IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 3 ENGLISH | Page 83

• Africans were abruptly torn from the lands without the possibility of bringing with them anything
tied directly to their origin
• Obviously, they could not choose their diet
• The Cuban environment lacked many of the African components
• They were forced to adapt to the dominant white
culture
• Most African slaves were men; generally few of
them had culinary knowledge, since the slave
trade preferred them for the hard work and they
were more resistant to the long, trans-Atlantic
voyage in subhuman conditions.

Congrí

Yet, commercial ships brought many of the products that ended up on our table. From Africa, we
got malanga (taro), ñame (African yam) and
plantains (this last item also came from the Antilles and the shores of the Orinoco River, according
to nineteenth-century historian Jacobo de la Pezuela). Today they are found in our favorite home
recipes. Other such characteristic products include quimbombó (okra); dishes made with okra
are of African origin.
Root vegetables also enriched already established
dishes. In Los factores humanos de la cubanidad
[Human Factors in Cubanness] (1940), Ortiz
takes time to describe the ajiaco stew such as it
was prepared by the natives of the island and how
over time it was enriched by the incorporation of

African root vegetables; fresh beef, dried beef,
bacon (all Castilian in origin), and others, all
which resulted in a simple but delicious example
of national integration.
This Cuban ethnologist established the significant
African influence in our cooking by studying the
etymology of the names for certain dishes and
drinks. In La cocina afrocubana [Afro-Cuban
Food] (1923), he once again mentions the ajiaco
stew, in addition to congrí (rice and beans cooked
together), fufú (a mashed plantain dish based on a
Nigerian version made with cassava flour), and
calalú (a dish made with taro or amaranth leaves);
among the beverages is champola (a sort of fruit
nog), agualoja (a water, honey or molasses, cinnamon or nutmeg, and ginger drink), pru (a fermented botanical drink) and others.

Quinbombó

Prú

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