Russian, Cuban Presidents Meet Over A Nice Plate Of Lard
Castro and Medvedev have an extensive agenda on their hands – humanitarian relief supplies, a $20 million loan, and stepping up mutual cooperation in the spheres of trade, science, technology and culture.
But it seemed something else was on Castro's mind when he arrived at the Russian president's residence in Zavidovo, 75 miles northwest of Moscow – something of a gastronomic nature.
Medvedev's staff knew in advance what it was: lard.
"This is something that was worth coming to Russia for," the Russian president said with a laugh.
Seconds later, Castro's 25-year-old dream came true - he was handed a piece of rye bread and a plate of grilled lard cooked over open fire by the best Kremlin chefs. Lard, known as "salo" in the Slavic world, is a delicacy generally abhorred by Westerners, although it may be a good indicator of how close Moscow and Havana used to be in Soviet times.
"I felt somewhat nostalgic when I remembered lard being grilled on a twig over a bonfire. Felt like eating it on rye bread. This nostalgia is 25 years old," Castro earlier mused during a protocol meeting with his Russian counterpart.
Raul Castro last visited what was then the Soviet Union in 1985 with his brother Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader who withdrew from power in 2006. After the defeat in the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia scaled back cooperation with Cuba, drastically reducing commerce and closing its intelligence-gathering radar base in Lourdes.
Today, Russia's global economic ambitions and military might are back, and Cuba is just one of the countries where the Kremlin is trying to regain a firm foothold.
Medvedev visited Cuba in November - a sign that Cuba-Russia relations are on the mend and that Moscow is again courting favor with Havana.
The Kremlin must have decided to test the idea that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The Cuban leader was treated to an al fresco feast: tea from a Russian samovar, pickles, shashlik – a kind of central Asian kebab – and the promised grilled lard with rye bread . It was a traditional Russian spread that usually accompanies vodka-laced hunting sprees.
Castro, 77, may not be up for a drink this time, but he definitely remembers the warm Kremlin-sponsored receptions back in the 1960s and 1970s. Re-creating the atmosphere of the long-gone Soviet days may well have been the Kremlin's plan.
"There is no question about it - we will definitely have some lard and rye bread. And we will take a walk in the woods," Medvedev promised jovially before taking his Cuban friend out for a stroll in the snowy forest.
The Russian state-run TV channel showed Castro looking very attentively at the platter heaped with grilled lard - as if trying to figure out if Russian lard has changed at all over the past quarter of a century. Whether the Kremlin denizens have undergone any transformations, the Cuban leader will see for himself during this week-long visit to Moscow.