Sunday, 28 March 2010 22:11
Cuban cigar
Above is a very common Cuban expression; we Cubans use it when someone tells us a story that we already know, going back to the very, very beginning (which tends to make the story very long). Since the history of tobacco on our island is extensive, I will of course try to summarize, as it does represent an interesting example of transculturation, as the wise Fernando Ortiz noted.
Just so you have an idea of how long this history is: it is calculated that the plant arrived on this island somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 years before the common era, and that the word comes from South America; furthermore, our primitive ancestors were consumers of tobacco, for its medicinal and ceremonial uses. It was a priority crop for them, and they called it cohiba. The Spanish would report back after a voyage on November 4th, 1492, the surprising tobacco habit of the island’s indigenous, specifically near the current province of Holguín; after familiarizing themselves with Nicotina Tabacum they spread it to the rest of the world. In some parts of Europe it became a highly sought after product, while in others it was banned and its consumption punishable.
The high demand led to the expansion of the crop, which, curiously, was always done by free, white Spanish immigrants who were the ancestors of our current day peasants. The areas surrounding the capital, on the banks of the rivers, become substantial cultivation areas.
Bureaucratic bungling and absurd monopolistic policies of the Spanish crown lead to a move towards the western province of Pinar del Rio, towards the Vueltabajo area.
From that point on, this became known as the region that produced the best tobacco in the world.
What are the factors that determine the recognizable quality of Cuban cigars? Experts point to four: the characteristics of the soil and the climate, along with the culture, wisdom and know-how of the peasants/growers, and the choice, among a wide variety, of black Cuban tobacco.
Many other Caribbean countries have tried to produce a tobacco that could rival the Cuban variety, but to no avail.
I will touch on the history of tobacco later on, but will leave with this quote from Fernando Ortiz, who wrote of tobacco, that it produces "the most fundamental and widely spread form of pleasure, soft narcotic that has made humanity connect better than anything else in the last 500 years".
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