Lydia Gil learned to cook Cuban food from her grandmother, a homemaker born in 1915 in the eastern part of Cuba, close to Haiti, which has its own culinary lingo — one of many in the Cuban culture.
"Their food is slightly different from what most people associate with Cuban food, like black beans and rice, which is more Havana," said Gil, a professor at the University of Denver. "A typical dish was congri, made with red beans, and said to have come from the Haitian slaves."
