KELLI STANKO

Chef Eydan Estevez, born in Cuba, poses for a portrait in the kitchen of Fernandez the Bull. Estevez has been cooking for the restaurant for four years since he moved to Naples from Miami where he learned his culinary expertise. Fernandez the Bull located at 1265 Airport-Pulling Rd. S., Naples Fl. Photographed on November 2, 2007. Kelli Stanko/Special to the Daily News.

KELLI STANKO

Tamal en Hojas, authentic wrapped pork tamale in a cornhusk garnished with fresh cut onion, red and green pepper and fresh cilantro. Fernandez the Bull located at 1265 Airport-Pulling Rd. S., Naples Fl. Photographed on November 2, 2007. Kelli Stanko/Special to the Daily News.

KELLI STANKO

Pollo a la Cabaña, chicken marinated in garlic and lemon on a bed of romaine lettuce garnished with red and green peppers and fresh cilantro. Served with a side of Cuban black beans and yellow rice. Fernandez the Bull located at 1265 Airport-Pulling Rd. S., Naples Fl. Photographed on November 2, 2007. Kelli Stanko/Special to the Daily News.

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Eydan Estevés was born to be a chef.

“I have three other chefs in my family,” he says. “It’s in my blood.”

But it was a long journey from his childhood in Guantanamo, Cuba, and his dream of working in a professional kitchen. There weren’t a lot of opportunities to practice his craft outside his home kitchen, especially when he ran afoul of the Castro regime.

“For seven years, I was in jail as a political prisoner,” he says. “It was hard.”

After his release, Estevés braved the dangerous sea journey to come to America. Once he landed in Miami, he immediately started working in a kitchen. After three years on the East Coast, he landed in Naples where he’s been the chef at Fernandez the Bull, a Cuban restaurant at 1265 Airport-Pulling Road S., Naples (659-2996).

A family business, the restaurant mixes classic Cuban dishes with some modern fare, co-owner Arlyn Fernandez says.

“We’ve just updated things a little,” she says.

For many Americans, Cuban food is just those tasty sandwiches. But that’s really only a small part of the cuisine. Drawing from a diverse group of influences, Spanish, African and Creole, and using the ingredients from the island, Cuban food is unlike that of almost anywhere else in Latin America.

We asked Estevés to explain what makes Cuban food, authentically Cuban.

Getting started

The building blocks of Cuban food are things you already have in your spice rack and pantry.

Everything starts with garlic. If fresh, minced garlic isn’t in a dish, then garlic powder surely is. It’s in marinades and that famous mojo sauce. In short, if garlic turns you off, then Cuban food isn’t for you.

On the spice side, the big players are cumin, oregano, bay leaf and black pepper. Again, nothing too fancy, but all things that impart big flavor.

“It’s all very simple things,” Estevés says. “It’s a base that you use to make the true Cuban flavor.

Most Cuban dishes also include some combination of onions and bell peppers. Onions are what give Fernandez the Bull’s black beans and rice and extra kick. And the ropa vieja pulls a lot of it’s flavor from sauteed red and green peppers.

Flavorful meat takes time

While the foundation of Cuban cuisine might be simple, the process of making it is never fast. If anything, the most important ingredient in quality Cuban food is time.

Estevés starts his mornings by placing the meat he will serve that day into a lemon-garlic marinade that he makes fresh daily.

“To get the good flavor, you have to let it soak into the meat,” he says. “Otherwise, it won’t really be Cuban food. This is the way you do it at the restaurant and the way my mother would do it at home.”

For the ropa vieja, a classic Cuban dish of shredded flank steak in a tomato sauce, the meat needs to be boiled for several hours before it’s shredded.

Even fried chicken isn’t a simple process. Estevés bakes the chicken before breading it and dropping it in the fryer, which makes sure that the crust isn’t black by the time the chicken is done on the inside.

Where’s the heat?

A lot of people expect Cuban food to be spicy like Mexican food. But really, it’s much milder — so much so that you wonder how they can both be descended from the same culinary culture. Cuban takes a lot of its cues from creole cooking, which can also be on the mild side.

“What we lack in heat we make up in flavor,” Estevés says. “All the ingredients are fresh. They give off more flavor.”

Still, how can there be no spicy peppers?

“We use some hot sauce,” he says. “But that’s it.”

GARBANZOS SALTEADOS (sauteed chickpeas)

1 can garbanzos

1/4 cup of chopped onions

3 links of chorizo

2 tbsp of tomato puree

1 tsp of cilantro and parsley dried

2 tbsp hot sauce

Drain juice from garbanzos.

Place in small pot with lid and all above ingredients.

Cut potatoes into small pieces and add to pot.

Cook on low heat and stir continuously until hot.

Garnish with parsley.