Rescuing bread

Rescuing bread / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar
Posted on April 19, 2015

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 17 April 2015 — Eliot's Bakery dawned
this Friday with the kneading blade broken and a line of people waiting
to buy a baguette or a bagel. Eliot's brother hurried over to fix the
broken blade, because, "You can't have a day with no sales, the loss is
tremendous," says the concerned baker.

This self-employed worker has opened a unique business in Havana's Timba
neighborhood, offering a great variety of baked goods. Every day that he
manages to overcome the high prices of raw material and the
infrastructure problems, he counts as an accomplishment.

Among the many businesses that have flourished since the recent
relaxations in self-employment, there are not many bakeries. Given that
there are growing complaints about the poor quality of this product in
the rationed market, it is surprising that daring Cuban entrepreneurs
haven't set out to knead and bake for every taste.

Very close to Colon Street, in one of the buildings known as "pastorita"
on Bellavista Street, a few weeks ago a poster appeared announcing
wonderful breads in a huge freshly printed graphic. In a ground floor
apartment a simple wooden shelf has been installed to display the
products. The bakery's strong point is bread, but there are also
panetelas, cakes and other fine desserts.

A bag of 15 large rolls costs 20 Cuban pesos and they even have sesame
seeds. The word has passed among the neighbors and now they ask for
special order breads that live only in the memories of some of the
oldest people. From the early hours of the morning there is an
unmistakable aroma of loaves slowly baking in the oven.

The place also offers products of a more standard size that cost a peso
each, as well as hotdog buns and others shaped like croissants. Eliot
doesn't need to go out hawking his wares. Sitting on the balcony of his
house, he serves all those who come looking for a taste or texture other
than the insipid bread from the State bakeries.

A few years ago he tried to open a barbershop in the apartment
courtyard, but it didn't go well. The thing ended up at the police
station and they confiscated what little he had acquired to start his
business. A pair of old barber chairs were loaded onto a truck and, in
the end, he even spent a long time at the station, having lost his cool
with the big guys dressed in blue.

Luckily, life smiles on him now. The mothers of the area can count on
getting snacks for their kids, and the owners of nearby cafes wake up at
dawn to get a good supply that they later sell as snacks and sandwiches.
Briseida, a retired woman who collected her pension this morning, waits
for the broken blade to be returned. "Today I'm going to give myself the
taste of some good bread," she says.

Source: Rescuing bread / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/rescuing-bread-14ymedio-luz-escobar/