I have a dream. One day, my friends are going to enter my home, Latin trumpet music playing, smells of rich spices surrounding each guest, and for the big moment, they enter my dining room and see a perfectly roasted pig-on-a-stick. Of course, in my dream I appear calm, cool, and collected wearing a cute red mini flower dress. Picture it, a house perfectly tidy, friends gushing with compliments over the magnificent Cuban buffet, and of course, everything is made from scratch.
Can’t you hear it? “Ah, your ropa vieja tastes just like your grandmother’s,” referring to a traditional tomato-rich flavored beef stew over a bed of white rice. The infamous, “How did you find the time to make this tres leches,” a sweet decadent cake bomb infused with condensed milk, cream, and coconut milk, designed to make you gain 10 pounds with one bite.
In 2009, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit Cuba and meet my family. I learned quite a bit of cooking technique from my octogenarian aunts, visited small local restaurants inside of homes called, paladares, and experienced the warmth of Cuban family meal traditions.
Recreating delicious Cuban dishes from scratch, is, well, not so easy for a first generation Cuban like me who doesn’t enjoy the cooking process. Do you have any idea how much time it takes to cook one dish? I am a busy on-the-go gal. Let’s just say, there has got to be an easier way. Ingredients, cooking, chopping, simmering, pots, mess – ‘Calgone take me away!’
Okay, so maybe everyone should have that expert family cook that can whip of the old Cuban recipes without batting an eye. But for now, I will reminisce over the photos of my Cuban trip instead.
Having lived in Weehawken and Hoboken for over five and a half years, I come back to visit my favorite places. Most Hudson County residents know that Union City is easily identified as having Caribbean and South American influences throughout, especially along Bergenline Avenue. However, a lesser known highlight of Hudson County for Latin influence is Weehawken, a stone’s throw away from Union City, offering traditional Cuban fare in small local establishments.
The secret to not having to deal with the overrated cooking ordeal and still enjoy the same authentic Cuban experience – go out! A local Cuban staple on the border of Weehawken and Union City is “El Unico Restaurant” at 4211 Park Ave., Weehawken. Established in 1976, Junito Montes de Oca has been serving Cuban delicacies for the past 35 years in a basic and very simple cafeteria style environment. As I was walking through my old neighborhood in Weehawken, I realized how much I enjoyed urban living and the familiar feel of walking through the streets where Spanish is the common language.
A warm sense of home once again
At El Unico, the menu retains a unique simplicity with a few specials offered each day. When you see their menu, you wonder how they make any money, delicious real Cuban food at recession prices, $4, $5, a big whopping $6 and no mess!
Your typical favorites, ropa vieja, a shredded braised beef slow-cooked to fall-apart tenderness in a tomato sauce, lechon asado, a tender roast pork favorite among Cubans, all with the typical accompaniments of rice, beans, or sweet plantains.
The food is only part of the experience. It brings me back to the simplicity of what it means to break bread with family and friends. Enter the restaurant, which is simple and casual, small nondescript tables. At the counter, you will find stools to join locals and visitors alike. While I sat at my table waiting for my ropa vieja, I saw families sharing a meal, children playing with cars on the floor, and teens taking selfies while they sat. A true sense of family tradition is here, built at a local restaurant on the familiar recipes well-known within the Cuban community.
For us Cubans, sharing a traditional meal means alignment with our culture. It supports a connection to childhood, for families a place to build meal traditions, and “wannabes” a few moments of being Cuban. My husband, an Irish American, enjoys the experience.
With a wry grin, he said, “I feel Cuban when I am here. That is I why I married you, a chance to be part of a Cuban American family.”
The local area has strong competitor restaurants, given the proximity to Bergenline Avenue, a hot spot for Caribbean restaurants in New Jersey.
Oh, that pig-on-a-stick I mentioned earlier? Did you really think I was going to relegate myself to dirty dishes and exhaustion trying to be Ms. Perfect? Let’s just say sliced roast pork nestled on a bed of black beans and rice at a local restaurant will do just fine. Oh and waiter, “Un café con leche, por favor!”