Got café con leche?
Growing up in a Cuban household means drinking coffee. A lot of coffee. And it means learning how to make coffee at an early age.
For most of us Cuban kids our first words were, “Mami. Papi. Café.”
We’re not just talking about any coffee here. We’re talking super-sweet and tasty espresso. In fact, recalling my early childhood, I think Cuban parents added coffee and sugar to our milk just to get us kids to drink it every day. It totally worked. =D
One of the biggest cultural shocks when we landed on American soil was finding out that American kids did not drink espresso in their milk for breakfast. (I felt sorry for them. I know. Shut up.)
Café con Leche. Warm milk with espresso. That was our breakfast of choice. With hot, buttered (technically grilled!) Cuban bread. Let’s just have a holy moment of silence here… Ay, Dios mio.
Could there be a better way to start the day??
(This post was featured in a different form on MBFCF.)
Un poquito mas:
actually…most of my nieces and nephews (even my own daughter)…some of their first 2 word combinations (i’m talking 1yr-2yr olds) were “CAFE CON CHECHE”…it was normal for us…and then the other “NON_HISPANIC” mom’s eyes would bug out of their heads when they heard my mom gave me coffee so young!
hey…we’re alive and well!
here’s to Cafe con Cheche!
“Cafe con leche se quiere casar con una viudita de la capital.”
Anyone remember that Cuban lullaby?
Thanks for a great article, Marta! I will share this with my mom, sister and other Cuban friends.
Growing up in Cuba, after school we would come home and made our mother make us cafe-con-leche con espuma. She would have to switch the cafe-con-leche from one glass to another glass until you got some “espuma”. We would drink some and have her make more, until we drank the whole thing. Love it.
So true, there is no better breakfast. Even better when it’s being enjoyed in Miami, south beach with the ocean in the air. sigh.