Forget the Hemingway trail – dine like locals at Havana’s hidden gems

The beguiling time warp that is Cuba rarely avoids making headlines, and since the easing of relations with the United States and the death of former president Fidel Castro, it seems travellers everywhere are keen to visit.

Havana is one of the world’s great cities: don’t let people tell you otherwise, or that it has somehow reached a tipping point due to the increase in tourists. It’s cinematic at every turn – a kaleidoscope of history and colour, pride and frustration, stereotypes and surprises.

One common perception is that Cuba’s cuisine is largely uninspiring. That idea is broadly confirmed during a week’s visit, with a couple of notable exceptions. But the stay also revealed much about the population’s unimaginably difficult relationship with food.

Food has been rationed for more than half a century, and the country still imports 80 per cent of what it eats. Almost every Havana block has grim government stores where the libreta, or ration book, allows every citizen a monthly allowance of rice, sugar, beans, oil, eggs (only five a month), coffee, chicken, salt and one daily bread roll. Milk is generally provided to only pregnant mothers and children under seven, so you can expect to put your lattes and cappuccinos on hold. Those offered to tourists invariably use milk powder.