The Caribbean island’s cuisine combines African, Indigenous and Spanish influences to create dishes of distinction.

He grew up cooking in her kitchen in Havana. The platter features croquetas, pork chunks, fried plantains prepared lengthwise, a tamale and fried yuca. Read the full story.

Audio transcript AILSA CHANG, HOST: This Fourth of July, many of us will take part in the time-honored tradition of barbecue. It made us wonder, why do we even call it barbecue? So here's NPR's ...

And the food was a diverse array of mammals that lived in the Caribbean, like Hutia (squirrel-looking rodents) that were skinned and tied together over the fire, fish, birds, iguanas and snakes ...

NPR Barbecue is everywhere for the Fourth of July. Here's its origin story Barbecue is as American as apple pie — but the origins of the word "barbecue" is in the Caribbean.

Maybe you spell it "barbecue" or barbeque or BBQ. And maybe you prefer a nice charred burger to a smoky steak and a sweet sauce over one that has more of a vinegar tang to it. Regardless of how you ...

Barbecue is as American as apple pie — but the origins of the word "barbecue" is in the Caribbean. Barbecue is everywhere for the Fourth of July. Here's its origin story Maybe you spell it ...

Barbecue is as American as apple pie — but the origins of the word "barbecue" is in the Caribbean.

Maybe you spell it "barbecue" or barbeque or BBQ. And maybe you prefer a nice charred burger to a smoky steak and a sweet sauce over one that has more of a vinegar tang to it. Regardless of how you ...

Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, a Spanish explorer, is widely credited with first using the word "barbacoa" in print in 1526, to describe the Taíno's cooking style. Historical images and ...