Madison Eats
Lunch in Havana might include fresh lobster with root vegetables in mojo de ajo garlic sauce, rice and salad.
Ask Otehlia Cassidy what she’s passionate about and she’ll start with her two kids. After that, it’s food, travel and dance, in no particular order.
Next spring Cassidy, founder of local food tour group Madison Eats Food Tours, will once again indulge all three passions when she leads a group of eight food enthusiasts to Havana, Cuba, on what for many could be the culinary trip of a lifetime.
“I heard from nine out of 10 people I spoke to that the food in Cuba was terrible, and I didn’t believe that,” says Cassidy, a Yellow Springs, Ohio, native who moved to Madison 20 years ago to pursue a master’s degree in conservation biology and sustainable development. “I visited Cuba in January to study dance and found out that wasn’t true.”
The company Cassidy founded, Madison Eats, has been hosting walking culinary tours in both the Atwood and downtown neighborhoods since 2012, introducing residents and visitors alike to the wide variety of local dining options. Cassidy’s business expanded in July when she purchased rival group Capital City Food Tours.
Madison Eats has hosted four food tours to Mexico, with another visit scheduled for Feb. 22–March 1 to the country’s Yucatán Peninsula. The tour to Havana and Viñales, scheduled for March 28–April 4, will be the group’s second visit to Cuba — a similar tour, scheduled for November 2019, is already sold out.
Tour guests will be hosted by licensed local tour company Acubamos Tours, owned by Amel Fonte, whose mother lives in Madison. Fonte is connected with Havana’s dance community and helped Cassidy arrange her January visit.
Cuban cuisine is a blend of Spanish, African and other Caribbean cuisines, resulting in a confluence of spices and seasonings. Havana, a world capital for more than 500 years, was a busy port and trading center, prompting an influx of culinary styles, including Chinese and Italian influences.
“I want tour participants to get to know the Cuban people, so we will be staying three nights with a family in the Viñales Valley,” Cassidy says. “We’re going to visit farms and tobacco fields, and the family will host a traditional pig roast for the group.”
Amel Fonte is the tour’s Cuba guide.
After leaving Viñales, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre on the island’s western end, the group will spend four nights in a private homestay in Havana, where participants will eat at local restaurants, attend a private cooking class, visit cultural and historical sites including Old Havana, and sample the city’s music, art and nightlife.
Because Cassidy is leading the tour, there also will be a private dance lesson covering the local dance steps, including the merengue and Cuban salsa.
“We want to take a deep dive into the Cuban culture,” she says. “What better way to do that than through food and dance?”
Early bird pricing, which ends Sept. 30, for either of next year’s tours, is $2,650, not including airfare and, in Cuba’s case, the cost of a visa. Cassidy will help secure both. Further details are at the group’s website, madisoneatsfoodtours.com.
