Comments for Food & Lifestyle Blog: BettyHakes.com

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by Betty

Betty — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:13:06 +0000

Alex, thank you for your comment. I wish we were closer so I can try some of the woozy stuff

My best – Betty

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by Alex Dominguez

Alex Dominguez — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:06:24 +0000

Hey there,

My family is from Oriente (Victoria de las Tunas) and my grandfather used to make these as well. He was quite good at it and made batches for me and my cousin when we were born. One batch was made in 1978 and another in 1982. The younger one was opened in 1997 for my cousin Monika’s turned 15 – it was great. But my mother held on to my older batch until I graduated from grad school in 2005. That 27 year old stuff was absolutely superb – just a small taste would get you woozy. My grandfather having passed about 14 years earlier, you can imagine the emotion and meaning of trying his specially made drink. It’s an amazing tradition and i stumbled upon your recipe because having been married just a few weeks ago I going to start the tradition again in my family and make a batch that my wife and I and our family can try and share on our one year, 10 year, 25 year, etc. anniversaries.

Alex Dominguez

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by Betty

Betty — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:52:44 +0000

Martha, thank you for the post and information, I didn’t realize this tradition may have come down from Spain but that makes sense. thanks!

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by Martha

Martha — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:39:20 +0000

This is an old Cuban tradition. I am 60 and it was made for me (in the US) by my mother, and I remember her making it for my siblings’ births as well. She also added other fresh fruits and dried fruit as well (raisins come to mind), and yes, brandy. In our family a bottle out of the batch was put away for toasting a special occasion relating to that particular baby: its wedding or engagement, for example. THOSE bottles were mighty good, as you can imagine! My family was from Oriente province as well, but I’m pretty sure this came down as a tradition from Spain.

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by Mari

Mari — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:59:40 +0000

Thank you so much!! I am from Oriente but came to live in the US as a little child. When my daughter was born 10 years ago, my grandmother made it and I put it in a glass container not buried (although this is the tradition) and stashed it is a dark corner of the pantry. The tradition in our family at least is to toast when the baby is born and then again when the child turns 15. I took it out the other day and tried it, and it is better than it was – a must have recepie in the family! Only thing is that my grandmother now has Dimentia and my mom never learned how to make it. Yes apples are part of the recepie as I recall the drink being strained prior to putting it away. I want to say that my grandmother also added a bit of Brandy Fundador to it but cannot say for certain. Thank you for the post!!!

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by NancyE

NancyE — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:00:53 +0000

We just returned from Holguin City and while visiting friends who are expecting a baby in December, we learned about this wonderful tradition and actually saw a large vat of Alinado brewing on the table (they didn’t bury theirs, as was mentioned). Our friends are saving some of the drink for us when we return in April, but I’m also thinking of making it myself, so we can toast the arrival of their new baby girl along with all of their nearby family and friends … we’ll just be a few thousand kilometers away and in a much colder climate when we do it I suspect apples are not part of the original recipe, since they’re pretty much impossible to find in Cuba. But I’m sure they’d make a nice substitute. Thanks so much for finding and posting this recipe.
Salud!
Nancy (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by Stephany

Stephany — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 18:49:59 +0000

Wow, super interesting and cool. I’ve never heard of this at all, I’m not Cuban though so perhaps that’s why. That is a very neat tradition, though. Although I wonder if those mothers breastfed after drinking the rum, or just the guests drank it?

Comment on Rare Cuban Traditional drink for new baby by Mabelle G.

Mabelle G. — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:42:22 +0000

Hi,

Thanks for the recipe! My mom is from Oriente and remembers this tradition. She has wondered about the ingredients for the recipe for a long time. It must be a local tradition. Very interesting!

Comment on Chocolate Covered Apple Bites … Perfect little dessert by Jane

Jane — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:57:51 +0000

I think this would be a great idea for Halloween treats with the apple. Thank you for also mentioning using Silpat. It really does make a difference!

Comment on Making Christmas Cookies with Your Kids … Memories of a lifetime by Betty

Betty — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 19:17:15 +0000

That’s awesome Michelle! I know I remember my times of cooking in the kitchen with my grandmother! Your kids will treasure this always. Merry Christmas.