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What’s the secret that makes Cuban pork so delicious?

Inside Paladar Los Mercaderes, a family-owned farm-to-table restaurant in Old Havana, Cuba
Laurie McAndish King

Why is Cuban pork so delectable? To find out, Laurie McAndish King follows a trail of rose petals up a candle-lit marble staircase to Paladar Los Mercaderes in Old Havana. 

The restaurant’s owner, Yamil Alvarez Torres, lets us in on the secret of perfect pork and talks about mouth-watering Cuban cuisine, his customers’ favorite dishes, and the Cuban farm-to-table tradition.

Restaurant owner Yamil Alvarez Torres outside Paladar Los Mercaderes Old Havana, Cuba
Credit Laurie McAndish King
Restaurant owner Yamil Alvarez Torres outside Paladar Los Mercaderes Old Havana, Cuba

We’ll also find out about the development of private restaurants in Cuba—and hear first-hand the effects recent U.S. government regulations are having on the Cuban people.

And if you want to travel to Cuba, that’s legal and easy for Americans to do in groups, although individual travelers now have a bit of red tape to contend with.

MUSIC:

Artist: Perla Batalla

Album: Discoteca Batalla

www.perla.com

You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR Podcast travel show Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer via: 

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Culture Editor @360magazine

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Credit SATW Foundation
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013

Laurie McAndish King is an award-winning travel writer and photographer who has been interviewing fascinating people since 2007. Her work focuses on nature, culture, and cuisine. King's true stories cover 20-foot-long Australian earthworms, a journey to taste the world’s best coffee in Bali, and an Ivy League astrophysicist’s explanation of how flying saucers are powered. Her three collections of travel stories—poignant, insightful and often quite funny—have inspired and entertained readers since 2014.
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