003. el periodo especial: scarcity & famine
Updated: Jan 12, 2021
In this episode we sit down with Fryda's parents to talk about what the Periodo Especial was actually like.
Below is a list of links meant to be a visual companion to this episode, which was filled with references to objects, foods, franken-foods, and more!
05:10 - Libreta de Abastecimiento [Ration Booklet]
exterior of original libreta, 1962
interior of libreta, includes list of products, like oil and sugar
05:26 - Bodega Cubana [Cuban Store]
my happy and pretty store, a nearly empty bodega, 1991
line outside a bodega during the periodo especial
09:35 - Potaje de Chicharos ["chickpea" split pea soup]
11:21 - Cerelac
12:15 - Cuban Bicycles
family on a bicicleta china, bicycle made in China
16:22 - Covered Wagon with Horse
no fuel meant returning to horse drawn carriages
18:28 - Coffee mixed with "chicharo" [split pea]
dark roast coffee, ground, mixed with split pea at 50%
18:34 - Picadillo de Cascara de Platano [Plantain Peel Ground "meat"]
ground "meat" made from plantain peel
18:50 - Bistec de Cascara de Toronja [Grapefruit Peel Steak]
19:03 - Picadillo de Soya [Soy Ground "Beef"]
19:48 - Picadillo [Cuban Ground Beef]
cuban picadillo with olives, rice, and platanitos maduros
21:37 - Cerelac Song by Punto y Coma
video of javier, singer of punto y coma, performing the "cerelac" song
22:56 - Bistec de Frasada de Piso [Mop Cloth "Steak"]
parody video of this meal
23:00 - Pizza with Condom Cheese
28:42 - Neuropathy Epidemic
incidences of neuropathy by region of cuba, 1994
34:37 - Trinidad, Cuba
palacio cantero view of trinidad
35:57 - White Dress Mami wore to Hospital
actual white dress fryda's mami wore and ruined!

36:16 - Cuban Hospitals
tweet below showing modern cuban hospitals with images