Ñooo, Que Cerveza!

With the recent death of Guillermo Alvarez Guedes there have been a lot of write-ups on his career and life. I was a young man in college when Alvarez Guedes became a spokesman for the Budweiser Company. Not sure if too many people remember those commercials as they were on radio, I never saw any on TV.

The premise of the commercial was simple. You would hear the bottle open, the beer being poured into a glass, a man drinking and then in a very satisfied tone Alvarez Guedes would exclaim “Ñooo, Que Cerveza!” The advertising campaign was so successful that sales of Budweiser in the South Florida Cuban community went through the roof. He even did the disclaimer at the end of the commercial, poking fun at the requirement that you have to say the name of the Beer Company.

“Y ahora hay que decir Anheiser Busch, St. Louis Missouri” (in very broken English)

When Alvarez Guedes got to heaven I’m sure he got an admonishing for using the, Ñooo. The only thing is I doubt it would have been St Peter delivering the admonishment; that would have been my grandmother, she was not a fan of his use of the word. I wonder how grandma and Guillermo are getting along.

PS. If you speak Spanish and you have never Heard Alvarez Guedes tell the story of the Cuban guy who moves to the state of Pennsylvania to get away from Miami and the Cubans, then I highly recommend you listen to it. It is a classic of the type of comedy he did. 

The Republic of Hialeah

For years it has been recognized that this South Florida Community sometimes feels as if it is in another country. Truth be known, I worked there for many years and it actually felt different. This comment is not meant to be in any way demeaning or derogatory of the city and its citizens. Hialeah is actually a very prosperous place and its citizenry is recognized as hardworking productive members of this community.

I’m talking of the flavor of the place; the interaction amongst people when they are there; the restaurants, coffee shops, barber shops and other business establishments. You step into this other world that is very much Cuban; yet it is not Cuba, but neither is it American. Sometimes it can be thought of as a self-autonomous political entity with its own head of state.

During the aftermath of the Twin Towers attack, there was an outpouring of sympathy and solidarity expressed by other countries towards the United States. Not to be outdone, during a live TV interview of the citizenry regarding the event, one of its citizens proudly said, “We in Hialeah are in full support of the US and express our solidarity with the American People”.

OK, good I thought; but didn't this fellow just practically declared Hialeah’s secession from the Union?

As a result of the ensuing war, one of my co-workers (a reservist) was called up for duty. That Christmas we sent him a care package of Goodies. Along with the package went a letter entitled “Greetings from The Republic of Hialeah”, full of messages and just general good-wishes. Later when he came home he told me about how he had shared the goodies with his unit and how he had shared the letter.

“What…..are you crazy?” you shared a letter titled like that with a unit of American soldiers.

Relax… the entire unit was from South Florida and even the Americans got a chuckle out of it. They all understood they were fighting for the U.S. and for “The Republic of Hialeah”.

God Bless these United States of America, the soldiers who keep her free and the guys from South Florida for having such a good sense of humor.

Who’s this Beny More Guy Anyway?

A few years ago Andy Garcia, the Cuban-American actor, produced a movie called “The Lost City”. In it he captures the story of a Cuban family with the backdrop of the lead-up to the “Cuban Revolution of 1959”. He also captures in many ways the essence of Cuba back in the 1950’s and of our parent’s world; this was our story on the big screen. I had tears in my eyes for most of the movie; this story hurts to watch, even though we all know it all too well.

One uplifting scene in the movie is when the character played by Mr. Garcia takes a young woman to a night club to see “El Beny” perform. This was typical Cuban pride on display and also a classic Cuban technique of resorting to humor or music in the midst of tragedy and sadness. In the movie they had just had a death in the family and they were seeking refuge in the music.

The movie was not well received by the critics in Hollywood and it was denounced by the left. Mr. Garcia had just committed a sin; he told the truth. How dare he show “Che Guevara” as a murderous revolutionary; who would kill so callously. How dare he show Cuba as a place that was prospering during the 1950’s? I recently watched the movie again and yes I had tears in my eyes. This is the first time I have watched it since it came out in 2005, and then I remembered one critic asking the question. Who’s this Beny More guy anyway?

Yes, that question was asked, by a very “knowledgeable and cultured” Hollywood movie critic. You see the argument goes something like this. If the movie is about the revolution and the 1950’s in Cuba, why put that scene about this couple going to see this Beny guy? According to the critic the scene was extraneous to the story. What this critic failed to understand is that you cannot do a story about Cuban life and culture of the 1950’s and leave Beny More out of it; now that would be a SIN!

The Epicenter of Salsa and the “Son Montuno”

For years there has been a widespread use of the word “Salsa” to refer to just about any kind of Caribbean music, particularly Cuban Music. One of the best know and successful musicians of the “Salsa Age” Tito Puente; was quick to point out to a reporter that salsa was really (a commercial repackaging of Cuban Music), not Puente’s exact words, but close. I personally have always enjoyed his music and have been grateful that a musician of his stature was willing to call it right, “Cuban Music”. Within Cuban music there are several genres (Son, Son-Montuno, Danzon, Rumba, Guaracha, Bolero, Guajira, Cha-cha-cha) and the list goes on. The country was and still is a very creative source of lively danceable music.

Something mystical happened when the Africans and Europeans combined their respective traditions and musical heritage. Of the various rhythms created one of my favorites is the Son-Montuno. It has a very specific musical structure, which includes an up-tempo section and plenty of percussion; attributed to the creativity of Arsenio Rodriguez, a direct descendant of those Africans. He was a native of the town of Guira de Macuriges in my native Matanzas, Cuba. Proudly for me, he was also a friend of my grand-father; something I learned about just a few short years ago.

I have come to accept that people will keep calling it Salsa; but now you know what the ingredients are, who created it, what the name of the man and his town is. If Salsa music had exploded like an earthquake, then Guira de Macuriges is the Epicenter and Arsenio pushed the button.

Black Beans and Heaven

Since very early in my youth I took a special delight in eating black beans, after all they are a staple of the Cuban diet. In my case however this love affair has been taken so seriously that I have elevated black beans to the category of heavenly food.

I have come to appreciate them like few other things. While most people look forward to fine dining and things like caviar and the like, I would not give up a plate of rice and black beans for the finest cuisine from any far of land. Asked by my mother with a curious note, why I rarely caught a cold I said, "Mom it's your black beans" that's my secret. A church group was very surprised to hear me explain with Biblical certainty why I believe they serve rice and black beans in heaven. It is not heresy friends but just great faith in this simplest and greatest of Cuban dishes.

Have you ever traveled away from South Florida on business or vacation and on the flight back you can't wait to have those rice and beans? That's when you start praying for grandma to have made some, or the corner restaurant to still be open.

Yes friends’ rice and black beans are a heavenly food. Now go forth and preach the gospel!