Fry in a little butter a good sized onion chopped fine; when brown, add three fresh tomatoes and one sweet green pepper cut into small bits. Salt to taste and let simmer until the tomatoes are quite cooked, then add six eggs which have been beaten. Stir while cooking and serve soft as you would scrambled eggs.
Boiled Rice.
Rice in Cuba is an indispensable article of food, and no meal is complete without it. There is no little art required in its preparation, and it is imperative that it should be dry and tender at once. Like most simple things, it has a certain knack to it. Having thoroughly washed the rice, place it in a saucepan with three or four times the same quantity of water; salt generously and allow to boil until the grain is soft but not broken; drain off carefully all the water, cover the saucepan tightly and place at the back of the stove, where it will finish cooking slowly and become dry through the action of the steam. A small piece of lard added a few moments before serving glazes the rice and brings out its flavor. Each grain should stand apart from its neighbors. Some Cubans add a single kernel of garlic after removing the water. The quantity is so small that there is but a suspicion of a taste, and it gives this frugal dish a certain cachet.
Fried Plantains
are essential to every breakfast in the tropics, but they are not always obtainable here. A very good substitute is the ordinary banana. It should not be over ripe. Fry until a rich brown in hot fat. These three dishes should be served at one course.
Fish in Escabeche.
Take three pounds of bonito or halibut in slices, fry and lay for several hours in a sauce made of half a pint of vinegar, in which the following ingredients have boiled for a few minutes: Three or four cloves, a bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, a kernel of garlic, a sliced onion, half a teaspoonful of coloring pepper, three tablespoonfuls of good salad oil and a few capers, olives and pickles. Hard boiled eggs may also be used for garnishing. It is eaten cold, and will keep, well covered in a stone jar, for weeks. (This dish is invaluable in summer.) Serve with new potatoes, boiled, over which a lump of butter and a tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley have been placed.
Tenderloin Steak.
The best restaurants in Habana prepare the steak as follows: Take a tender filet of beef, cut in cross sections an inch and a half thick, wrap each piece in greased paper, and broil over a brisk fire. Remove the papers, add butter, salt, pepper and plenty of lemon juice—say the juice of two lemons for a whole filet. In Cuba they use the juice of the sour orange, but that is not to be had here. This is the creole style, and is simply a modification of the French way. If you want the steak a la espanola, it should be fried instead of broiled, and when well done each piece surmounted by a mojo. The mojo is a little mound consisting of onions and green peppers chopped very fine, and lemon juice added to the gravy.
Guava paste is easily obtained from any importer, and it is the proper thing to eat it with fresh cream cheese or sliced Edam cheese.