Caribbean and Central American Recipes

Boiled cassava pieces arranged on a plate

Cuba Dinner

Cuban Yuca con Mojo Recipe

Boiled cassava tastes like almost nothing on its own. What makes it Cuban is the mojo poured over it hot: olive oil, garlic mashed with salt in a pilon, sliced onion, and sour orange cutting the starch.

Fili PostSeptember 3, 2026

Triangular guava and cheese pastelitos, glazed and stacked in a Cuban bakery case

Cuba Dessert

Cuban Pastelitos de Guayaba Recipe

Squares of puff pastry folded over firm guava paste and cheese, sealed with egg, vented so the steam escapes, and baked until the top lacquers to a deep bakery gold.

Chica PostSeptember 3, 2026

Two golden brown breaded croquettes on a white plate

Cuba Snacks

Cuban Croquetas de Jamon Recipe

Finely minced ham bound in a warm milk sauce, chilled until firm, then breaded and fried until the shell cracks and the center runs creamy. The Cuban croqueta is drier and more seasoned than the Spanish one.

Chica PostSeptember 2, 2026

A long oval loaf of white bread with a seam running the length of the crust

Bread Cuba

Pan Cubano Recipe

Lard is what separates this loaf from a baguette. A starter made the day before, a long oval loaf, steam in the oven, and the seam down the top that three Cuban bakers cut with a blade for want of a palm leaf.

Joe PostSeptember 3, 2026

Roast pork sliced, showing crisp browned skin and pale interior

Cuba Dinner

Cuban Lechon Asado Recipe

Sour orange, a head of garlic, cumin and oregano, and a bone-in shoulder left overnight in the mojo. Cuba roasts the whole pig over coals. This is the oven version, with the skin taken to crackling.

Fili PostSeptember 3, 2026

Close-up of moros y cristianos, black beans cooked together with white rice, served on a white plate

Cuba Dinner

Cuban Moros y Cristianos Recipe

Two Cuban cooks call this dish by a name they say is technically wrong, then keep using it anyway. Black beans and white rice in one pot, in the bean broth, finished dry and grain-separate.

Joe PostSeptember 2, 2026

Crisp fried shredded beef with sauteed onion, served with white rice

Cuba Dinner

Cuban Vaca Frita Recipe

The boil is only preparation. The dish happens in the skillet, when shredded flank steak hits hot oil with sliced onion and stays there long enough for the edges to go brown and brittle.

Isela PostSeptember 2, 2026

A bowl of rice pudding dusted heavily with ground cinnamon, the way arroz con dulce is finished

Dessert Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Arroz con Dulce Recipe

Puerto Rican arroz con dulce: rice simmered in a cinnamon, clove and ginger tea with coconut milk, set cold and dusted with cinnamon.

Isela PostAugust 24, 2026

An unwrapped Puerto Rican pastel on a banana leaf, its annatto-orange masa still glossy, with two tied yuntas behind it

Dinner Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Pasteles Recipe

Puerto Rican pasteles: green banana masa with annatto oil wrapped around stewed pork in banana leaf, tied in pairs and boiled.

Isela PostAugust 24, 2026

A glass of Puerto Rican coquito dusted with cinnamon

Beverage Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Coquito Recipe

Puerto Rican coquito: coconut milk, cream of coconut, condensed milk and white rum, blended cold and poured small at Christmas.

Isela PostAugust 24, 2026

puerto rican pernil, whole bone-in pork shoulder roasted with crisp golden cuerito

Lunch Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Pernil Recipe

Puerto Rican pernil: pork shoulder marinated overnight with garlic, oregano and sofrito, then roasted low until the cuerito shatters.

Isela PostAugust 24, 2026

Cuban picadillo with diced potato, green olives and sweet peppers cooking in a wide skillet

Cuba Dinner

Cuban Picadillo Recipe

Ground beef browned hard, a sofrito built in its own fat, tomato sauce and dry white wine, Spanish olives with their brine, and diced potato folded in at the end. The raisins are a household choice.

Isela PostSeptember 2, 2026

A white molded coconut pudding dusted with cinnamon, the shape tembleque takes when turned out of its mold

Dessert Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Tembleque Recipe

Puerto Rican tembleque: coconut milk thickened with cornstarch, set in a mold and dusted with cinnamon. Five ingredients, one pot.

Isela PostAugust 24, 2026

A bowl of thick black bean stew served beside white rice

Cuba Dinner

Cuban Frijoles Negros Recipe

A pound of dried black beans, a green pepper soaked whole with them, and a finish of sugar, vinegar and dry wine. The beans stay in their own pot, the rice in its own. That separation is the whole point.

Isela PostSeptember 2, 2026

A baking dish of Puerto Rican pastelon: layers of fried ripe plantain with seasoned ground beef and melted cheese

Dinner Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Pastelon Recipe

Puerto Rican pastelon: sweet ripe plantains fried in strips and layered with seasoned picadillo and cheese, bound with egg and baked.

Isela PostAugust 24, 2026

Cuban ropa vieja, shredded beef in tomato sofrito, served with white rice

Cuba Dinner

Cuban Ropa Vieja Recipe

Cuba's shredded beef, braised slow and finished in sofrito with Spanish olives. Flank steak, hand-shredded along the grain, over white rice with sweet plantains on the side.

Chica PostSeptember 3, 2026