Almost a hundred people lined up this afternoon in front of an improvised platform that workers from a meat company set up outside the main headquarters of the Construction Engineering and Design Business Group (Gedic) in the Cerro municipality, in Havana.
At first, they offered their products only to the workers of that company, led by Antonio Guerrero, one of the five Cuban spies who served jail time in the United States and were later exchanged during the diplomatic thaw with the Barack Obama administration.
At the end of the sale to the Gedic workers, and in view of the fact that there was still merchandise left, they decided to take the platform out to the street to offer the residents of the place the beef hash at 55 pesos per pound, the belly at 25 and the blood sausage to 35.
Word spread immediately in the neighborhood, an area with low-income families. Faced with the shortage of products in the freezers, many people even raced to reach a privileged position in the queue.
The number of interested parties forced the sellers to place two weights to speed up the sale. Employees constantly asked customers for patience and calm, who began to protest before those who tried to sneak in line, fearful of not reaching the small amount of products available.
“What is that? Do you eat that?”, Yelled a lady pointing to the belly that looked quite dirty inside a plastic box. “Yes, ma’am, you give it a boil, you remove the dirt and the hair, and there you have meat to eat,” replied one of the workers in a mocking tone.
“What is that? Is that eaten?”, Yelled a lady pointing to the belly that looked quite dirty inside a plastic box
Others complained about the quality of the picadillo, which at first glance seemed to have a lot of skin and water. “Gentlemen, listen up, I’m going to give you a class,” shouted a woman who seemed to be in charge of the sale. “The liquid in the picadillo is a preserve, you have to cook it with that little water and try not to put too much salt because it is already high”.
In industrial processes, the lady continued to explain, this preserve is used “to maintain the quality of the mincemeat”; Regarding the skins, he explained, “that is beef from Peru, which comes in pieces and was ground in front of us, so I assure you that it is of tremendous quality.” When she turned to a man who came with her, she said in a low voice: “Total, they didn’t have many options, if this meat is only seen in MLC stores [moneda libremente convertible]”.
A boy who was able to buy said to one of the dispatchers: “We must take advantage of these opportunities, so give me two pounds of blood sausage. My mother-in-law who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses will have to make a pact with the Lord, because these times are not picking, “he joked.
Despite everything, many returned home unable to buy. “They should have let me buy first-rate, the desire I have to eat a good mince of beef,” was the regret of an older woman who with her cane dragged away with her empty bag.
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