American Diabetes Association releases diabetes friendly Cuban recipe book

Posted by Elena del Valle on October 28, 2016

Chef Ronaldo's sabores de Cuba

Chef Ronaldo’s Sabores de Cuba

Photos: American Diabetes Association

Are you looking to celebrate the holidays with traditional dishes that are healthy for your family? Chef Ronaldo’s Sabores de Cuba Diabetes Friendly Traditional and Nuevo Cubano Cuisine (American Diabetes Association, $18.95), a bilingual recipe book published this year in Canada, might interest you. Cuban-Colombian Chef Ronaldo Linares spent one year developing recipes and writing his first cookbook for “people who want to get back in the kitchen and discover cooking again, mothers looking to feed their family amazing, healthy, Latino-Cubano food, and the diabetic community that want to change their palate.”

The recipes in the 260-page softcover book are all original and include his takes on oldies from the Cuban people, experiences, and memories of food, the chef explained. Written in English and Spanish the book features 100 recipes as well as information on the importance of farmers markets, kitchen tips from the chef, gluten free flour substitutes, Cuban classics, stews, side dishes and condiments, smoothies, breakfast, salads and surf and turf.

When asked in what significant way his book is different from the many cookbooks published already Linares said by email via a public relations representative, “The book is extremely personal. The stories, recipes, and moments are all real. The book is for the amateur cook at home and also the experienced cook who wants to add more to the arsenal, but overall, the book will make you dance and teach you some Spanish, being that it is bilingual.”

“Life Mostly!” the lively chef said when asked why he wrote it. “It’s what drove me to write them, my legacy, my drive, and I want people to eat my amazing food.”
The biggest challenge of the book project, he said was the time frame he had to complete the work. He had to squeeze time from balancing the restaurant, being a parent, and being a husband.

Linares, a former United States Marine, is a classically trained chef. When not in the kitchen, he is active in his community speaking to schools and youth groups. He was honored by the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey as Outstanding Culinary Person of the Year.