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Published: January 30th 2021
Tobacco barn
Classic designWe left fairly early to visit a factory for rolling hand-made cigars. On the bus Daniel explained the process thoroughly and showed a short video, which had been made by a marketing company from Kelowna, BC.
The Francisco Donatien cigar factory was surprisingly small, especially compared to the very large place I had seen when I first visited Cuba in 1984. Fewer than thirty young women and men sat in straight hard chairs in tight rows of three, each working at a crowded desk with all their supplies. (A few personal items made each desk unique.)
Three kinds of cured tobacco leaves were in small stacks. One was the “binder”, a large flexible leaf from which the central vein had been cut (65% caffeine in that vein). Depending on the brand being made, the worker quickly bunched a specific collection of the other leaves into a tubular shape, taking great care to eliminate unnecessary folds. When the bunch was uniform and tight, the binder leaf was cut to shape and quickly wrapped around it, the ends were cut with a chopper, and the nascent cigar was placed in a mold with about a dozen slots. When the box-shaped mold
Pinar del Río
Relaxed town centre was full, it was put on top of a stack of molds in a press, screwed tight by hand. After about half an hour, finishing was done by the same worker, who added a piece of leaf to shape the tip. The natural gum used in this final stage was imported from Canada. Our perfunctory visit to the official shop was slightly animated by my buying a small tin of cigarillos for a friend of a friend – very nice hinged tin.
From
Pinar del Rio we drove into the
Viñales Valley to a small tobacco farm to learn about local cigar making - expert, but not exportable. The farmer was a handsome rough-looking man who briskly demonstrated his approach. Previously, after drying the leaves, he had cured them with his own marinade based on honey and rum. He rolled three leaves of the same type together tightly, cut a binder leaf, and rolled it on with great speed. The completed cigar rested in a natural humidor made of Royal Palm leaf. One of our group took up his offer of a cigar, on which the farmer poured a little honey onto the end to be lit. Stephen, and then Carolyn said
Cuevas del Indio
Boat out on the San Vicente River it was very smooth. We could have bought honey or cigars or even a locally-made guava rum-style liquor, which we sampled. The liquor had a smooth, slightly fruity flavour, but the bottles were sold unsealed.
We drove to a nearby site for a guided walk through
karst caves. The surrounding karst mountains showed dramatic evidence of previous rock collapses, often exposing
stalagmites that once had been inside the caves. Compared to the caves in Slovenia and China, these were small and limited. The climax of a short boat ride on the interior river made the experience fun, because we were invited to use our imaginations to “see” formations: a skull, the Friendly Lion (from
The Wizard of Oz), a lizard, a snake, and so on.
Outside the caves a few artisans offered local crafts set out on tables. Carolyn and I were drawn by the bright colours of some rings. We were gaily trying on what appeared to be large plastic rings, when the vendor said they were carved from water buffalo bone and dyed in vibrant colours. They were so inexpensive that we bought three together for the “special price” of about $5. Not entirely unexpectedly, the
Traditional lunch
Black beans, fish and rice dyes were somewhat water soluble, staining our fingers when we washed our hands. The rings themselves didn’t fade, so we were pleased with our souvenirs.
Across the road we ate lunch in a private restaurant, rather than in the state restaurant at the caves. From the drinks offered, I ordered a mojito, because it is a Cuban cocktail. My goodness it was strong! The usual fresh salad of tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers started our meal, and my main course was half a red snapper with sliced onions on top. The rice and black beans (“congriz”) was particularly flavourful. Plantain chips continued to be a delicious temptation, followed by beautifully ripe papaya for dessert.
We drove to the town of
Viñales, which regularly hosts thousands of tourists. Aside from a lot of restaurants and bars, this meant that most of the houses were brightly painted, signally that they had rooms for rent, or even the whole house. The main street was busy with many kinds of vehicles, and, down one side street, was a long souvenir market. Happily, almost every souvenir of Cuba is made in Cuba, even though similar products do appear in many locations. The woodwork was
So many temptations!
Craft market, Viñales beautiful, as I remembered from last time. Full-sized hummingbirds (therefore small) hung from fishing wire. Intricate boxes opened ingeniously. Kitchen implements were abundant, and the hot mats could double as attractive hangings - I bought two of these for 8 CUC ($10).
Back at the hotel for free time, I went swimming in the extraordinarily long pool, which was about half-full of water - perhaps a water conservation measure, because the pool was ridiculously big. Of course, the water felt freezing, but the air was warm, so being wet was refreshing rather than painful. After my usual circuit of strokes, I climbed out onto a lounge chair, joining a fair number of others relaxing in the mild sun.
Our departure for dinner was early (5:30) to accommodate the cooking demonstration beforehand. We went to a “paladar”, a privately owned restaurant. Outside near the balcony, the head chef, Alienka, at the Balcón del Valle, had set up a table arrayed with all the ingredients for our dinner. She talked us through the making of a spiced mayonnaise-tomato sauce that is a typical condiment in Cuba for putting on bread or meats – hers was a special recipe, of course.
She called for a volunteer, and I always like to participate because it makes a tour more personal. Dressing me in an apron and a hat, she had me use a metal mortar and pestle to smash salt and garlic together for the marinade for a pork butt. The marinade, made from seasonal sour oranges, could be used for chicken or almost any meat or fish. She slashed deeply into the meat, and I spooned in the marinade. This speciality of the restaurant is refrigerated over-night, or as long as 24 hours. Next, she asked me to peel taro root with a well-used paring knife. She said I was doing well, but “helped” me by rapidly peeling more than half of the root vegetables for soup.
With prep done, she invited us into the kitchen building. (
">Watch my video taken in her kitchen. ) Her stove was a long, large cement structure fired with charcoal (made from mimosa wood) that is used for all cooking in the restaurant. The long fire bed was covered by a heavy grill on which sat metal pots; the two ends were the cool parts of the cooking surface and the middle was red hot. For us, she boiled plantains
in oil, boiled the root vegetables, prepped the rice and beans and left it to cook uncovered, and slowly cooked the pork. Our dinner was made with the pork prepped yesterday (24 hours marinated). We sat outdoors – on the Balcony of the Valley - enjoying our wonderful dinner as dusk fell into darkness over the Viñales Valley.
Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro
You visited some great places
Vinales Valley I remember too. It seems like you came away from there seeing more than we did though. I remember that we had some transport issues in Vinales. We wanted to rent a car if I remember it right but all rental cars were booked by others. /Ake