How to say Happy New Year in Spanish and how to speak Cuban Spanish
Today you will learn to say Happy New Year in Spanish and to speak Cuban Spanish. This is how to say Happy New Year in Spanish: “Prospero Año Nuevo”. But keep in mind that you can say “Happy New Year” or “Happy New Year”. Or as they say in Colombia, “Happy New Year”.
After writing a recent article where I included a “photo” and a “recipe” for pegao, concón or cucayo (a delicacy consisting of crispy rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot), a reader responded with a very interesting email:
“Thank you very much, Patrick. By the way, in Cuba, the rice crust at the bottom of the pot is called raspa, and it’s a delicacy there too. Thanks for the recipe, too. Most people these days just they forget the rasp and use a rice cooker, but I hate piling on more gadgets!
I do a lot of Cuban cooking. I love it.
We will have a traditional Noche Buena on Christmas Eve with the Lechón Asado that I injected and macerated with mojo for at least 24 hours, yucca with mojo, black beans, rice (if you cook rice and beans together it is called Moros y Cristianos), maybe maybe some fried ripe plantains (yum), salad, and for dessert flan and maybe some nougat. I have never tried nougat, but it is part of the traditional Christmas meals. Are you still living in Colombia? I tried to make arepas, but I couldn’t get them to cook well. Also, I’m not sure we have the right flour here. I used the one that Mexicans use for tamales and tortillas”
That ends your email.
I wanted to talk to you about his email because I thought it was very interesting. In fact, I came across the word or phrase “la raspa” last week, for the first time, when I was researching “photos” and “recipes” for pegao, concon or cucayo online, and I saw that it was the word that Cubans are used for a crispy layer of rice that is scraped off the bottom of the pot. But I didn’t want to include it in my last article unless a Cuban or someone familiar with “the culture of Cuba” confirmed that “la raspa” is the Cuban word for crispy rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot. .
The word “raspa” apparently comes from the verb “raspar” which means “to scrape”.
But I also found his email very entertaining because he said he ditches the fishbone and uses a rice cooker instead. I have a rice cooker in my “apartment” in Medellin, and whenever one of my Colombian friends visits and cooks rice, they too, for convenience, forget about the “caldero” (cast iron or cast aluminum pot) and the pegao, concón, cucayo or scrape. Of course, I am not happy because I love to eat the crispy rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot.
And another thing that she mentioned and that I felt was also typical of my friends in Medellin is that she cooks with a pressure cooker.
But when I lived in Barranquilla on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, my “girlfriend” never cooked with a pressure cooker. Instead, she soaked the beans overnight to make sure they were soft before cooking them the next day.
But the “paisas” or people of Medellín are a bit more “cosmopolitan” than the “costeños” (people from the coast) of Barranquilla and prefer the comfort of rice cookers and pressure cookers over “calderos” (iron pots). cast or cast aluminum) and regular pots.
So that’s what I wanted to share with you that I learned about Spanish or the culture of Cuba and Colombia.
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