Travel writer, photographer + Cuba travel expert
The Trump administration has banned American cruise ships from Cuba from June 5 2019, and removed the option for what is known as ‘people to people’ travel for groups and individuals visiting Cuba.
Americans, and those subject to US jurisdiction (eg UK travellers boarding an AA flight from Miami to Havana) continues to be legal under the several US Treasury permitted categories of travel. This includes the much favoured ‘Support for the Cuban people category’. More details here:
Heading to Laos?
Check out my Ultimate Laos itinerary for Telegraph Travel:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/laos/articles/ultimate-laos/
Heading to Cienfuegos on a cruise? Take my Telegraph Travel cruise port guide to this beautiful Cuban city: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/port-guides/cienfuegos-cruise-port-guide/
Cruising to Cuba? Take my port guide to Santiago de Cuba as featured in Telegraph Travel:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/port-guides/santiago-de-cuba-cruise-port-guide/
My 10 Best Beaches in Cuba for Condé Nast Traveller!
https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/best-beaches-in-cuba
Go seek them out!
This month’s news: Delighted to be asked to be the Cuba expert for Essentialist.com
Think of Cuba and you don’t instantly think of gourmet food, spicy dishes, or a smorgasbord of pimped up Creole cuisine. But cooking and dining and sourcing are changing on the island through its private restaurant entrepreneurs, organic farm movement, and a need to stop importing so much food for its 11 million-strong population, and 4 million visitors.
Madelaine Vázquez Gálvez and Imogene Tondre in Phaidon’s Cuba: The Cookbook (published June 1) look at how Cuba’s history of colonisation, African slavery, immigration from Haiti, China, and Jamaica, trade, and food rationing has influenced the island nation’s food palate and plate.
Recipes are arranged from appetisers through to desserts, and a whole spread features Cuba’s carbohydrate staple, white rice. The authors also highlight places on the island nurturing their own culinary traditions. My favourites are Baracoa, in the far east, and Gibara, on the north coast.
As well as beautifully illustrated recipes, anecdotes make their way onto the page about foods which have made their way into common language:
‘Rice is so deeply entrenched in Cuban culture that it is used in some common sayings, such as “arroz con mango,” which refers to a commotion of some kind.’
And little tidbits of culinary history introduce a number of recipes. The origin of the moreish fufu (mashed plantain) is explained: ‘According to Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz, the British also brought African slaves (specifically Ghanaian slaves) to Cuba during their brief rule. When the British fed the slaves their food, usually boiled and mashed plantains, they would say “Food, food,” which is origin of the name of this dish.’
The book is accompanied by gorgeous photography by Sidney Bensimon, and Louise Morgan.
Cuba: The Cookbook published by Phaidon (£29.95)
Go now for the new adventures. My piece for Adventure.com:
I took the train across Cuba exploring off-the-beaten track parts of the island for Wanderlust Magazine:
https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/cuba-rail-off-the-beaten-track/
