"islands" news and stories

Get prepared. Back from a trip to Key West, I'm ready to revel in all things Cuban, tropical, and rum tasty ... until I whimper for the blue seas again and retreat back into my cave.

Above is the sandwich that almost never got eaten. I went to Key West, indulged in as much rum, seafood, and Cuban food as I could handle, and then got waylayed by a freak snowstorm in Atlanta. During my extra day in the sun, I walked the length of Simonton St. and came upon Ana's Cuban Cafe (1222 White St) -- the place I kept meaning to stop at, but never made it to. I'll never make that mistake again, and I hope you won't either.

The cafe is nestled inside a simple corner store, jam-packed with drinks and food. I walked to the counter and ordered a Cuban sandwich -- ham, pulled pork, lettuce, cheese, and mustard pressed between delicious slices of Cuban bread. It was both simple and delicious -- the sort of dish that doesn't need to rely on fancy ingredients because every single one goes perfectly with the next. But the hero of this sandwich is the bread. Cuban bread is wonderfully soft inside, so getting pressed in a plancha, it crisps up easily on the outside, and condenses into almost nothing on the inside. That way, you get the perfect flavor of bread without the stomach-filling weight of a thicker variety. Divine simplicity, just like the cafe itself.

A number of Slashfoodies can't be wrong!

Note: If anyone has good recipes for Cuban bread, let me know. I've tried one thus far, but am still looking for the perfect one.

As I wrote several weeks ago, a pig pickin' is a North Carolina tradition involving a pig, a converted petroleum drum cooker, a bunch of charcoal and a whole lot of time. But a pig pickin' is not the only way to cook a whole hog - cultures across the world have been spit roasting, grilling and burying pigs in hot ash for thousands of years. In many places, pork is the cheapest meal available, making pig roasts an affordable way to have big festive meals for the whole community. Here are a few whole hog traditions from around the world:

Hawaii: Possibly the most famous whole pig preparation of them all, the kalua pig is a staple of the Hawaiian luau. The pig is "dressed" (gutted, the outer layer of skin and hair removed) and salted and placed in an imu - a banana leaf-lined pit filled with hot stones. The pig is covered in more dirt and left for hours until smoky and falling apart tender.

Cuba: Cubans love their lechón (suckling pig), a Christmas Eve tradition. Pigs are often cooked in backyard roasters made from bricks or cinder blocks. One popular version of the homemade roaster is called a "caja china" (a Chinese box), a rather coffin-like device in which the pig is placed on the metal-lined bottom and a tray of coals is placed on top, cooking the meat through indirect heat.

Italy: At the annual Sagra del Maiale festival of pork, Italians grill whole pigs over a food fire and lovingly dis-articulate them to feed the whole village. Skin becomes crispy and meat is buttery soft and succulent. And not a big of the porker is wasted - even the ears and trotters are fair game. Not headed to Italy any time soon? Some Italian restaurants in NYC and other cities have their own Sagra del Maiale.

The Philippines: The image of the golden-skinned pig spinning on a spit over a roaring fire is a reality here in the South Pacific, where Filipinos adore stuffing the pig's belly with herbs and spices, impaling it horizontally, and roasting it until the skin crackles and the meat is meltingly tender. The dish, known as lechon baboy, is a festival day favorite.

The last of the March snow is still on the ground and I was wearing my down coat all day, so The Tasty Island, a Hawaiian food blog, struck me as drool-worthy in two ways - the reviews of yummy Hawaiian food and the amazing palm tree and beach backgrounds in the pictures.

Check it out - coconut shrimp, fried mahimahi, lychee yogurt, takeout Japanese chicken katsu and way more, all rated on blogger Pomai's own Spam musubi rating system (Spam musubi, or spam on rice with seaweed, is an iconic Hawaiian snack) - five Spam musubi means superb, one means average. I'm considering trying to make the sweet, glutinous rice cakes called kakanin with coconut topping, which Pomai describes as the lovechild of a Rice Krispie treat and a mochi (Japanese glutinous rice dessert). I wonder if there are any cheap tickets to Hawaii on Travelocity?

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Hawaiian Airlines is apparently stepping up their meal service for first-class customers by offering a new tasting menu during their flights.

The menu will be comprised of twenty different entrees set on a rotation, with five available to choose from on any given flight. For lunch or dinner, customers will choose three of the five, and for breakfast they will select two of three plus will receive a fresh fruit plate.

According to the press release, entrees could include "Hawaiian Crab Cake Tantalizing "Taste of the Island" with a Zesty Pineapple Salsa, Rock Shrimp and Lemon Pepper Ravioli with Creamy Sun Dried Tomato-Basil Sauce and Tri-Pepper Garni, and Chicken Tandoori served with a tangy Makhani Sauce and Sultana Basmati Rice Pilaf." In addition, they will be offering a Pomegranate Passion beverage which was created exclusively for the airline.

The tasting menu was introduced in March on the San Francisco - Honolulu route, and will now be offered system-wide to all first-class customers in May.

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