Cuban Birthday Parties!

Until the late 1950s, no Cuban birthday party was complete without an American-style birthday cake.

"Having a great cake was a status symbol," says Jorge Castillo. "The best cakes came from bakeries, but in many neighborhoods, the local 'cake lady' made delicious cakes in her home."

Cuban birthday cakes are very elaborate with multiple layers, colorful frostings, and many decorations. A particularly Cuban touch is to have plastic decorations that dot the top of the cake. Lucky kids find a small candy attached to the bottom of the decoration. At many parties, if a child finds a candy this way you win a small prize.

One party game that is very Cuban is a game similar to leapfrog called "Pon." You have to hop over all of the kids in front of you until you get to the end of the line. Many people also organize treasure hunts for the children with clues written on slips of paper. The clues lead to small caches of hidden toys and candy.

You might think that the piñata is strictly a Mexican tradition. According to Raúl Musibay, "In Cuba we had our own. They were made with cardboard and colored-paper. We stuffed them with candy and prizes. Many people made them in the shape of American cartoon characters. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were very popular."

"Most of the homemade ones were not as elaborate," Castillo adds. "Something as simple as a cylinder made to look like a drum, or two round boxes made to resemble a cowboy hat."

"I went to a party once where the piñata was a huge white swan -- it was enormous," Musibay says.

One tradition that is unique to the Cuban piñata: there is no blindfold or baseball bat at a Cuban party. Instead, the piñata is built with a small trap door in the bottom. Ribbons are threaded through the trap door in such a way that one "magic ribbon" holds the trapdoor in place.

All of the children gather around as the adults hoist the piñata above their heads. The mother of the birthday child counts to three and all of the children begin pulling on a ribbon -- pink for girls and blue for boys. One lucky child pulls the magic ribbon, causing the trapdoor to open and all of the candy to fall on the floor.

One nice thing about a Cuban piñata? Because you don't smash the piñata with a bat, you can use the same piñata over and over again.

"No child is left behind by an errant bat swing to the head either," adds the ever ironic Glenn Lindgren.

Some "Famous" February Birthdays:

"This happened just about every time Jorge and Raúl got into the canoe," Lindgren reports.

It seems there was a very popular television series in Cuba about the Viking explorers. Most of the show involved the intrepid Norsemen paddling from one conquest to another in their longboats. For Cubans this television show is long gone, but not forgotten.

Now, whenever the Three Guys get together for fishing, it's a tradition for someone to stand in the bow as we leave the dock and shout “Vikingos!” A sight, we’re sure, that inspires shock and awe among any innocent bystanders.

Vikings and Cubans

You wouldn't think there would be any connection between Vikings and Cubans. (Except for the Swedish Viking in our group.) However, if you ever go fishing with a Cuban, you may be in for a surprise. Get a couple of Cubans in a canoe and you might be baffled -- as Glenn Lindgren was -- to hear them shout, almost in unison, "Vikingos!"

Jamón ibérico may just be the ultimate ham.

The ham, more properly called a jamón ibérico de bellota, (there are other types of ibérico ham, but this is the best) is made from the ibérico pig. The pigs are allowed to range free and, several weeks before slaughter, the pigs roam the nearby oak forests where they gorge themselves on fallen acorns.

This diet and a dry curing process that the locals have used for generations produce this gold standard of hams.

Many a pizza has been ruined by a bad anchovy!

A tender smoked anchovy is a joy on the tongue - the best ones seem to melt in your mouth. We especially enjoy Nardín Smoked Anchovies, crafted with skill by a family owned business in Spain. These hearty fish are harvested from the Cantabria Sea in the Bay of Biscay using sustainable fishing methods.

The process starts on the fishing boats where the freshly netted fish are packed in a mild refrigerated brine - using half the salt of a typical brining solution. Once ashore, Nardín carefully washes away the brine and hand fillets the anchovies. They then hand dry and smoke the anchovies with beech wood, a delicate and mildly sweet hardwood. They pack the anchovies in pure olive oil and the result is an anchovy that is not overly salty with a sublime, mild fish flavor.

The texture of this fish is far and away above that if a typical anchovy, which normally sits in a salty brine for months. The plump texture of these will remind you of delicately smoked salmon

We love to eat these anchovies on toasted and lightly buttered Cuban bread with piquillo peppers, chopped sweet onion, and a dash of oil and vinegar. Either that, or right out of the can!

Find out more about these delicious anchovies by clicking here.

Jamón Ibérico