Home Sweet Home

I’ve mentioned my mom’s culinary limitations before—she burns things, over-salts food and often confuses spicy peppers for mild ones. But thanks to my after-school mom, also known as Cari, my best friend’s mother, my childhood wasn’t completely devoid of delicious homecooked meals. There wasn’t a day that we didn’t sit down to overflowing plates of picadillo, potaje and the likes, so when I moved to New York, the homemade Cuban food was definitely lacking. (I say childhood but I still went over for dinner several times a week way into adulthood.)

On a recent trip home to Miami, I got my fill with quite the spread that included: white rice, black beans (Cari’s specialty!), boniato frito, pescado rebosado and natilla. People have made pilgrimages for Cari’s beans. In fact, I think it’s the reason her now son-in-law married her eldest daughter. I can only attest to the role Cari’s cooking played in my plumper teen years. 

Like a true Cuban matriarch, Cari rounded out the meal with amazing homemade vanilla pudding sprinkled with cinnamon. Due to unforeseen last-minute guests, I shared my portion of pudding with said son-in-law. Dessert was so delicious that I almost considered the possibility of the couple’s impending divorce just to secure future portions of pudding. They’re still happily married… and I learned a thing or two about portion control.