An Agropecuario Story

The people I have had the pleasure of meeting in Cuba have been some of the kindest, mot generous and sincere people I have met.

I recently decided that I wanted to visit an agropecuario (agricultural market) in my neighbourhood to check out the local, seasonal produce. I arrived at the market around 1:30 pm. I walked through the market, looking carefully at the produce in the stalls, the prices of different food items, all while appreciating the scent of fresh malanga fritters in the air. While the produce seemed sparse, and many stalls were empty there were still crowds of people grocery shopping.

As I spotted some yucca displayed below a friendly face, I decided I wanted to make my first purchase and try an important Cuban food staple.

As I examined the yucca, I confirmed the cost per kilogram and where it came from. Finally, I asked the vendor if I could purchase some of his products. He looked taken aback, as he examined his offerings.

“No. These ones are bad.” he stated while carefully looking over each yucca. I laughed thinking he was joking. “Come back at 8 in the morning tomorrow- there will be a lot more that are better quality.”

Notably, before coming to Cuba, I was warned to look out for people in markets trying to scam me or take advantage of me. A solo white girl wandering around and asking questions with intermediate Spanish abilities would obviously make me stand out. However, instead I met people who wanted to help me get the best out of Cuban markets that I could. Instead of taking advantage of my inability to spot poor yuccas, I was taught how to look out for better quality ones and found out the best time to visit the markets.

Of course I returned the next day, to find a market far more crowded in the early morning, with a faster paced environment of buying and selling, and stalls filled to the brim with good quality, fresh produce.

While I’m sure there are people out there who would have sold me poor quality products, as there are in all parts of the world (including the Global North), I am extremely grateful to have met this vendor, who let me buy better quality yucca the next morning!

“See” he smiled, “these are much better because everyone hasn’t bought all of the good ones yet.” I thanked him for his advice, and before I was able to leave he reminded that they needed to be boiled before being consumed. He then gestured with his hands and made a noise to represent the appearance sound of water steaming and boiling.

It turns out, yucca is absolutely delicious, especially when served with mojo, an amazing Cuban sauce made with oil, peppers, garlic and available spices.

As a lesson, before traveling and visiting international markets, remember to research produce that’s foreign to you, so you can tell the freshness and quality of the products that you want to buy. Thank you to this vendor who decided to advise me and not take advantage of my poor yucca quality assessment skills!