Salsa!: A Cuban Kosher Cookbook

I was born Roman Catholic in Havana, Cuba and raised in Miami, Florida.I returned to the Jewish people via a very lengthy and winding genealogicalroad that took me decades to unravel. My grandmothers had traveled fromcountry to country living as Crypto-Jews and pretending to be Catholic alwaystaking their cuisine with them. I have documented my history various timesin many languages via my first book My 15 Grandmothers and Recipes of my 15Grandmothers. Given the love that I always had for the kitchen and having beentaught to cook not only by my Mom and grandmothers but also by my Dadand grandfathers, I was able to, early on in life, have a deep appreciation forSpanish and especially Cuban food. My Mom died not long ago and the needto keep my ancestral history alive via the food is stronger than ever.Still today, Cuban cuisine is rich and hearty with many layers of flavorenhancing the final dish. There is very little use of processed foods andingredients in our cooking and while we use many spices, the food is not hotand spicy as so many of the other Latin American countries. Our food isbursting with layers of flavor.I started leading an Orthodox Jewish way of life and keeping koshermany many years ago. My challenge was to incorporate the foods of my earlychildhood to meet the dietary laws of kosher cooking. I wanted to retain theflavors of my past, yet Cuban cooking is replete with forbidden cuts of meatsand shellfish as well as a myriad of other ingredients that are forbidden inkosher cooking. I honed the skill of substitutions to bring this book Salsa! tolife. I hope you enjoy the flavors and especially the essence of the cuisine ofan Island whose rich past remains only in our memories. Read more