WASHINGTON, January 9, 2011 — Step into Cuba Libre in Washington D.C.’s Penn Quarter and thanks to the old Havana building facades, the romantic balconies and tropical plants you feel as though Celia Cruz is going to step forward and swivel her hips any moment. The décor sets the stage and the menu delivers the attitude that sets you back in pre-Castro Havana.
Gulliermo Pernot is chef/partner at Cuba Libre, a group of nouveau Latino restaurants that span four states, including Washington, D.C.
Pernot is exuberant and passionate about the experience his kitchen delivers. Although he is originally from Argentina, his Cuban wife, Lucia’s great-great-grandfather was the island nation’s 3rd president.
Pernot has traveled to Cuba to seek out the most significant chefs working in the country today from those who cook for royalty to those who oversee little hole-in-the-walls that deliver big flavor for small cash.
Invigorated by a recent trip, Pernot has tweaked Cuba Libre’s menu to reflect some of the complexity of genuine Cuban food.
Start with the Buñuelos de Espinaca, which are little clouds of spinach and manchego cheese, Papas Rellenas, potato croquettes filled with beef picadillo and the bite-sized glazed beef, pork, and pine nut meatballs. Put all three together and you’ve created a feisty meal.
Favorite entrees include ropa vieja, a classic Cuban dish of shredded brisket, stewed with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and red wine, and lechón asad, a slow roasted pulled pork served with vigorón slaw.
Chef Pernot has even created two tempting vegetarian plates, the ravioles de calabaza, which is half moon ravioli stuffed with roasted squash, goat and mascarpone cheese and tamal en cazuela, an entire zucchini and served with squash, sweet peppers, charred tomatoes and whole fresh huitlacoche kernels.
It’s not just the food that’s bold. There’s an extensive bar menu, including many fresh juice- based drinks. Try the grilled pineapple mojito made with fresh puree pineapple and white rum or the Caipirinha Infusion made with seasonal fruits and herbs soaked in cachaça, guarapo and fresh lime juice.
This spring, Pernot will share his Cuban culinary knowledge with customers by offering a food-related trip to Cuba. Tapping his local contacts, he will bring a small group (maximum of 15 people) to purveyors, restaurants and home kitchens across Cuba so they can learn to cook, present and, of course, eat authentic food themselves. For many travelers, this will be the first chance to the island, which is still restricted by embargo-era U.S. regulations.
During the trip, Chef Pernot will serve as a private guide, providing first-hand connections with Cuban chefs and citizens while the group navigates bustling city life and discovers the emerging culinary scene with visits to state-owned restaurants and paladares.
Travelers will also visit Ernest Hemingway’s Havana home as well as La Bodeguita del Medio, where Hemingway enjoyed mojitos, and El Floridita, his favorite place for daiquiris.
The trip will consist of 4 nights/5 days in Havana and cost about $4,000, which includes airfare from Miami to Havana, accommodations at a 5 star hotel, transport in and around Havana, meals, as well admission to cultural institutions and museums.
For those who can’t travel abroad, plan to attend one of Chef Pernot’s Pop up Paladars which give diners a chance to interact with Cuban chefs who have never before cooked in America.
The first will be held from January 17 until January 19, 2012 and will include a four-course menu developed collaboratively by Pernot and his first guest chef Luis Alberto Alfonso Perez. It will, will feature crudo de langosta, lobster salad, pineapple sorbet with truffle oil-infused black sesame seeds; ravioles, eggplant-wrapped raviolis with lamb ropa vieja filling and a hierba buena infusion; jabalí, baby wild boar rib chop with sour orange-canela compote and yuca tamal, and flan de queso, Pategras cheese flan with guayaba coulis and garlic confit.
For those who cannot be in DC for this special event, Chef Pernot shares a recipe that that even Martha Stewart couldn't pry out of him on her show.
Vaca Frita
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
8 oz white onions, julienned
Vaca Frita at Cuba Libre/Image Cuba Libre
⅓ oz ground cumin
1 bay leaf
½ oz ancho chili powder
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
½ oz kosher salt
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup vegetable oil
3.5 lbs flank steak, trimmed
¾ cup red wine
2 quarts beef stock
Directions: Combine the onions, cumin, bay leaf, ancho chili powder, red wine vinegar, pepper, granulated garlic, salt, soy sauce and oil to make a marinade. Submerge the flank steak in marinade and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Remove the steaks from the marinade and reserve the liquid. In a hot skillet heat a tablespoon of oil. Sear the steak well on both sides until nicely browned. Remove steak from pan.
Deglaze the hot skillet by adding red wine and stir to remove the caramelized juices from the bottom of the pan. Add the reserved marinade liquid and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add beef stock.
Once the liquid is simmering, poor into a dutch oven. Add the seared steak and cover. Place in a 350º F oven for 2 hours.
Once the beef is tender, remove from the heat and allow to cool in the braising liquid.
Once cool, remove the excess fat. Shred the meat along the grain to very long strips about ½ inch wide. Cut the strips into pieces about 1½ inches long.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet until nearly smoking. Add 6 oz of shredded braised flank steak and sear until nicely browned and crispy. Add Roasted Onions and Garlic (recipe follows) and allow the onions to soften and pick up a bit of color.
Add half of the Lemon Demi Sauce (recipe follows) and allow to reduce until the pan is almost dry. Using tongs, place the flank steak, onions and garlic into an attractive pile in the center of the plate (use a ring mold for a professional presentation).
Add the remaining Lemon Demi Sauce to the hot pan and allow to reduce to a syrup
consistency. Pour over the Vaca Frita.
Serve alongside your favorite Cuban sides such as arroz con frijoles (black beans and rice).
Roasted Onions:
Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients
16 oz white onions
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
Cut the onions into thick wedges, approximately ½ inche thick. Toss with salt and olive oil. Place in a pan and cover with aluminum foil and roast at 350º F for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 5 minutes to develop color.
Lemon Demi Sauce:
Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients
3 cups demi-glace
1 cup fresh lemon juice (strained of seeds)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons roux
Combine demi-glace and lemon juice in a sauce pot. Reduce slowly to 3 cups volume skimming as necessary. Whisk in roux and simmer to thicken. Season with salt to taste.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
