Cubans

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**__ The Cuban Culture __**
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A Cuban dish
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The National coat of arms represents the Cuban island. It is shaped like a pointed shield, and divided into three sections. In its horizontal upper part, there is a golden key between two mountains, and a sun rising over the sea, which symbolizes the position of Cuba in the Gulf, between North America, and South America, creating a "new state". The blue and white stripes, down the left hand side, represent the situation of the island, like of its division into states, in a later period of time. Down the right hand side, a Cuban country scene is shown with a royal palm tree, the symbol of the unbreakable character of the Cuban people. The royal palm tree is the Cuba National Tree, the Cubans call it "La Palma Real (The Royal Palm)". Although it's presented all over the Caribbean, it's everywhere in the Cuban country side. It's a source of wood and materials for important construction, also used for hats, oil and other resources for the tobacco industry. Because of its straight and strong figure, withstanding difficult storms, it's the most respected, symbolizing the strong character of the Cuban people. The Phrygian cap at the very top of the shield is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward. In the western areas of the Roman Empire it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, perhaps through a confusion with the slave's felt cap of ancient Rome. Accordingly, the Phrygian cap is sometimes called a liberty cap; in artistic representations it signifies freedom and the pursuit of liberty it was also the emblem from the French Revolution, pointing to the right in its upper part. Not exceeding it height, the National Coat of Arms of Cuba, has a laurel branch at its left representing strength, and an oak branch at its right representing victory. Cuba's National Coat of Arms was made on the 24th of April, 1906. It was made to signify the Cuban people, how they felt, how they worshiped, and many other aspects of the culture. The Cuban Coat of arms is found in museums, and National monuments all around Cuba. It is also found in history books, and since it's one of the main symbols of Cuba, it's found in many public, and religious areas around Cuba.

Source(s):[|http://www.juanperez.com/history/flag.html] [| http://www.fotw.net/flags/cu%29.html] ||

** Food **
For starters, you have Moros y Cristianos (Black beans and rice), which is one of the more common dishes. A classic traditional Cuban dish is Arroz con Pollo (yellow rice with chicken), another one is Ropa Vieja (a shredded beef), and for dessert you can have Arroz con Leche.

1/2 cup rice 1-1/2 cups water 1 small piece of lemon peel 1 small cinnamon stick 4 cups milk 1 cup sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract Cinnamon powder

The recipe calls for washing the rice (in the old days, you had to pick through the rice and take little bits of trash and pebbles out, then wash it, as it was not clean) but I did not wash it.

Cook the rice in the water, lemon peel and cinnamon stick until rice is soft, about 10 minutes or so. Add the milk, salt, vanilla and sugar. Bring to just under a boil and turn down heat. Cook at medium-low heat, uncovered, until it gets thick and rice has absorbed most of the milk. Stir once in a while so it will not stick.

Fish out the cinnamon stick and pour into a bowl or several individual bowls and sprinkle with powdered cinnamon. Serves 8. Source(s):[| http://www.destination360.com/caribbean/cuba/events.html] []

** Holidays **
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** Rites of Passage. **
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