can say what cuba means to me cuba is struggle cuba is overcoming cuba is success in the face of adversity cuba is being grateful for what you have but cuba is also fighting for a better future what is the future for entrepreneurs in cuba i really don't know but the only thing i can say is we need to be flexible and try to do something different with everything that you can get here in cuba where does that come from that idea of like keep fighting find a different way be resourceful cubans are not from here we have to come here and adapt to the island sometimes we don't notice because it's become that survival like if you stop doing it you die so that kind of survival has set the path of where we are right now and for your other question they may not know what the future of entrepreneur is right now in the country but for sure the future of the country is in the entrepreneurs because i think more than qualities more than cultural and everything they are shaping what can be the future of this country my trap boom boom boom it is the end of the episode we did it oro thank you so much guys check out oro on instagram that's his main platform of interest he does all kinds of artistic endeavors it's quite a treat that is it for this one guys i will see you next time a peace

Channel: Best Ever Food Review Show

Views: 1,755,174

Keywords: best ever food review show, sonny side, befrs team, cuba, america, cuban food, traditional food of Cuba, Havana, salsa, latin america, lechon, baracoa travel, baracoa food, crocodile, what to do cuba, cuban food in cuba, cubano, cuban restaurant

Id: e94zWmu58ZY

Length: 81min 32sec (4892 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 19 2022