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Cuban food with wheels

The restaurant's new owners mix traditional ethnic fare with a modern twist: a canteen truck that makes the rounds.

By JORGE SANCHEZ
Published February 2, 2007

LECANTO - There is a new entry in the growing Hispanic food sector that is taking root in Central Citrus: Havana House, which offers Cuban foods with an emphasis on tradition and freshness.

If you are too busy to drive to Lecanto for lunch, the Havana House "restaurant on wheels" canteen truck brings savory dishes such as pressed Cuban sandwiches and rice and beans to you for lunch on weekdays.

New owners Frank and Rosa Ruiz took over Havana House three months ago, and their commitment to providing mostly Cuban cuisine from tried and true family recipes has lured back customers who shied away from the diner's previous two owners.

The head chef is Rosa Ruiz, who says she learned most of the recipes as a young girl from her mother.

Growing up in Miami, Rosa learned at an early age the close ties and fascination that Cubans have with their food.

"I've been cooking since I was 10," she said. "My mother was a working single mother and I learned how to cook early."

Her first job was at Burger King, and she continued in the food industry with the Hilton hotel company. It was there that she learned the business side of running a restaurant, from food ordering to setting up an efficient kitchen.

Her professionalism shows in nearly every detail of the Havana House. Customers are greeted warmly, orders are processed rapidly and there is plenty of food to see and smell in the hot trays at the front counter.

When you can get that close to the food before ordering, lunch becomes a more pleasurable affair.

Cuban and Hispanic foods have been a staple of the Citrus County restaurant scene for many years, so many customers know the difference between a papa rellena stuffed potato and a sweet plantain. Havana House, under the Ruizes, is a worthy addition to the Cuban food scene.

The Cuban sandwiches are authentic, pressed and loaded with sweetly smoked Serrano ham, Swiss cheese, pickle, mayo and tangy roast pork.

"The real secret to a Cuban sandwich is the bread," she said. "It's one of the few items we purchase, because I just don't have the time or the means to make that much bread."

On Monday alone, she placed an order for 80 pounds of Cuban bread. That's a lot of sandwiches.

Cuban food, like most ethnic food, is a combination of a few simple ingredients. The trick is to use those basic ingredients with grace and common sense.

The mother sauce of Cuban food is mojo criollo. It's a tangy, citrus and garlic-based watery vinaigrette that makes pork sparkle with the flavors of the Caribbean. It's also great on just about anything else.

The secret to a homemade mojo criollo is to use fresh-squeezed bitter oranges. Havana House makes its own mojo (pronounced mo-ho), and only relies on a proven store brand when fresh ingredients are unavailable.

The pork is slow roasted in the kitchen, and comes sliced or pulled. This is great for the two different Cuban sandwiches: the traditional pressed Cuban or the meatier pan con lechon' (bread with roast pork), which is a hefty slice of Cuban bread, sliced open and packed with pulled pork seasoned with mojo. It's the Cuban version of a Philly cheese steak - without the cheese.

Havana House also offers the smaller Cuban sandwich, a medianoche (midnight). This features ham and cheese on a smaller sub roll brushed with an egg wash prior to baking to make it shiny.

Another Cuban staple is picadillo, which is seasoned ground beef, usually served with rice and beans and a sweet plantain. Picadillo also has raisins and green olives. It's a lighter lunch, but tasty.

Havana House takes the extra step to ensure the ground beef is properly drained of the fat. Beware of picadillo that's swimming in its own grease.

Sweet plantains at Havana House are sauted gently in a pan, until the plantain's sugar begins to caramelize on the outside, and the inside turns soft and sweet. It's a finesse job that the kitchen staff masters with ease.

My most recent visit took in the Palomillo steak, which is a flank steak, tenderized by flattening it with a meat mallet, then a quick visit to a hot frying pan with some onion rings for company.

Served alongside a bed of yellow rice, black beans and a few sweet plantains, it was a real treat.

You'll want to try the flan and some Cuban coffee for dessert. Then step outside and fire up a $15 Cohiba (bring your own) to complete the Cuban experience.

Other Cuban tidbits are stuffed and fried ham croquettes, fried stuffed yucca, or fried yucca with a marinade of mojo and tostones.

Frank Ruiz takes the Havana House kitchen on the road in his shiny canteen truck. He makes stops at the school bus garages in Inverness, Crystal River and Lecanto, as well as many businesses in between. Almost every item on the Havana House menu is available on the lunch truck as well.

Jorge Sanchez covers arts and entertainment in Citrus. Contact him at sanchez@sptimes.com or (352)860-7313 or toll free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 7313.

If you go

The basics on Havana House

Havana House restaurant, 1209 S Lecanto Highway (County Road 491), Lecanto. Open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Limited delivery area, although the canteen truck does make numerous stops in Inverness, Beverly Hills, Crystal River and Lecanto. Call (352) 746-1020.

[Last modified February 1, 2007, 23:20:06]