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© 2008 Dan Perlman
Casa SaltShaker
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Chef: Dan Perlman
Host: Henry Tapia
February 22-23, 2008
How to sum up the whole Guantanamo Bay Cuban - American relations in a few short sentences…. Spain invades and takes over Cuba from the Taino and Ciboney tribes shortly after Columbus’ discovery - roughly 1511. Nearly 400 years later, in the Spanish - American War, the U.S. helps Cuba (and numerous other Caribbean countires) gain independence from Spain, establishing a naval base in 1898. At the time, it seemed to the Cubans a good thing to keep a U.S. Naval presence, and a 99 year lease on Guantanamo Bay, and an island-wide military access, was granted to the U.S. in 1903 for the price of $2000 in gold coins by Cuba’s first president. Jump ahead to 1934 and in a new treaty, the U.S. agreed to give up the island-wide access and restrict their presence to Guantanamo, however extending the lease to “in perpetuity” unless a new treaty is bilaterally agreed upon, and giving the Cubans access to the bay that they hadn’t had since 1898. The lease amount is changed to just over $4000, but in a treasury check rather than gold coins. The check is cashed, annually, until the Castro revolution in 1959 - Fidel Castro does cash the 1959 check, but since 1960 has supposedly kept the checks stacked up in a desk drawer, claiming that both the 1903 and 1934 treaties were signed by the Cubans “under duress”. The U.S. claims that since he cashed the first check and kept the money in 1959, he acknowledged the validity of the last treaty. Guantanamo has continued as a naval base, and in 2002 a portion was converted to a “terrorist detention facility” - the subject of much news in the last six years. That’s the nutshell version. For our purposes at Casa SaltShaker, all that’s really important is the variety of dishes that make up traditional Cuban cuisine - from the heavily Spanish influenced eastern dishes, to the African influenced (via slaves) western, to the refined plates of Havana, to the “cubans in exile” Cuban-American fare.
Thoughts from some of our guests:
"I had a wonderful experience at casa saltshaker and will surely recommend it to anyone passing through BA." - N.H.
"Sorry for the late reply but better late etc. etc. We enjoyed it very much, it was a pleasure to meet you and Henry. I think the whole concept is good, the number and size of courses were right and the wine pairing worked well for me. The only thing I would have liked is a little more time before sitting down at the table in our set positions, or some format that would have allowed us to move and mix during the meal. Easy to say, probably not so easy to implement, and it would possibly extend the overall time for the event. Anyway good time had by all I think, so thanks again." - B.O.
"I have to say that we both did enjoy the meal you served even though I personally could barely manage to sample it because of a sudden traveller's stomach. (I began to recover the very next day.) We also enjoyed meeting our fellow dinner companions. Speaking for both of us, we like your concept of a theme, the food was quite good (although it was painful for me to have to sample so little of it!), and we liked your explanations of each course. The price was certainly reasonable and we plan to recommend you to any friends who happen to travelling to BA (which, by the way, we found to be a very exciting city that we hope to return to). I'm sorry I can't suggest some improvement but we liked the dinner just the way it was! Thanks for asking and best wishes to you both!" - L.T.
