When you are in Havana and have iria (hunger), look for a nearby paladar, which literally means palate, but in Cuba the word is used to describe a privately owned restaurant, usually run from a person’s home. Although, of course, in the end, you will have to pay La Sangrienta (the Bloody One), which is the bill you receive after a meal or a party. “Joven, tráeme la sangrienta” (“Young man, bring me the bill”).
Chaúcha and iriampo are just a few of the many slang words for food or a meal in Cuba. Jama is a popular Cubanism for food or a meal. Jamar is “to eat.” Nobody likes a glutton, so don’t be gandío or gandía (a glutton or gluttonous), from the Spanish word gandido, which describes a person who eats too much. If you eat too much, then they will say that “te echaste un buque” (“you ate a boat!”).
Food can also be used to describe people, things, and situations. For example, if you are gandío then you are a person who always wants the lion’s share, sometimes at a meal, but most often in a business transaction. Can be used as a noun or an adjective.
At a party, you may coger cajitas (literally, “to get a little box”), which, in Cuba, means to get a piece of the pie or cake, figuratively or not. In Cuba, many birthday parties had the food pre-boxed in small cardboard containers. “No cogió cajitas” means that somebody missed out on a good opportunity.
Jamón, the Spanish word for “ham,” is often used in Cuba to describe any job or chore that is easy to carry out. By extension, a jamonero (“the ham guy”) is a person who always tries to get the easiest chores assigned to him. However, the word is most often used to describe a person that is basically a pervert who ogles over young women in an offensive or undesirable way.
Piña is the Spanish word for pineapple, but to be metido en la piña (to be “inside the pineapple”) can be used to describe someone who is deeply entangled in some sort of scandal or fuss. It is also sometimes used when one is deeply embarrassed by a comment or a situation.
The popular phrase “arroz con mango” is used to describe something that is a total disaster or any tangled situation. Literally, it means “rice with mango,” which is kind of a weird and improbable food combination. If you’ve made a mess of things, you’ve made arroz con mango.
If you like beef, you can try picadillo, which is ground beef cooked with sofrito, or the very popular vaca frita (literally, “fried cow”), which is shredded beef marinated with mojo, garlic, onions, and lime juice. It is then seared in a frying pan and served crispy and hot. Pretty tasty if done right.
You could accompany your picadillo or vaca frita not just with moros, but also with some yuca, ñame, or malanga, all of which are native Cuban roots of different textures and tastes, used extensively in Cuban cooking. Usually accompanied by mojo when boiled and served by themselves. Also good when fried into fritters, or thinly sliced and fried into chips. In the early days of the colonization of Cuba, yuca was very important because it was hearty and because bread could be made from its flour. Colloquially, ñame is used to describe a stupid, inept or clumsy person. Malanga is frequently given to children or served to someone when they are sick.
The most famous Cuban sandwich is probably the medianoche, made of ham, pork, cheese, pickles and mustard in a special, oval, yellow, slightly sweet roll.