Guarapo- fresh squeezed sugar cane - is made for a nearby guaraperia where a Hemingway-inspired drink that also uses fresh squeezed pineapple is served. 

It's important to stay hydrated in tropical Cuba and the natives do it in style, notably with mojitos and daiquiris, good local beer and guarapo. The latter is freshly squeezed sugarcane juice sold at roadside guaraperias, often served with rum but quite thirst-quenching, if sweet, served straight up..


I first saw it being squeezed at a stand near Hemingway's Vinca Vigia, the home he bought with his first royalty check from "For Whom the Bell Tolls." The author, who loved Cuba and lived there 20 years, has achieved cult status among Cubans and fans from all over the world make Hemingway pilgrimages there.

I'll have more about our visit to that 20-acre hilltop estate soon.

Havana Club is the rum used in almost every drink. The rum and coke called the Cuba Libre  is probably the simplest drink though I didn't see any Coca Cola (or any other brand name) during my visit to  Cuba.

People seem perfectly content using TuCola, a knock-off of sorts.

El Floridita, one of the downtown Havana bars regularly frequented by Hemingway, today carries his signature on its marquee and inside a lifesized size bronze statue of the author leans with an elbow on the bar.

Hemingway wrote about the daiquiris served at El Floridita and today they still are sold there but are said to be overpriced.

The sugarcane being squeezed below Vinca Vigia was near a sign boasting that Hemingway tasted his first pineapple there and a pineapple drink is made and sold in his honor.

This is the pineapple juice, lemon juice,  sugar cane juice and rum drink offered near Hemingway's Cuban home. Note the sugar cane stalk, pineapple slice and lime used as a garnish.

Bartenders using  Cuban rum  to top off a multiple variety of drinks  often look to the imbiber to "say when"

One of the best beers I drank in Cuba was Bucaneros, a heavy bodied lager with good flavor. Cristal, which is more commonly available, is a lighter beer.

 I'd heard that Hatuey was a good beer, but I couldn't find it.  

Ropa Vieja is a Cuban dish served everywhere. Usually it is made of beef, but pork is sometimes used.

I'm now working on my stories about Cuba for a series that will begin next month. Food was the focus of my people-to-people tour and I now crave some tastes I enjoyed there such as Ropa Vieja  and mojitos. You cannot buy the great Cuban rum in the this country but you can make Americanized versions of these foods for a flavor of Cuba. Ropa Vieja, Spanish for "old clothes," was also served to us using pork, a diet staple all over Cuba. We learned how to make both at the Artechef Cooking School in Havana.

ROPA VIEJA
4 pounds chuck or arm roast, well marbled
2 tablespoons olive oil for browning
1/3 cup flour to dust meat
1 green pepper, cut into chunks
1 onion sliced
5 cloves garlic chopped
     SAUCE
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, mashed with 1 teaspoon salt
2 green peppers, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil (for sautéing)
4 ounces tomato paste
1 (32-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 cup red wine
1 bay leaf
Salt and black pepper to taste
Do not trim excess fat from meat before cooking because it lends its flavor to the dish and can be removed when the meat is shredded.  Salt and pepper the meat and lightly dust with flour.
Brown  meat in oil in a large Dutch oven, adding  enough water to surround the meat, but not to  cover it. Add chunks of  green pepper, sliced onion, and garlic. Simmer, covered, until meat is fork tender, about two hours. (Add more water as necessary
Remove from heat and cool. Discard vegetables. Shred the meat with a pair of forks.
Sauté onions, garlic and green pepper in oil.   Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, cumin, red wine and bay leaf. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and cook on low for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf and either  stir in the shredded beef or pour over. Serve over rice.

You can't buy Havana Club rum in the U.S. but mojitos made from it are staples in Cuba. Here a bartender lines up the drinks to prepare them for a group. 

MOJITO
(Makes one)
2 tablespoons white sugar (some bartenders use simple syrup)
Fresh mint
1 lime, cut in half and juiced with a fork
1/2 cup sparkling water
Bitters
Rum
Place sugar and mint in bottom of glass.  Add lemon or lime juice. Muddle mint with  a heavy wooden spoon, mashing it against sides of glass. Pour in sparkling water and two drops of bitters. Top off with 1-1/2 jiggers of rum. Garnish with mint sprig