Tastes Like Cuba: An Exile's Hunger for Home - Rilegato

"Eduardo Machado's and Michael Domitrovich’s, touching, evocative, memoir not only makes the mouth water with its deliciously, descriptive accounts of Cuban Cuisine, but fills the tear ducts with longing for a culture and a people denied us for half a century by the regretful policies of the U. S, Government."
—Ed Harris and Amy Madigan

"This book is a feast for the senses and the soul. We bask in the earthly paradise of a boy’s Cuban childhood, and when he is sent to the U.S. at age 8, we suffer. From then on we’re in thrall to the drama, (painful, funny, bitter, sweet), of his search for a new life. What better metaphor than food? We all crave recipes for survival. We hunt down the ingredients that will nourish our hopes and memories. Machado has filled his book with richly drawn characters. The richest of them of all may be that neighbor whose complexities we have refused to accept or understand for so long: Cuba."
—Margo Jefferson, Critic and Pulitzer Prize winner

"Extraordinary, moving, a great read whether you come from Cuba or Greece."
—Olympia Dukakis

"As I have regrettably never traveled to my father's birthplace, Eduardo's vivid memories and specific writer's eye details made his life come alive for me. Maybe it's genetic. Because I share his love of family and the preparation of their meals that is so important in a Cuban household."
—Lucie Arnaz

"Tastes like Cuba is a wonderful multi-layered addition to the on going and ever expanding tapestry of exile history; part personal memoir, partly a cook book, it is also has a lot to say about the artistic life and, in particular, what it is like to be a Latino playwright in this country. That alone makes the book unique and worthy of a wide readership."
--Oscar Hijuelos

Eduardo Machado was born in Cuba in 1953 and came to the United States on the Peter Pan Flights in 1961. In a career spanning more than 25 years, Machado has captivated audiences with over 40 plays including “The Cook,” “Havana is Waiting,” and “The Floating Island Plays.” He has been produced off-Broadway and at regional theatres in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. For sixteen years he taught in Columbia University’s Graduate Playwriting Program, serving as Head of the program for the last ten. He is the Visiting Arts Professor in the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at New York University and the Artistic Director of INTAR, a Latino theater in New York which has been producing plays for nearly four decades.
Michael Domitrovich was born and raised in a family of restaurateurs and has worked with food all his life. As a playwright his work has been produced off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway. His play “Artfuckers” premiered to sold out houses in 2007 and will open off-Broadway in early 2008. He was commissioned to write the book of a musical about the record industry called Breach, with music by David Nehls (The Great American Trailer Park Musical), to open in Fall 2008. He is currently writing a play about young NYC chefs, as well as a novel (with recipes) about the waitstaff at a seasonal restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard. He is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts.