Letters to the Chef

To be or not to be

To be or not to be…….well which is it Juanito?

A letter to jcm@old.pambiche.com:

On Apr 22, 2013, at 8:00 PM, wrote:

From: Anonymous Person

Message Body:
The reason I chose to not do business with you are because of your proud purveyance of a communist plate.  Shame on you! Since that is the way you feel…..VIVA FIDEL CABRON!

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This mail is sent via contact form on Pambiche Cocina and Repostería Cubana http://old.pambiche.com

My response:

Thank you for contacting Pambiche. I am always happy to engage in conversations with issues surrounding Cuba and Cuban culture. I appreciate your point of view and understand what you are saying. First, I will respond by saying that I am pro Cuban Revolution. I am in fact a product of the Cuban Revolution. If it were not for the Cuban Revolution my mother would have returned to Cuba as a teenager and most certainly would have never met my father, and therefor I surely would not exist, so by all means Viva La Revolution Cubana!!! This is a common view amongst many Cuban Americans regardless of what our families think.

There is an interesting perspective that I would like to point out to you……..Most often we receive comments or ridicule, where these plates are concerned, because some Cubans and Cuban Americans interpret the plates on our menu as a statement towards our sympathies with socialism and the political regime in Cuba. The reality is though that most folks don’t usually have problems with these “statement” menu items, in fact most people, especially Cubans, get a good laugh when they see these plates on our menu, we (Cubans) excel at self parody!

To your comments:

I have two plates that may seem offensive if you don’t understand their intent.

The Plato Comunista (Communist Plate), which is purposefully listed below the Plato Cubano (Typical Cuban Plate), is an intentional poke at the lack of meat in contemporary, communist Cuba. This fact of modern Cuban life means that many of the meals eaten by most of the population are vegetarian, usually not by choice. Typically meat would be a part of most every meal. The additional irony, is that here in the States, we have all the meat we could want and more, but many of us choose not to eat it, and by choice are vegetarians or vegans. Read more about the Plato Cubano and Plato Comunista on my October 4th, 2012 blog here.

The second plate is available on our weekend breakfast menu, the Picadillo Comunista (Socialist Soy Hash), which is purposefully listed below the Picadillo Cua Cua (Typical Beef Hash), obviously another intentional poke at the lack of meat in contemporary, communist Cuba. Soy Hash, Picadillo de Soya, never existed in Cuba before the revolution, but is now part of every Cuban individuals monthly food ration that he/she receives from the government, making it a modern day reality for all Cuban palates. A good portion of the population doesn’t go along without mumbles and grumbles where soy hash is concerned, some detest it in fact, that’s just the way it is. My family that still lives on the island thought I was crazy when I told them I was putting picadillo de soya on my menu at Pambiche. They can’t appreciate the fact that many people here in the states actually don’t want meat in their diets. More irony I guess…..?

I certainly understand how you could have taken offense to what you understood we were “saying” with our communist plates, but as you see the “other side” often gets offended as well. The truth is life in Cuba has changed for good. For better or for worse, what once was “typical” in the Cuban culinary spectrum is not necessarily relevant any longer. By the same token, what one could never have fathomed as being typical is now part of daily life. These plates at Pambiche demonstrate merely a pin head of the irony that being Cuban encompasses……For Cubans humor is the ironic vehicle that restores order…….by laughing at oneself or at one’s situation, hurt can be muted. To use humor when pointing to personal misfortune is considered a brand of nobility, whereas self-pity betrays weakness.

Once again I thank you for writing to us. I do hope that you will give us a chance and judge Pambiche with your palate; we are in fact a descent eatery despite our leaders bent sense of humor!!

Cheers!!

John Connell-Maribona
chef/owner
Pambiche – Cocina & Repostería Cubana
mailto:jcm@old.pambiche.com