A young Cuban identified as Iriannis Melina Makeup posted a video on TikTok last Thursday, showcasing how she cooks on the island using basic ingredients and a charcoal stove. However, what captured the attention of thousands of followers was not the modest kitchen setup, but her extremely long nails.
In the video, which gathered over 915,000 views and 60,300 likes, the young woman precisely details the cost of each ingredient: a packet of rice for 6.60 pesos, a package of sausages for 4.50 pesos, two seasonings at seventy cents each, and half a pound of chickpeas for 2.40 pesos, as well as oil, salt, and charcoal.
"I don't do it to show off or anything like that, simply so you can see that eating in Cuba is quite a challenge," explained the young woman, who caught attention for her long, well-groomed nails, with which she handled the ingredients throughout the preparation.
The situation is not new on the island. Other content creators have documented similar realities, such as a Cuban cooking charcoal spaghetti after more than twenty hours without electricity, reflecting the daily struggles that Cubans face in preparing their meals.
This is compounded by the rising prices in the markets. According to recent data, a pound of beans costs 500 pesos, a figure that illustrates the deterioration of the population's purchasing power and the food crisis that Cuba is experiencing.
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