A Cuban identified as Yanet Diary posted on Facebook a video showing her lunch: a breadfruit mash with garlic sauce, accompanied by a fried egg.
The preparation of the food, as is customary in Cuba, was done on a charcoal stove. Her simple video accumulated more than 829,000 views, 25,648 likes, and 1,583 comments.
The breadfruit is known in Cuba as mapén or guapén. It is one of the few foods that still has an affordable price amidst the scarcity and inflation that the country is experiencing, where rice exceeds 400 pesos per pound in the informal market and has become unreachable for millions of families.
Yanet explains that breadfruit can cost up to 300 pesos depending on the size, and that an egg is around 130 pesos.
To prepare it, cut the fruit with the help of a mortar "because it is very hard," peel it, cook it over charcoal for thirty minutes, and then mash it with a slotted spoon until it becomes fufú or puree.
The entire process takes place outdoors, lighting the charcoal beneath a cloudy and rainy sky, in the same precarious conditions faced by more than nine million Cubans who have been cooking without electricity or gas since 2025.
"Just like that, here and there, is the life of a Cuban, unaware of the terrible smell that smoke leaves on clothes," says the author in the video.
Upon presenting the finished dish, he comments with resignation: "If we add it all up, look at this lunch, which I believe is easily accessible for an average Cuban."
In the comments, Yanet replied to those who congratulated her with a phrase that summarizes the reality of millions: "Here in Cuba, we don't eat for pleasure, but for what we can."
The video sparked extensive debate among the followers.
Some expressed surprise at a food they were completely unfamiliar with: "I have lived in Cuba my whole life, I was born in 1971 and I have never seen that fruit, let alone eaten it," wrote one commenter.
A follower of Artemisa recalled that her nephew "only ate that because he didn't like malanga," while another, who tried it in the field in Ciego de Ávila, described it as "really delicious, it tastes like potatoes, it takes on the flavor of whatever you add," and added, "It's surprising that it's so easy to grow and yet many people don't even know about it."
A commentator based in Puerto Rico noted that there, it is eaten as a side dish and as tostones, and that Puerto Ricans "love it."
It is not the first time that breadfruit has been the center of a viral debate in Cuba. In August 2025, a Cuban teenager sparked controversy on social media by showcasing his dinner featuring that same food accompanied by sausages in tomato sauce.
The phenomenon is part of a food crisis that continues to worsen. The Food Monitor Program reported that 33.9% of Cuban households have at least one member who went to bed hungry in the past year.
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