Bucán is a dish that combines European and aboriginal cultures. Its main ingredients were introduced in Cuba by the Spanish colonists (pork and beef) but the cooking method respects the practices of the Cuban aboriginals. The name bucán refers to a structure made from sticks in the shape of a tripod or laid out in a grill, where the natives baked and smoked meats and fish. Bucán came to refer to the meats smoked in this manner and bucaneros to those who traded them. This meat first smoked and later baked became the primary dish of sailors and pirates.
Today in the San Salvador Restaurant in the city of Bayamo you can savor the “Bucán” in the spirit of a tradition. The meats are served on a bed of casabe, accompanied by two sauces: one dark (made from tamarind, chocolate and red wine) and one white (consisting of wheat flour, butter and fine herbs).
Casabe: a kind of tortilla, thin and crunchy, made from yucca, basic to the diet of our aboriginals
Ingredients (for one serving):
beef steak: 300 g
pork steak: 300 g
salt: 1 g
white pepper: 1 g
Béchamel sauce: 30 g
“mojo criollo” or Cuban garlic sauce: 30 g
casabe: one tortilla
Preparation
Alternate the beef and pork steaks without adding spices a place them on the barbecue grill. Turn them successively during approximately 30 minutes until they are browned. Place a guava tree twig on the charcoals to smoke the meats.
Cover a serving dish with the “casabe”, sprinkle it with the “mojo” or garlic sauce, place the baked meats on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add some Béchamel sauce next to the meats
Author
Mayle González Mirabal
