Director Asori Soto, a Cuban native and founder of the Cuban Independent Film Movement, recalls the impact that the collapse of the Soviet Union had on his island nation. Deliveries of food and necessary goods slowed to a trickle, and Soto remembers living on bread for a while as a child. But Cuba rebounded, and a variety of dishes, from sea and land, can be found while touring the country—which is exactly what Soto does in this colorful documentary. Divided into nine chapters, Cuban Food Stories introduces not only cuisines but also people whose lives and livelihoods are closely aligned with what’s on the menu. A former worker from a nuclear power plant project that was never completed now goes out to the sea every day to see what he can catch for market. The owner of a Trinidad guest house for foreign travelers carries a deep sense of the unique cultural history of his community—not only regarding food but even local door frames. A coffee farmer, living in the mountains where Fidel Castro and his insurgents gathered during the revolution, takes pride in growing coffee beans and teaching the tradition to his youngest son, who in turn wants to study agricultural engineering. In what is arguably the most warmly human chapter, a mission-driven chef who specializes in smoked meats feeds an outdoor festival crowd deep into the night from his plaza stand, withstanding everything from rain to an electrical outage. Soto captures it all with an air of happy familiarity and an eye for those things that dramatically distinguish one city from another in what is a small but variegated nation. Extras include a mini-cookbook. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)
Cuban Food Stories
(2018) 82 min. DVD: $24.95. First Run Features (avail. from most distributors). Volume 34, Issue 3
Cuban Food Stories
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