The farmer and content creator known as Productor Cubano Yudier went viral this week by posting a video on Facebook in which he prepares a curious grilled hot dog recipe.
The bread from the bodega no longer exists in many places in Cuba. The chef had to use bread bought from a small business for 60 pesos. The main ingredient surprised everyone. There were no hot dogs; instead, he used a ripe plantain. And the grill never heated this creation; it was simply his hands compressing the snack.
The reel garnered 249,000 views, 11,000 likes, and over 785 comments, where followers discussed both the popular name of the sandwich and the reality it portrays, highlighting the ingenuity of Cubans in making do with what they have.
The hot dog —commonly known as "perro caliente" or "pan con perro"— was part of the menu in Cuban cafeterias before 1959, when it was sold alongside fritas and croquetas for about 15 cents. In the 2000s, hot dog cafeterias became popular in Havana, and you could enjoy them for just 10 pesos.
Those prices no longer exist in Cuba. Buying a pack of hot dogs is impossible in many households.
Yudier plays with that collective memory throughout the video. "What was this Cuban hot dog called?" he asks about his plantain sandwich, and concludes: "What did you call it when you consumed it here in Cuba, because now you're not going to tell me you didn't eat it."
In Cuba, it is common to eat bread with avocado, with tomato, with oil and garlic, with beans, with honey, and with brown sugar, but the combination of bread with banana is not as common, unless it is fruit banana.
One of the comments on the post says: "Guajiro, all I know is that when you're hungry, you don't look at the plate. Ha ha ha. I really like the naturalness and simplicity of your content!"
The video by Yudier falls within a growing trend on Cuban social media: showcasing culinary ingenuity in the face of scarcity. In April, a mother prepared croquettes with chicken bone broth to feed her daughters.
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