The Colors of Cuban Christmas

Red Like a Tomato, Green Like the Dollar

A pound of tomatoes sells for 400 pesos (around 10% of an average monthly salary) while last January it cost 100.

By Natalia Lopez Moya (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – In salad it is delicious; converted into sauce, a delicacy; and thrown towards a stage a real insult. The tomato has the ability to mutate in every circumstance. The many dishes that are made with this fruit are so numerous that there are even recipes for tomato syrups and tomato jams. Its versatility is accompanied, of course, by an obstacle: the current prices.

This Sunday morning a table in the Youth Labor Army market on Tulipan Street in Nuevo Vedado, Havana, attracted the curious. A pile of tomatoes displayed a price that initially unleashed curiosity. “I approached because I saw that they were at 200 pesos a pound. On the street they reach 300, and a few days ago I bought them at 400,” says Odalis, a frequent customer of the place, previously managed almost entirely by the Armed Forces but with more and more private stalls.

In most markets in the Cuban capital, the tomato disappears during the hottest months and returns when temperatures begin to drop. However, there are markets like the one at 19 and B in El Vedado, mockingly called La Boutique for its high prices, which has the product on sale all year round. In agricultural areas, such as Sancti Spíritus, the Plaza Boulevard also maintains a stable supply.

Although the tomato maintained its presence from January to December, with the exception of last July, on the shelves in Sancti Spíritus the price has risen or decreased depending on the quality of the fruit and demand. Now, a pound of tomatoes costs 400 pesos, while last January it cost 100. The price increase seems to be influenced by the proximity of the end of the year, with festivities that give the tomato a prominent place in a salad to accompany the pork, rice, beans and cassava.

“The price has also skyrocketed because of the recent crackdown against private businesses and tomato sauces will soon go missing,” adds a resident of Reparto Kilo 12. “People have to make their own sauce because the private shops are closed. Many businesses are in liquidation. They are not going to continue, because they fear [being fined by] the inspectors.”

Meanwhile in Havana, Odalis thought she had come across a great offer at the Army Youth Labor Market, but it was just a mirage. “As soon as I stood in front of the table I realized why the price was only 200 pesos a pound,” she says with frustration. “They smell rotten and are being sold at a discount. Look at the skin: there are bruises, dents and cuts. “Maybe they could still be used to make sauce, but this is not the best variety for that.”

When she talks about a variety of tomatoes, the woman enters a territory unknown to many young Cubans. “People from before do know these things. Cherry tomatoes are perfect for sauce, because they have much more pulp, fewer seeds and also very thin skin,” she explains. “Between December and January, my mother made all the tomato sauce we consumed in our house.”

The preparation of those sauces was a moment of family reunion. “They put us children to work washing the tomatoes, and my father prepared the wood stove on the patio, because at that time we lived in Santiago de las Vegas and had a good space outside with fruit trees.” The mother and grandmother took turns in front of the huge pot, stirring with a wooden pallet “that looked more like an oar than a spoon.”

Then came the method for preparing tomato sauce: “scrub the bottles, boil them and keep the lids ready.” The tomatoes were pounded and strained to separate the seeds and pieces of skin; “a little seasoning and salt were added, and then the sauce was simmered in a pot on the stove until it thickened.” Finally, it was put into the sterilized jars with airtight lids and stored in a dark place “unexposed to the sun. ” All that was left was to “enjoy that sauce in a good stew or with some spaghetti.”

But the decline in agricultural production and the arrival of a wide variety of imported sauces buried that tradition. On digital sites that sell food for emigrants to buy for their relatives on the Island, a 12-oz. can of tomato paste costs US $2.50. For those who have foreign currency there are many options. Lighter or thicker sauces, seasoned or low in salt, with pieces of tomato or finely filtered. There is even tomato juice, much appreciated for mixing with certain alcoholic beverages.

On those websites there are containers of cherry tomatoes with or without skin, sofritos [fried onion, garlic and tomato to be used in a sauce] that include peppers and carrots, in addition to some locally produced sauces that are undervalued due to the frequent adulteration suffered by such mixtures- cheaper, but with an unpredictable flavor. For those who prefer the fresh product to use in salads, robust, fleshy tomatoes with shiny skin are offered. All fruits have a bright red tone and are paid for with the green bills of the “enemy’s currency.”

Translated by Regina Anavy for Translating Cuba.

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