La Casa Latina Typical Latin American dishes with a pinch of flavor and taste of chef Ramon's Cuba

Ramon Gonzalez came to Bulgaria 6 years ago. His wife’s father is Bulgarian, she was born in Bulgaria but grew up in Cuba. They come together to Bulgaria in order for her to get to know her family and decided to stay.

What he likes the most about Bulgaria is nature. Here he has the time and opportunity to travel extensively throughout the country and he says that he knows Bulgaria better than Cuba.

When asked what he misses the most from his home, Ramon said: “A lot of things, almost everything! We’re here for the opportunity to work and develop, but we miss Cuba a lot. Family, friends, climate, music, culture, Cuban lifestyle. Every morning we read the news about Cuba. This morning I woke up at 3.30 to watch the finals of the baseball tournament, and when a Cuban team plays in Europe, we must watch and keep our fingers crossed. We go to Cuba every three years, because it is too far and expensive. We miss our family and friends the most. We still have it very difficult here because everything is different – the people, their mentality. Cuban people are very warm – everybody kiss and hug, even if they don’t know each other. I was the producer of a morning show on national TV, I managed a team of over 30 people and I often tell my Bulgarian friends how every day I used to kiss at least 15 girls that I worked with. We kiss once at the beginning and once at the end of the workday because these are the manners there,” says Ramon.

Cooking is a passion inherited from his father. When he left Cuba, he abandoned entirely the profession which he studied for, and embarked on an adventure that completely changed his life.

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A signature dish from his childhood is mollete – the interior part of a bread is removed and it’s filled with meat, then dipped in egg and fried in batter. “Calorie bomb!” Ramon laughs. “When I grew up I stopped liking this meal, but every time I go to Cuba, I must eat such a sandwich, this is the tradition.” This dish is typical of his hometown Melena del Sur, 40 km south of Havana. Ramon remembers this meal from the time he was three or four years old when his father took him to baseball games where at the entrance they fried and sold these sandwiches. They were also often sold on the streets during carnivals.

The restaurant was opened in 2011. The name of the restaurant means “Latin House”. “The good thing about Latin American cuisine is that there are many dishes that are common to all countries around the Caribbean Sea. For example congris, which is the Cuban national dish, is also the national dish of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela. They may have different names, but were prepared in the same manner or with very small differences.”

The dishes served at the restaurant are the typical ones that a Cuban or a Latin American would cook at home: congris – rice with beans and spices, cerdo asado or the so-called signature dish of La Casa Latina – pork marinated in orange, cumin and other spices, roasted for 3 hours on low heat.

Ramon prepares guacamole after an original family recipe that is different from the Mexican one and also ropa vieja – pork, stewed with sauce in traditional Cuban way. “Unlike Mexicans, Cubans do not eat hot foods, so in this restaurant no one has a problem with the food being too hot.”

Cuban food, and the general cuisine of this region are strongly influenced by Spanish cuisine, so it’s no surprise that in this restaurant you can find some typical Spanish dishes such as paella and gazpacho. Cubans add something of their own to the recipes and this changes the image and taste of the dishes.

The restaurant adheres to original recipes, but unfortunately it’s not always possible to find all products, such as a specific type of beans that are no longer sold in Bulgaria.

The most frequent visitors to the restaurant are Bulgarians, but also many foreigners especially Spaniards. “My wife teaches Spanish and so we have many Spanish friends and acquaintances here.”

Interview and photos: An Fam
Translation from Bulgarian: Boyan Boychev
Illustration: Rositsa Raleva for Compote Collective
November 30, 2013