PASSIONATE RATIONS

My month-and-a-half long vegetarian experiment lasted until my first meal in Miami.

One of my life’s greatest pleasures is experiencing local cuisine and, when a colleague suggested Little Havana as a destination, I could not resist. 

Cuban food eschews most vegetables.  What was I to do, but cave in spectacularly?  We ended up at an authentic Cuban eatery, La Carreta, where I ordered the “Classic” plate–a sampler consisting of rice with beans, a pork-filled tamale, ground beef with olives, yuca (a starchy potato-like root vegetable), fried plantains, grilled pork, and ham croquettes.  It was muy delicioso.  I fell in love with yuca (starches being a perennial favorite) and now must discern where to find it in New England or risk unpleasant symptoms of withdrawal.  The ham croquette resembled a hot dog, but was utterly delectable–perhaps my favorite thing on the plate.  And that’s saying a lot since it had to compete with fried plantains.

The following night I was to experience Cuban food again at Bongos, a club owned by Cuban sensation, Gloria Estefan.  This time, I actually stuck to the vegetarian thing, choosing large portions of yuca, rice, beans and plantains.  Luckily, here salad was an option.  The food was quite tasty, but La Carreta still wins.  The flan here, though, was the densest, creamiest flan I have ever experienced, provoking spontaneous murmurs of pleasure.  So dense was it that even my sweet tooth could not see fit to finish it.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Miami Vice, which answers the question:  Do pyramid schemes make Chinese food taste better?