Recipes for the food shortage in Cuba

1Yuliet Colón publishes recipes and tricks on Facebook every week for Cubans to cook with what is available on the island.

'Recipes from the Heart' has become an aid to food rationing.

Ramón Espinosa AP

2With more ingenuity than resources, Colón copes with the shortage exacerbated by the pandemic in Cuba by posting his culinary creations on Facebook, helping many compatriots solve their day-to-day lives in the midst of an intermittent shortage.

Ramón Espinosa AP

3Yuliet Colón carries her grocery cart as she walks home from a visit to the agricultural market in Havana, Cuba, on April 2.

Ramón Espinosa AP

4Colón published for the first time in 'Recipes from the heart' at the beginning of July of last year.

Since then, with photos and simple instructions, she has taught cooking accompanied by collaborators, almost always women.

Ramón Espinosa AP

5Herbs like basil and oregano are grown in a small family flowerbed just outside his home.

Ramón Espinosa AP

In the last year, the COVID and a sharpening of the United States sanctions, reduced the supply in Cuba in sectors such as food and cleaning to a minimum.

YAMIL LAGE AP

7Long queues, black market, price premiums and tension in the population have been notable since last year.

Ramón Espinosa AP

These days, the basic products of Cuban households come and go without warning.

When the toothpaste appears, the deodorant disappears and when it returns, the soap and the toilet paper evaporate.

Ramón Espinosa AP

9A light switch plate is decorated with an image of baked goods at Yuliet Colón's home, in Havana, Cuba, on April 2, 2021. Ramón Espinosa AP

10Although the shortage of merchandise, food and supplies is constant on the island, its worst moment was registered when the fall of the Soviet Union and the socialist allies caused a decrease of 35% of the Domestic Product between 1990 and 1993. Ramón Espinosa AP