Residents know that the meager pound of protein doesn’t go far, but the temptation to make a soup or fry some thighs is greater than their disappointment at the small amount.
14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 15 October 2024 — “You take some skin, some bones and a little ice and suddenly you’ve got a pound.” That is the exact amount of chicken that the ration book, which governs food distribution on the island with an iron fist, says each Cuban is supposed to get. Families in Havana’s Luyanó district have not received the allotted amount for months. Even so, government officials claim that the hindquarters that were delivered Monday night to the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Sacred Heart of Jesus) butcher shop under a persistent drizzle were October’s supply.
“For a long time, you could only buy chicken for children or the elderly. Now, finally, pregnant women and everyone else can get it. But they say it’s only for October. It’s best not to count on getting the last two months’ quota,” says Rosario, a resigned local resident. Nevertheless, she and twenty or so neighbors lined up early to buy what they could.
The news that thighs and drumsticks had arrived spread quickly through Luyanó. “Even the local representative mentioned it on the WhatsApp group where she posts information. And every now and then you could hear someone shout, ‘The chicken has arrived,’” says Rosario.
The news that thighs and drumsticks had arrived spread quickly through Luyanó
Everyone here knows the meager protein ration does not go very far but the temptation to make a soup out of it or fry up some thighs is stronger than the disappointment at the small amount. “Besides the fact that it is almost never available, the rationed chicken is not enough for anything. I myself always have to buy it on the black market because it’s the easiest and cheapest meat to get. I never rely on the butcher shop to have it. But if it does, I’ll buy it because it only costs 20 pesos,” adds Rosario.
Sagrado Corazón — it is still known by its original name rather than La Esquina (The Corner), the one given it after the revolution — opened unusually early on Monday. As soon as the chicken arrived at its doorstep at around six in the morning, the meat market began serving the first customers who showed up looking for their pound of poultry.
The shop with the two-word name also serves a dual purpose. After an employee at a nearby store fell from grace and the roof collapsed at Sagrado Corazón’s original location, the business ended up taking on two roles. “Government officials wanted to make it a combination grocery store and butcher shop. And since that suited the grocery store manager, who would have more products to sell, he didn’t complain. Also, the manager of one of the stores was a drunkard and people were lining up at the other to look at the sky through the hole in the roof,” says Rosario.
The shop with the two-word name also serves a dual purpose
“It was the manager of Sagrado Corazón himself who renovated the store, painted it and, I think, even pays the security guards who work outside. From time to time, products that you can’t buy with the ration book show up on the sales counter and no one knows where they came from. The guy with the know-how always finds a way to do business,” Rosario says.
On Tuesday, a street vendor has set up a stall outside El Sagrado Corazón to take shelter from the rain. “I’m going to buy a handful of his plantains, make a “fufu”* with them and have it with the chicken,” says Rosario in a rapacious tone. By noon, neighborhood residents were still to gathering at the entrance, ignoring the store’s posted closing time. “We have to take advantage of this opportunity while we can. After this batch, there might not be any more chicken till next year.”
*Translator’s note: A dish of boiled, mashed plantains
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