The Cuban comedian Rigoberto Ferrera returned to cooking —metaphorically, of course, because to actually cook you need electricity, water, and gas, three luxuries in Cuba in 2026— with a new post on Facebook that precisely summarizes —and emphasizes in uppercase— the double crisis crushing the island: "HOURS WITHOUT LIGHT, WEEKS WITHOUT WATER, GIVE ME THE RECIPE TO COOK THIS HARSH REALITY?"
The text, published on August 28, appears in bold white letters against a completely black background, with those multiplied vowels that are not typographical errors but written cries: the typographic onomatopoeia of someone who has gone weeks without running water and hours counting the minutes between one blackout and the next.
It's not the first time Ferrera has searched for that impossible recipe. Last June, he posted a reel in which he expressed his desperation while consulting Google: "Arturo, I'm looking for it on Google, but it doesn't show up, it doesn't show up, Arturo. Does anyone have the recipe to cook this harsh reality?...".
The phrase has become the leitmotif of a satirical saga and social critique that the actor, comedian, and pianist graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte has been developing for months, earning him the nickname "The Whip of Communals" — a title that, according to an interview, was given to him by Carlitos Gonzalvo "as a result of all the videos I started making denouncing the amount of garbage that is not collected."
The context surrounding the publication on August 28th is not metaphorical at all: A severe breakdown had left six municipalities in the capital without water —including Centro Habana, where Ferrera lives— on August 20th due to the breakage of the 78-inch pipeline in Cuenca Sur, and days later, Aguas de La Habana reported a new breakdown with additional leaks.
By then, more than 500,000 residents of Havana were already experiencing supply issues, according to a report from July. Over 80% of the aqueduct and pumping system relies on the national electrical grid, making every power outage an automatic water crisis. Additionally, electrical deficits frequently exceed 2,000 MW each day, with outages in various provinces lasting over 20 hours daily.
Ferrera's culinary metaphor also has a painful literal dimension: most Cuban households have seen their ability to cook affected by blackouts, and 33.9% reported that at least one person went to bed hungry in the last 30 days, according to the survey "En Cuba Hay Hambre 2025."
The post sparked a popular contest of satirical recipes in the comments that deserves its own cookbook. One internet user proposed the most economical option: "the Garlic and Water diet: Get F***ed and Endure." Another developed a more sophisticated recipe featuring "2 pounds of lemon," "creative resilience," "continuity in powder," "a pinch of error correction—because there won't be anyone to eat it afterward," and, as a secret ingredient, "essence of a brazen president."
A third person cut to the chase with a question that says it all: "Cooking, my friend? Should I then deduce that you have gas?" Another contributed the only condiments that seem to work in Cuba: "Visa and Passport." And one more recalled, with less humor and more truth, that "as lamentable as these sufferings are, throwing away food that we desperately need is just as tragic. The food we require for this exhausting, boring, and KILLING daily life."
Ferrera is clear on at least one recipe: to continue with the whip of humor.
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