- Secretos de Mi Abuela
- (Cont. from page one)
- Glenn and the Abuelas: A Personal Insight (Cont. from page one)
When we published our cookbook, we never thought it would be a big seller with Cubans. After all, don't all Cubans know how to cook Cuban food already?
However, many people write us to say they like our site and our book because they can make all of the recipes their grandmother would never teach them! Many Cuban abuelas literally take their recipes with them to the grave.
One lady in California told us: "Every time I asked my abuela for a recipe I received the same response: 'Hay mija es que yo no tengo una receta yo cocino con lo que tengo disponible en la casa!'" Basically: "I don't have a recipe, I cook with what I have available in the house!"
We have even had a few mothers tell us they are giving our book to their children because our recipes are good (although maybe not as good as their own) and it will save them so much time writing out all of their recipes!
Although both women appeared on our "Christmas in America" special on the Food Network, neither one had ever been called upon to speak on camera for any length of time. We slipped through the gate on Raúl's carport and tip toed back to the patio behind Raúl's house.
Where we expected to find confusion and possibly chaos, we found the two woman seated in front of the cameras talking like a couple of old television pros. We quickly and quietly sneaked away -- they obviously didn't need any of our help!
The show also marks a first for us on television: Raúl and Jorge speaking Spanish on camera! Mercifully, Glenn was not required to speak any Spanish on camera. Now that would have been interesting!
One thing that did happen over the years is that many of the abuelas I've met in my travels with Jorge and Raúl have taken a liking to me. I think it's mostly the novelty of this big gringo from the North having such an interest in Cuban food, but many abuelas will tell me recipe secrets that they would never share with anyone else -- not even Jorge and Raúl. Not necessarily entire recipes, but often they will ask me how we make a certain dish and then offer a tip or two. Many of our recipes have benefited from these little gems of abuela knowledge.
So the Three Guys' recipes do owe a lot to the many abuelas of the world. We started with several recipes that we managed to wrestle away from the two abuelas in our family. We also benefited from the comments and criticisms of many abuelas over the years.
Most of all, the traditional Cuban cooking of the abuelas has always represented the "Gold Standard" in Cuban cooking for us. These traditional recipes are the heart and soul of Cuban and cuisine, and even when we add our own twists and innovations, we never stray too far from these classic originals.
