Ropa Vieja at La Bodeguita de Mima is Rich History in a Can

Ropa Vieja de Lata is not your ordinary canned meat. Photo by Kevin Gibson

I finally made it to La Bodeguita de Mima recently, and I didn’t get the Ropa Vieja de Lata as my entrée. I don’t think that will happen again, if only because of the interesting history and the way La Bodeguita serves the dish.

Ropa vieja is known as a national dish of Cuba, and anyone of Cuban descent knows of it, given that in various forms it dates back as many as 500 years, having originated in Spain. One legend says that, as the name translates to the phrase “old clothes,” it came to be when a penniless man cooked his own clothes to survive. He prayed over the pot and his boiled clothing miraculously turned into a rich meat stew.

As Cuba has gone through many periods of economic hardships, the beef-based traditional dish was sometimes made with other meats substituted in. As Cuba became heavily dependent on Russian trade and military aid following the Cuban Revolution in 1959, ropa vieja often was made with whatever was available.

Courtesy of La Bodeguita de Mima

Following the fall of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, Cuba’s fortunes took an extreme downturn during a period in the early 1990s, which became known as the Special Period. During this time, the dish became nearly non-existent. But prior to this period, a popular (and I’m using that phrase liberally in this context) substition in ropa vieja was a canned beef product that was in ready supply.

And so, when you order Ropa Vieja de Lata at La Bodeguita de Mima, it will be served … in a can, with a side of rice, black beans and plantains. And while the can is opened and poured into your dish as you watch, your server will give you a brief history of the tradition of ropa vieja made with canned beef that was imported from the Soviet Union. It’s this version that most Cuban people will remember.

The La Bodeguita can design is custom-made with the restaurant’s bright yellow logo. The can also conveniently features the ingredients of the dish on the side, in both English and Spanish: shredded short rib, tomatoes, white wine, onions, peppers, cumin and oregano.

Tostones rellenos with ropa vieja. Photo by Kevin Gibson

As I said, I didn’t order the dish. But the theater of it intrigued me – my fiancee Cynthia and I were having dinner with our friends Ivan and Corey, and it was Ivan who was wise enough to order ropa vieja. My Masas de Puerco was fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t deny having a bit of dinner envy while watching Ivan empty his plate from across the table. Fortunately, Ivan and Corey had chosen as an appetizer Tostones Rellenos – essentially nachos made with fried plantains. And one topping option is ropa vieja, which is precisely what they had requested.

As I nibbled on the shared dish, I couldn’t get over how flavorful and tender the beef was; I just didn’t know what I was eating. And once everyone else said they were done picking at the appetizer, I was the one who cleaned up every last scrap of savory beef. Had I possessed the wherewithal to connect the dots, I may have ordered my own can of meat. But hey, life is filled with regrets. Next time around, I might even bring my own can opener, just for effect.

And in case you’re wondering, no, this is not made with any sort of canned beef – it is made fresh and immediately packed into the can for the purpose of sharing the history and providing an experience at the dinner table. Well played, La Bodeguita de Mima. Well played.