A Way With ‘Old Clothes’

Norma de la Cal has lived in the United States for 33 years but tuna casseroles still haven’t made it onto her dinner menu.

“Never,” she says. “My husband worked and I had to give him food--rice, boniato [a sweet potato-like tuber], vegetables and meat.”

In a Cuban household, “food” is a multi-course meal. You must have a soup, a vegetable, a starch, some kind of meat or fish and, naturally, bread and dessert.

And while these dishes are everyday food, they’re not the kind of thing you can just throw together in a couple of minutes.

Take de la Cal’s red beans.

“These are not just any beans,” she explains. “They have ham, chorizo, bacon, squash, potatoes and a lot of garlic and onions. Every person cooks beans differently, and every time I come visit my daughter she asks me to cook my beans,” she says, smiling.

Another family favorite is her torrejas, a Cuban version of French toast in which slices of a baguette are dipped in milk boiled with cinnamon, coated with a beaten egg and fried.

“They’re always a problem when I make them for the kids because there are never enough,” she says.

But there is one dish that de la Cal made at least once every week when her children were growing up: ropa vieja. Literally meaning, “old clothes,” ropa vieja is shredded beef cooked with a tasty sofrito. It’s often served with another staple of the Cuban household, yuca, either fried or steamed, and it’s one way de la Cal passed on her family’s cultural roots to her children, never mind that Cuba is light-years away. When it comes to food, she says, “it’s as if we had never left.”

Still, there are some differences in being a cook in Cuba and a Cuban cook in the United States. Cuba, de la Cal says, was a cook’s paradise, where you could find anything: island seafood, tropical crops and a great assortment of meats and poultry.

Not that she does so bad with the food she buys here. De la Cal can cook a mean vaca frita--cubed flank steak fried with garlic, lemon and onion. She also makes great bacalao a la Vizcaina (cod with a tomato-wine sauce). And if you’re looking for the kind of cooking that rarely makes it to restaurant menus, she can dish out a great plate of quimbambo (okra with pork and plantain).

Her recipes, many of which she learned from an aunt, are stashed in an old cookbook she brought from Cuba. But the truth is, she never measures anything.

“What can I tell you?” she asks smiling. “It’s not gourmet food, but it’s certainly very good.”

SOPA DE AJO

This soup is similar to Chinese egg drop soup, except for the garlic. It’s a particularly good substitute for chicken noodle soup when you’ve got a nasty cold. Everyone knows how good garlic is for you, and if no one is home to make it for you, you can do it yourself in just a few minutes.

1 tablespoon olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced fine

2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans chicken broth

2 eggs

Heat olive oil in large sauce pot over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, being careful not to let garlic brown. Add chicken broth and bring to simmer.

Beat eggs well and stir in. Continue to cook 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

102 calories; 963 mg sodium; 108 mg cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 4 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.06 gram fiber.

ROPA VIEJA

2 large onions

2 pounds flank steak

6 cloves garlic

Water

1 large green bell pepper

2 medium tomatoes or 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup dry white wine

Cut 1 onion in half.

Place flank steak, 1/2 onion and 2 cloves garlic in large saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, until meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

Remove meat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain stock and reserve. When meat is cool, shred and set aside.

Chop bell pepper and mince remaining 1 1/2 onions and 4 cloves garlic. Dice tomatoes.

Heat oil in large saucepan and add onions and garlic. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add oregano, cumin, tomato sauce, salt, bay leaf, wine, shredded beef and diced tomatoes and cook over medium heat 10 to 15 minutes. Add some of reserved stock if needed; dish should have plenty of sauce but not be soupy.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Each of 6 servings contains about:

436 calories; 1,363 mg sodium; 85 mg cholesterol; 24 grams fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 37 grams protein; 1.32 grams fiber.

FRIJOLES COLORADOS

1 pound red kidney beans

2 large ham hocks

5 to 6 cups water

1/4 pound bacon

2 onions

2 green bell peppers

6 cloves garlic

1/2 pound Spanish or Mexican chorizo

1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 large potatoes

2 pounds winter squash such as kabocha or banana squash

Combine dried beans, ham hocks and enough water to cover in 2- to 3-quart stock pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until beans are fairly tender, about 2 hours.

Chop bacon, onions and bell peppers; mince garlic and slice chorizo.

Place bacon, onions, bell peppers, garlic, chorizo, tomatoes, salt, oregano and cumin in large saute pan and cook 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove ham hocks from beans and set aside until cool enough to handle. Separate meat from bones and fat and return meat to beans. Add chorizo mixture to beans and cook over medium-low heat 15 minutes.

Cut potatoes and squash into chunks and add to mixture. Cook until beans, potatoes and squash are tender, about 20 minutes longer. Add more water if mixture appears too dry.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Each of 10 servings contains about:

430 calories; 1,102 mg sodium; 37 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 25 grams protein; 4.70 grams fiber.

YUCA

1 (20-ounce) package frozen yuca (cassava)

1 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1/2 lemon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 large cloves garlic

1/4 cup oil

Place yuca, salt, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and water to cover in pot and cook over medium heat until tender, 30 to 40 minutes, or cook according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

Mince garlic.

Heat oil in small pan until hot but not smoking. Remove from heat, add garlic and lemon juice. Pour sauce over warm yuca. Serve at once.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Each of 6 servings contains about:

198 calories; 401 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 27 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 2.39 grams fiber.

CANDIED GRAPEFRUIT PEEL

3 grapefruits

Water

2 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 to 1/2 pound queso fresco (Mexican white cheese) or cream cheese

With sharp knife, remove colored part of grapefruit peel. Cover peel with water and let soak 20 minutes. Drain, add water to cover and let soak another 20 minutes. Drain.

Combine grapefruit peel and water to cover in saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Drain.

Combine peel and water to cover in sauce pan and bring to boil again. Reduce heat and simmer another 10 minutes. Drain.

Finally, combine grapefruit peel and enough water to cover by about 1 inch. Simmer 10 minutes longer, then add sugar and simmer until thin syrup forms, 10 to 15 more minutes. Refrigerate peel and syrup. When chilled, serve with queso fresco.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 8 servings contains about:

392 calories; 57 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 85 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.25 gram fiber.