Food is inextricably linked to culture, to tradition, and to memory. Unfortunately for filmmaker and Cuba native Asori Soto, he was robbed of those memories as a child, when the economic crisis forced bereft cooks to scrimp on ingredients. In Cuban Food Stories, he returns to reclaim the flavors of his homeland—but don’t expect familiar meals like pork, rice, and beans. Instead, you’ll be introduced to dishes that live not in cookbooks or on menus, but through oral tradition, some of them in locations so isolated they can be reached only by horseback or raft. Like ceviche so fresh, it’s prepared still on the fishing boat, or coconut meat scraped out of the shell and drizzled with honey and rum at a remote countryside stand. Soto is a loving documentarian, and his dedication to Cuba is palpable in every frame.
Cuban Food Stories screens tonight at the 44th annual Seattle International Film Festival, which is happening now through June 10. More recommended SIFF films here; and all SIFF films here.
