Here is a secret most people don't know. Cuban food isn't spicy. Many people, especially here in California, expect Cuban food to be like Mexican food- picante (spicy). But the little island country doesn't have access to many ingredients, including spices so they don't use many. My husband tells me that his mother is always conserving spices so her food tends to be too bland, and that is often the case in the average Cuban cocina (kitchen). They use bell pepper, onion, cumin, tomato, garlic, and lots of salt- that's pretty much it. Cubans cook a lot of dishes in tomato sauce and if it isn't boiled in tomato sauce it is fried.
So, what "the" secret? ... it's something Cubans use in most dishes- it's a mixture called sofrito.
My husband tells me that my sofrito isn't "traditional." So here is my Secret Sofrtito recipe...
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 large onion
5-6 garlic cloves
1 8 oz Tomato sauce
I just mix all these things into a food processor and make a sauce. It can be put into freezer bags and frozen until you are ready to use it. When I freeze it, I don't add the tomato, I wait to add the tomato sauce when I actually use it. if you are wondering how mine is different from the traditional, it is because they finely chop the ingredients and I blend them. I don't like chunks of onion or bell pepper in my food, so that is one reason I put it in the food processor, but also because it keeps better this way.
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