The Sugar Cane

A tortilla, a cup of coffee, and we were off to the Pilon sugar mill located beyond the Sierra Maestra.

We arrived at the sugar mill manager's office before eight in the morning. The manager, Mr. Buchanan, a Canadian, symbolically presented us with the key!

It was already bustling. Riders galloping about, the ox handlers shouting to each other, the mill humming! Carts loaded with sugar cane going every which way. It's "safra", the main harvest season. Cuba is at work. Within a month, it will all be over.

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The carts are pulled by splendid creatures crossbred with zebus. The Cubans, born poets, call them by the world's loveliest names: "Perla fina" (fine pearl), "Grano de Oro" (gold nugget), "Mariposa" (butterfly) (as hard as lignum vitae)!

Illustration: Marie-Victorin, Itin?raires

A small motorized cart whisked us to the farthest reaches of the of the plantation.

A machete, still used today for cutting sugar cane.
Private collection. Photo: Michel Tremblay, JBM

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Photo: Michel Tremblay, JBM

Cubans make sugar and molasses from sugar cane.
Rum, one of the country's most famous products, is also made from sugar cane.

A tasty mojito recipe
Crush about ten fresh mint leaves in the bottom of a highball glass. Add 30 ml (1 oz) lime juice and 10 ml (2 tsp.) simple syrup (made by dissolving sugar in an equal amount of boiling water). Add 45 ml (1 ½ oz) white rum and ice, and top up with soda water. Stir and garnish with a mint sprig. Cheers!

Under the Cuban Sun with Marie-Victorin [Jardin botanique de Montréal]