Influenced by Spanish, Caribbean and many other cultures, Cuban cuisine is a melting pot of flavors. It has often been characterized as peasant food due to the rationing system and widespread poverty. These obstacles, however, haven't stopped the people of this beautiful island from creating delicious food to feed their families. 

Over the last few years, there has been an increased interest in all things Cuban. Recently, during a brief window, it was not such an arduous task to travel to this once forbidden locale. Photographs that depict an island lost in time with vintage cars, a 50's vibe and colorful landscape ignited our passion to explore. Over the last few years, there has also been an increase in the number of incredible cookbooks on Cuban cuisine.

The latest, Cuba: The Cookbook by Madelaine Vazquez Galvez and Imogene Tondre, shares 350 recipes for home cooks that reflect Cuba's multi-layered culinary history. The book is organized by course, provides the origins of the recipes and explains Cuban ingredients and what to use to substitute those ingredients you may not be able to procure.

Beautifully photographed with shots of the shorelines, the multi-colored buildings that line narrow streets and simple, approachable dishes, make this one of my favorite Phaidon titles. For a look inside please check out our   that features these recipes in our :

Please remember Eat Your Book members receive 30% off Phaidon titles when using the link provided. Special thanks to the publisher for supplying the materials for our preview as well as providing two copies of this title in our contest below.

The publisher is offering two copies of this book to EYB Members in the US, CA, UK, and AU.  One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won't be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on August 17th, 2018.