Yezmin León has been making crispy elbow pasta for her family in Hialeah for 27 years, never imagining that this childhood recipe brought from Cuba would turn her into a businesswoman. Today, she is known on social media as "The Queen of Elbow Pasta," and her brand CODITOS now exceeds 250 points of sale in South Florida.
In an interview with Tania Costa, Yezmin León shared that this homemade snack, which originated during times of scarcity in Cuba, has always been a part of her life. "It's something I've always loved and something I've brought to my generation and to my grandchildren. They love coditos."
Every family gathering in their garden in Hialeah included a tray of what was known in Cuba as "chicharrita" or "chicharrón de viento."
The turning point came when her Brazilian son-in-law Rodolfo Saccoman, a serial entrepreneur with six founding companies, tried the product for the first time.
"What happened was that Rodolfo (Saccoman), for one reason or another, hadn't tried them... until he tried them and said to me: what is this? He was surprised."
What surprised Saccoman the most was not just the flavor, but discovering that no one had turned that 'snack' into a commercial product. Since then, the brand has grown to reach chains like Sedano's, Presidente Supermarket, and Navarro, and in June 2026, it closed a pre-seed funding round of $750,000 with investors such as Blue Collective and Azoic Ventures.
But for Yezmin León, CODITOS carries something more than just flavor: it carries collective memory. In an interview with CiberCuba, she revealed that dozens of Cubans have approached her to share that they sold coditos clandestinely on the island to survive. "Many people tell me, 'I built my little house, I lived off that, I supported my children with those coditos.'"
That reality contrasts with what was possible in Miami. "There everything was illegal, unlike in these countries where you can be an entrepreneur and develop your business," Yezmin León explained. "Over there, everything had to be done in secret, and many people sold them from neighbor to neighbor, in hiding."
The prohibition of private entrepreneurship in Cuba forced entire generations to engage in shadowy commerce with products as simple as a handful of fried pasta. What was a risk there became a brand with its own identity in Hialeah, complete with a mascot and the slogan "With love from Miami to the world."
Saccoman highlighted in the interview that the story behind the product is as important as the product itself: "It's not just that the product is delicious and the story is wonderful, but we even created a mascot. It's CODITOS. It has a lovely story."
CODITOS positions itself as a vegan and plant-based snack, available in traditional and avocado oil versions, targeting a segment of consumers looking for tasty and healthy options. The brand follows the path of other Cuban entrepreneurs in Miami who have turned diaspora recipes into businesses with regional distribution, but with the added backing of institutional capital that paves the way for larger-scale expansion.
The traditional recipe for codito chicharritas is the same one that Yezmin León learned as a child in Cuba and that today, with investment and professional distribution, aims to reach markets around the world.
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