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Cuban cuisine in the heart of Paris


Cuban Cafe is a Cuban restaurant in the Montparnasse 6th arrondisment of Paris, close to the famous traditional French restaurants, La Coupole, Le Dome, La Rotonde, and Le Select.


Dimly lit, it is decorated with paraphernalia from Cuba—flags, banners, ornaments, and posters. The bar and restaurant on rue Vavin offers lunch, dinner, and cocktails, such as the Cuba Libre cocktail created in 1920 for Ernest Hemingway. The restaurant offers Cuban and Spanish cuisine such as tapas (frias and caliente—cold and hot), picadillo a la habanera (minced Havana), salads, and meat and fish plates. Accompanying the meals are tachinos, chatinos or tostones (fried green bananas), black beans, and congress (rice and bean mixture). It’s authentic and hearty in a no-frills style amid a warm and welcoming atmosphere.


 Consumerism and entrepreneurship are novel experiences in the country of Cuba. Its four million government workers earn an average salary of $20 a month, and retirees receive about $10 a month. While many receive food rations and health care, most Cubans live humbly. Many continue to live on remittances—for example, remittances from Cuban Americans accounted for $5 billion in 2012 (three times the amount the Cuban government pays in government salaries). For 54 years under Fidel Castro’s communist rule, time virtually stood still. However, as his brother Raul Castro opened the economy to limited non-state (private) businesses and farming, the number of Cubans taking advantage of the new policy has steadily increased.
In 2009 about 600,000 Cubans worked in the private sector (which includes farming). In 2013 about a million Cubans (9% of the population) now work in the private sector (figures from the National Statistics Office). These new entrepreneurs make up the consumer class in Cuba.


Soon after taking office in 2008, after Fidel Castro stepped down in 2006 due to ailing health, President Raul Castro opened the way for more consumption, allowing Cubans to establish businesses, stay in hotels, and buy mobile phones and laptop computers. Nearly 1.5 million Cubans stayed in hotels or spent money on tourism in 2012, an increase of 200,000 from the previous year. Privately owned restaurants now cater for the same number of Cuban clients as tourists.
Tourists are mainly Canadians and Europeans, although in 2011 about 400,000 Americans flew to Cuba. In 2012 a record 2.8 million visitors descended upon Cuba, increasing tourism revenue to $2.5 billion (but still less than overseas remittances).
However, the increase in businesses has occurred predominantly in the retail sector—bars, restaurants, and food kiosks—with almost no new manufacturing and production.
Health care has always been a positive aspect in Cuba, continuing to export doctors overseas. However, health is becoming more of a concern with medical facilities more in demand as the population ages. The National Statistics Office predicts that by 2025 Cuba will have the oldest population in Latin America or the Caribbean. Universities will have 30% fewer students, and a quarter (25%) of Cuba’s citizens will be over the age of 60 by 2025. Government officials are aging too. President Raul is now 82 and his brother Fidel is 87.






http://www.cubanacafe.com
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