Ethnic Food Project

As a way to stir things up, we decided to encounter Cuban cuisine by hunting down the Cuban sandwiches on board El Floridano, a traveling food truck that delivers Cuban sandwiches, banh mi, soups, and perhaps some other menu items around the D.C. area. El Floridano is still learning the area and the best way to approach his business. He informed us that he’s still trying to find a neighborhood that provides the best return. So far, this has proven to be Southeast rather than Northeast. To find out where he is going to be, follow his Twitter, FLmeetsDC. When we met him, he was parked outside the Starbucks in Foggy Bottom.

Cuban cuisine, like the cuisine in other Caribbean nations, is influenced by trade, colonization, and immigration. The primary influences in Cuban cuisine include Spain, Africa, surrounding Caribbean nations, and China. According to Miami.edu, very little of Cuban food is fried or served with heavy sauces; most of it is slow-cooked with only a few spices over open flame. The primary staples in the Cuban diet include rice and beans. According to Wikipedia:

A typical meal would consist of rice and beans, cooked together or apart. When cooked together the recipe is called either, “Arroz congri“, “Congri“, or “Arroz moro” if cooked separately it is called “Arroz con/y Frijoles”–Rice with/and Beans.” A main course (mainly pork or beef), some sort of vianda (not to be confused with the French viande which stands for “meat”, this term encompasses several types of tubers, such as yuca, malanga, and potato, as well as plantains, unripe bananas and even corn), a salad (usually simply composed of tomato, lettuce and avocado, though cucumber, carrots, cabbage and radish are not uncommon). Curiously, typical criollo [Spanish-influenced] meals largely ignore fruit, except ripe plantains, which are usually consumed together with the rice and beans. Tropical fruit could be served, however, depending on each family’s preferences. Usually, all dishes are brought together to the table at once, except maybe for desserts.

There are also regional variations in Cuban food. Western Cuban food is criollo, and includes finger foods like sweet Cuban pastries, the use of eggs, fish, crab, and is influenced by Galician and Asturian migration during the early 20th century (paella, arroz con pollo, etc.). Eastern Cuban food is influenced more by Africa and other Caribbean nations like the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Wikipedia provides the example of “mofongo (called fufú de plátano in Cuba), which is mashed plantains stuffed with pork, chicken, or seafood. The name ‘fufu‘ comes from Western Africa.”

Sandwiches are also an important part of the Cuban diet – and not just the Cuban sandwich. Others include the medianoche, which is similar to a Cuban sandwich, but with an egg loaf in place of the Cuban bread and sometimes without the ham (medianoche means “midnight” and this is a common late night nightclub snack in Havana). Additionally, the pan con lechón and pan con bistec are also similar to the Cuban sandwich; they are pressed sandwiches with Cuban bread, onions, and mojito, and either roasted pork or flank steak, respectively. One interesting sandwich is the Elena Ruz, which contains a lyer of cream cheese, strawberry jam, and thin slices of turkey atop Cuban bread. This sandwich was requested by the socialite Elean Ruz during the 1930s. Another sweet and savory sandwich is the  pan con timba, which has guayaba paste and cream cheese. 

The history of the Cuban sandwich itself reflects Cuba’s history of migration. The sandwich is also known as a cubano, and in Cuba itself, simply as a sandwich or sandwich mixto. The components of the sandwich include, according to The Cuban sandwich, “Cuban bread (cut lengthwise and buttered on both sides to prevent browning during the grilling process), mustard, dill pickles, roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, and slow roasted pork marinated in mojo. The sandwich is then lightly grilled in a plancha (sandwich press) until the cheese is melted and the bread toasted. The sandwich should be compressed to about 1/3 of its original size.”

Original inhabitants of Cuba did not have access to ham, but did have access to cheese. The History of the Cuban Sandwich notes that ham was brought by the Spaniards in the form jamonada (which is more like a chopped ham). The indigenous Taino/Arakaks were already making cheese, although the Spanish brought this, as well, and were making a crispy flat bread from cassava or yuca flour. However, it took over 400 years to actually create and perfect this sandwich.

The Cuban sandwich blurs the line between an authentic Cuban meal and an American-Cuban meal, although it is served both in southern Florida and in Cuba. The History of the Cuban Sandwich describes the timeline, which we’ve condensed:

1870s: Cubans travel the 90 miles to Key West, Florida, to avoid Spanish rule and to find a safer place to manufacture cigars, initiating the strong Cuban influence found in Florida today.

1886: A fire destroys a major cigar factory in Key West, leading the owner to move the operation to Tampa. He was Vincente Martinez Ybor, leading to Ybor City, a suburb known for the Cuban sandwich. By the 1930s, Ybor City flourished as a Cuban community, especially since economic depression in Cuba lead to more immigration.

1910: Cigar factory workers began selling sandwiches for 15 cents each. These sandwiches also often included genoa salami, since Ybor City was also populated by Italians. The Cuban sandwich becomes a sandwich of the people, the favorite food of the common working man.

Wikipedia’s “The Cuban Sandwich,” finishes up the story by noting that around 1910 onwards, “travel between Cuba and Florida was easy, and Cubans frequently sailed back and forth for employment, pleasure, and family visits. Because of this constant and largely undocumented movement of people and culture and ideas, it’s impossible to say exactly when and where the Cuban sandwich first became a common worker’s meal. By around 1910, however, workers’ cafés in Cuba, Ybor City, and the older Cuban enclave of Key West were serving many such sandwiches daily.” Consequently, the Cuban sandwich is both a typical meal in both Cuba and the US today.

Our Cuban sandwich from El Floridano was the traditional variety. The sandwich contained yellow mustard, pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, etc. atop a light and thin bread that was then pressed on the grill top. We liked the fact that the sandwich was long and thin, wrapped in paper, and was sealed with a a sticker so that it resembled a cigar, suggesting that El Floridano understood the history of the Cuban sandwich. We also recommend buying Boylan’s Fruit Mash as a counterpart to the sandwich.

TOTAL: $9 for a Cuban sandwich and a Boylan’s drink

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Delhi Dhaba is a tucked between Clarendon Boulevard and Wilson Boulevard in the Courthouse area of Arlington. Its side entrance is hard to see, but it still had a large and apparently loyal lunch crowd. The interior features cafeteria-style Indian food at a modest price. Also, there is a dining area in the back of the restaurant. The restaurant was being redone when we arrived, so we aren’t sure what it will look like when it is done. We found the staff to be extremely friendly. They even offered us samples of mulligatawny soup, chole, and dessert while the chef cooked fresh samosas and pakoras for us. By the way, “dhabas” are highway restaurants/truck stops that serve local cuisines. Most of these are 25/7 and serve truck drivers. Wikipedia notes that “Since most Indian truck drivers are of Punjabi descent, and Punjabi food and music is quite popular throughout India, the word dhaba has come to represent any restaurant that serves Punjabi food, especially the heavily-spiced and fried Punjabi fare preferred by many truck drivers.” Delhi Dhaba features primarily North Indian cuisine according to their website.

The different regions of India have markedly different cooking techniques and foods. Staples across all of the regions include rice, whole wheat flour (atta), and pulses (red lentil or masoor, channa or bengal gram, pigeon peas/yellow gram or toor, black gram or urad, and green gram or mung). The most common spices used in India include chili pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera), turmeric (haldi), fenugreek (methi), asofoetida (hing), ginger (adrak, coriander (dhania), and garlic (lassan). Often these are combined to form masalas.

North Indian cuisine includes Punjabi cuisine, Mughlai cuisine, Kashmiri cuisine, Awadhi cuisine, Uttar Pradesh cuisine, Rajasthani cuisine, Bhojpuri cuisine, Bihari cuisine, and Sindhi cuisine. All these cuisines share a higher use of diary products, the use of the tawa (griddle) to make flat breads (such as roti, paratha, and kulcha, the use of the tandoor, deep fried breads like puris and bhatoora, and the use of goat and lamb. North Indian desserts include gulab jamun, jalebi, peda, petha, kulfi, falooda, ras malai, barfi, laddu, and halwa. Kebabs can also be found in North Indian cuisine.

East Indian cuisine includes Assamese cuisine, Bengali cuisine, and Oriya cuisine and is most famous for its desserts like the rasagolla, chumchum, chhena poda, chhena gaja, etc.

South Indian cuisine includes the cuisine of Kerala, cuisine of Karnataka, the cuisine of Tamil Nadu, and the Cuisine of Goa. South Indian cuisine has considerable variation, most notably its emphasis on rice, use of coconut, pickles, vegetable stews, and curries. The dosa, poori, idli, vada, bonda, upma, and bajji are all South Indian staples. Due to the emphasis on rice, biryanis are southern dishes. Paneer (a soft cheese) is also common in southern cuisine.

Western India includes Goan cuisine, Maharashtrian cuisine, Saraswat cuisine, and Gujarati cuisine. Dishes, depending on the region, may rely more on rice, coconut, and fish (especially coastal regions). Goan cuisine reflects the influence of Portuguese colonization. For example, chicken vindalu is a Konkani/Goan dish whose name is derived from the Portuguese dish “Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos,” which is typically made with meat, pork, wine, and garlic and served on special occasions.

Delhi Dhaba’s special Punjabi cuisine includes a tandoor specials menu with a variety of meats, fishes, and shellfish. Additionally, the infamous butter chicken is a typical dish that is thought to have come from Delhi and to have originated during the Mughal Empire. Delhi Dhaba also has cuisine from other regions of India, like biryanis and on Sundays boasts over 45 different types of Indian cuisine for $10.95.

We ordered the Quick Pick (which is two curries with rice and a choice of naan, roti, or rice), which is $5.95. Ours featured butter chicken, saag paneer, and rice. We found the meal to be flavorful. We also ordered pakoras, which they cooked fresh for us and were yummy. The pakora is a fried snack food that typically consists of potato, spinach, onion, or chicken dipped in a batter of gram flour and deep fried. Delhi Dhaba serves both meat and vegetarian pakoras, although we tried only the vegetarian types. We also ate samosas, which are piping hot. We learned that the samosa is the most infamous North Indian snack food. The word “samosa” is traced to the Persian word “sanbosag,” and similar sounding terms exist for similar stuffed items throughout the Middle East and South Asia, as well. In fact, the samosa was thought to have existed prior to the 10th century. Abolfazi Beyhagi, an Iranian historian, mentioned it during his lifetime, which was from 995-1077.

We were also offered samples while we waited for our food to be cooked and were able to sample some delicious mulligatawny soup. We learned that the soup is Anglo-Indian in origin (the soup preparation is probably the British influence). The soup’s name is translated literally from Tamil and means “pepper water.” Millagu means pepper and Thanni means water. They also kindly gave us samples of chole, or chana masala, which was rich and flavorful. Chana masala is an extremely popular dish in the Punjab region. Finally, to round things off, they also gave us a taste of their dessert of the day, which was kheer. Kheer is similar to rice pudding and is made by boiling rice, milk, sugar, and seasonings together. Their kheer was thin and sweet. The word kheer is derived from the Sanskrit word “ksheer,” which means milk.

We loved the fact that on the weekends they have a special menu that features popular Indian street foods from different regions. Included in this menu is bhelpuri, a puffed rice snack served with potatos and a tamarind sauce. This dish is tyupical of Bombay. They also papri chat, a favorite North Indian street food of fried dough cut into strips and fried, then served with potatos, chick peas, chili, yogurt, chutney, chaat masala, and sev. Finally, they also serve panipuri (or gol gappa), another street food common in the North and West of India. The snack is served with a thin hollow fried ball that is then filled with water, tamarind, chili, chat masala, potato, onion, and chickpeas and then eaten before it dissolves. The fried ball is bite-sized and the entire snack is made to be eaten in one bite. We thought these foods are fairly uncommon, and liked the fact that the service was firnedly and seemed to enjoy their jobs.

TOTAL: $5.95 per person for the Quick Pick, otherwise between $5.95-$15, depending on the entree

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Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant is located on the corner of U and 12th street and has a higher-end appearance with wood molding, inset paintings, a large bar, and a large L-shaped eating area. We had a reservation, and when we arrived at 7 on a Sunday the restaurant was very crowded. Dukem, by the way, is a town in central Ethiopia named after the Dukem River containing a large industrial park. The wait staff are all Ethiopian women and friendly. Dukem, in addition to dinner, also has a  breakfast menu and has live music Ethiopian music almost every day, starting at 11:30 p.m. We ended up ordering an assortment of dishes, such as the traditional wot, tibs, and fitfit. Ethiopian food is a communal dining experience where hands and injera, the traditional bread, are used in lieu of utensils. In fact, often it is traditional for people to feed each other, which is an act of friendship and bonding (called gursha). Dining etiquette states that diners should tear pieces of injera off and pick up the food with the textured side of the injera, not the smooth side.

Prior to ordering food, we ordered Ethiopian beverages, including beer and wine. Ethiopian beer is popular and there are many different brands. Meta beer is brewed outside of Addis Ababa and is the brewery owned by the Ethiopian government, as well as private companies. The water used in making this beer is, according to Ethiopianrestaurant.com, “from a big reserve of soft spring water (locally known as holy water of St. Abo). The spring water meets the international brew standard to be used without any treatment.” Saint George beer is the oldest brewing company in Ethiopia, started in 1922, but we ended up ordering Harar beer from the Harar Brewery. The Harar Brewery is located in Harar, which is in eastern Ethiopia and considered the fourth holiest Islamic city and sells beer all over the world. Harar Beer tasted similar to a pilsner to us; they also offer a Harar Stout, which is darker. Harar beer products are apparently ubiquitous in Ethiopia, especially Harar Sofi, which is a non-alcoholic beer frequently consumed by the Muslim population in Ethiopia and abroad.  

We also ordered two different types of wine: a honey meade wine (known as Tej) and Axumit, a sweet red wine. Dukem describes Axumit as ”the fancy refined brother of Gouder [a traditional Ethiopian red wine with a distinct flavor] , made with intention to export. Made in Ethiopia from the finest grapes the country has to offer.” Wikipedia notes that the name Axumit refers to:

an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from the proto-Aksumite period ca. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD. Its ancient capital is found in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name “Ethiopia” as early as the 4th century. It is also the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the purported home of the Queen of Sheba. Aksum was also the first major empire to convert to Christianity.

To us, the wine tasted like a sweet dessert wine, with a slightly different flavor than other dessert wines. Gouder is also described as being dry, as compared to Axumit, which is a sweet wine. We also tried Tej, Ethiopian honey wine (meade). This wine was said to have been created during the reign of Queen of Sheba. Tej is so popular that it is considered Ethiopia’s national beverage. We found it to have a sweet and strange taste unlike other meade, probably because of the usage of native plants.

Perhaps the most distinct feature of Ethiopian food is injera, which is a staple in Ethiopian cuisine. Injera resembles a grey spongy crepe, withone side covered in holes and the other side smooth. Injera is made from teff, a iron-rich grass grown in Northeast Africa. Teff is the smallest of the cereal grains and is only used as a food source in Eritrea, Somalia, and Yemen. In Somalia injera is called laxoox and in Yemen it is known as lahoh. According to Ethiopianrestaurant.com, teff is “believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000 and 1000 BC. Teff seeds were discovered in a pyramid thought to date back to 3359 BC.” The process of making injera is straightforward:

Injera preparation usually takes two to three days, the teff is milled into powder then mixed in water along yeast and small quantity of flowers. This mix is set aside at room temperature for 2 days so it ferments and raises. During the second day it starts to give tangy aromas as the fermentation releases air bubbles; this is where the Injera’s slight tangy taste comes from.

After the fermentation process is finished the mix is cooked on hot flat iron pan called ‘Mitad’. A circular motion is used to achieve thin consistency. When the hot pan and the fermented teff mix/batter contact thousands of tiny air bubbles escape, creating thousands of tiny craters/eyes – creating the familiar look of Injera.

The side touching the hot mitad pan gets its flat look, while the one facing away towards the air has the a porous structure with thousands of mini craters. This pour us structure allows the injera to be a good bread to scoop up sauces and dishes. (Ethiopianrestaurant.com)

We ended up ordering a bunch of different items to try and get a taste of all the types of food. Everything was served hot on a bed of injera, along with plates of additional injera, folded in triangles (served at room temperature). We attempted to order a variety of meats, including lamb, chicken, and beef. They do not typically serve pork at Ethiopian restaurants, due to Islamic dietary restrictions. We ordered the three staple types of dishes: wot (wat), tibs, kitfo, and fitfit. A variety of different Wot dishes appeared on the menu, although it was rather hard to figure out the differences between all of them. Wot dishes are all highly seasoned stews using chicken, beef, lamb, or vegetables. The preparation that makes Ethiopian stews different from other countries is that they always begin by cooking chopped onions in a dry pot until all the moisture has escaped, then they begin adding other ingredients. Also, Ethiopian spices are central to their dishes. The most common spice preparation is berbere, which is a red ground mixture composed of chili peppers, ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries, and ajwain (also mistakenly known as bishop’s weed). In addition to berbere, Ethiopian dishes also contain niter kibbeh, a clarified butter simmered with spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg before straining.  Our Wot dishes varied quite a bit. Some of them were very spicy, while others were quite mild. All were rich in color with the exception of Doro Wot, which was a yellow chicken stew. This type of Wot came with a hard boiled egg, which is typical of the dish. Along with Wot, we also ordered tibs, which are a type of grilled/sauteed meat typically served as a sign of respect. Kitfo is a traditional dish that features rare or raw meat served atop a stew. The one we ordered came with fresh Ethiopian cheese, which tasted like a thicker and milder cottage cheese, and is typical of the dish. Finally, fitfit (firfir) dishes we ordered differed from the others because they contained torn up pieces of injera. Fitfit is a common breakfast item, but we were served it for dinner.

Ethiopian cuisine proved to be very vegetarian-friendly, with a variety of legumes included on the patters as well as seasoned cabbage, etc. Apparently, Ethiopia developed a large amount of vegetarian dishes due to religious influences. Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia typically abstain from animal products during fasting days and these dishes are standard and common throughout the whole country (Ethiopianrestaurant.com). Dukem served many vegetarian platters.

We didn’t try any coffee, but this is an important part of most Ethiopian meals and coffee is a very important part of the Ethiopian diet. They often prepare the beans by cooking them in a pan (like popcorn) before grinding and brewing them.

Dukem features a dessert menu, but these items are not Ethiopian desserts (tiramisu, cake, etc.). There don’t seem to be any traditional desserts that we could find. One of the few sweet dishes appeared on Dukem’s breakfast menu, which described injera being served with honey. We didn’t try any of the breakfast items, but the Ethiopian breakfast looked interesting. One of the menu items was foul mudames, which is a common food item in Egypt made from fava beans.

TOTAL: $175, including taxes and tip or $25/person (for seven entrees, alcoholic beverages, tea, and dessert)

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