A Taste of Cuba

BY KAREN DAY

Walking along 15th Street in Boise’s bucolic north end, listen for the Afro-Cuban beat of bata drums drifting down the snowy sidewalk. You’re getting closer when the succulent smoke of pernil (fresh roasted pork) saturates the air. At the corner of Bella and 15th, the line of customers attests you have arrived. Welcome to Adelfa’s Authentic (pop-up) Cuban Cuisine.

Noel Argote-Hererra serves traditional Cuban fare every day of the week.

“This is the food my mother, Adelfa, cooked when I was growing up in Miami,” says Noel Argote-Herrera. Standing under a sidewalk canopy, he stirs a simmering pot of Ropa Vieja over an open-air propane stove. Fresh bay leaves rise among carrots, potatoes and cubed beef. “I learned how to cook watching her, dancing around the kitchen. Her food was filled with music and love–that’s the secret.” A smile crinkles Arogte-Herrera's eyes above his mask as he heaps fluffy white rice, meat stew and tostones (twice-fried plantains) into a to-go container for customer after customer. Everyone is a return client.

Traditional Cuban food is meat-centric and the tastes are saturated with the undiluted history, culture and vibrancy of the tropical island that is mostly a mirage of palm trees, Buena Vista Social Club, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro to most Americans due to U.S. travel restrictions. Mangos, guavas, tomatoes, plantains, rice, beans and pork–imagine these bright, suninfused edibles and you can almost envision the technicolor houses lining the streets of Havana.

Noel brings a vibrancy and culture to the neighborhood at a time when we all need it most.

-Paul Shubin, a regular customer

“The pulled-pork is my customer’s favorite," Argote-Herrera says, stacking a dessert tray with fresh-baked raspberry hand-pies. “People start lining up at noon and I sell out in an hour. This Ropa Vieja literally means ‘old clothes’ because when you’re poor, you can add leftovers to this tomato-based sauce.”

This street chef lives and bakes in the small house next to his walk-up. Cuban rhythms pipe from his car, parked nearby, the back window offering a moviestar-beautiful image of his mother, as homage and business logo. Twelve dollars buys a complete meal big enough for two. Your taste buds will quickly agree to return since Adelfa’s is the closest you’ll ever come to Cuba in Idaho.