Tastes Like Cuba : An Exile's Hunger for Home

In the tradition of Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone, an acclaimed playwright recounts his life as an exile—and the food that helped lead him back home. Born into a well-to-do family in Cuba in 1953, Eduardo Machado saw firsthand the effects of the rising Castro regime. When he and his brother were sent to the United States on one of the Peter Pan flights of 1961, they did not know if they would ever see their parents or their home again. From his experience living in exile in Los Angeles to becoming an actor, director, playwright and professor in New York, Machado explores what it means to say good-bye to the only home one’s ever known, and what it means to be a Latino in America today. Filled with delicious recipes and powerful tales of family, loss, and self discovery, Tastes Like Cubadelivers the story of Eduardo’s rich and delectable life—reminding us that no matter where we go, there is no place that feels (and tastes) better than home.

Eduardo Machado is a visiting professor at New York University and artistic director of the Latino theater INTAR. He is the author of more than forty plays produced off-Broadway and throughout the world. Also a playwright, Michael Domitrovich was raised in a family of restaurateurs and has worked with food his entire life.