How Imogene Tondre is working to preserve Cuban home recipes

This week, we're excited to welcome Imogene Tondre to SALT + SPINE, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.

Many do not realize that Cuba is a culinary melting pot, infused throughout history with global influences that have left their mark on the island country's cuisine: Spanish colonizers and African slaves to immigrants from China, Haiti and more. Imogene, a cookbook author and one of today's foremost experts on Cuban cuisine, together with her co-author Madelaine Vazquez Galvez, explored this rich and complex history and the food it's produced. The result: a colorful and dense compilation of 350 recipes straight from Cuba's family tables.

We sat down with Imogene at San Francisco's The Civic Kitchen cooking school to talk about preserving the country's culinary traditions, Cuban home cooks' diverse repertoire and how she constructed this colorful tome.

Today's Episode: Imogene Tondre

• The Hottest Cookbooks of Summer 2018 by Daniela Galarza // Eater

• ‘Cuba, the Cookbook’ explains the layers of cultures that go into the island’s cuisine by Sheryl Julian // Boston Globe

• Cuba: The Cookbook Reivew by Nick Harman // Foodpedia