- Hi, my name is Sonia.
This is my son, Raymond.
Today, I'm here to cook
one of my favorite Cuban dishes, picadillo.
Ray is going to leave the kitchen while I cook.
When he comes back,
he's not going to have one dish,
he's going to have three identical dishes in front of him.
Then, he will have to pick which one I made.
Let's hope he picks right.
- Pressure's on.
- Out. (laughs)
First up, we're gonna make our rice.
I have my rinsed rice.
I like using the rice cooker,
only because I can be starting
the other dish at the same time.
And our water's in.
A pinch of salt, and I like to put a little bit of oil.
It's about two cups here,
so it's gonna take anywhere about 15, 20 minutes.
And, now we're gonna put this aside,
and we're gonna start my picadillo.
We're gonna start with our ground beef.
This is a scaled down version of what I cook at home.
(chuckles) I always like to make just a little extra,
in case you have that extra guest coming,
or you wanna save it for your next day
to make other dishes that you can make with the picadillo.
We can make some empanadas.
You can also make some very famous papa rellena.
Then we're going to go ahead and add some onions.
Then, also, bell peppers.
Cuban-style pinch of salt.
Just a tad of pepper, not too much.
A little bit of oregano.
Comino, the majority of the Cuban dishes are not spicy.
We just like to put in enough flavors, but not spicy.
So, now, we're going to go ahead and add our garlic.
A little bit of the tomato paste,
and tomato sauce.
A lot of people don't like the olives,
but it is a tradition.
I almost forgot, raisins.
This just gives it that little sweet kick.
Lastly, I'm adding the sazon.
There are different kind of sazons out there.
This one has a little extra ingredient
to help you color the meat a little bit, as well.
From start to finish, takes anywhere from
about 25 minutes to a half an hour.
It's a favorite dish.
It's something that's quick and easy.
My grandmother, God rest her soul,
it was one of her favorite dishes.
So, that's one of the main reasons
we take pride in doing this one in our house
because she was the one who taught us how to cook this.
Everything looks wonderful.
We're just gonna top it off,
and we're just gonna start our
(speaking in foreign language)
Let's see.
I'm gonna pick out the most ripe.
Just gonna peel here.
(gentle music)
As you can see, they're very ripe.
We're gonna be cutting it at a long angle.
When you get them at the markets,
they come anywhere from hunter green
to, as you see here, when they turn very brown,
those are the most ripe.
Gonna slide them right in.
Be very, very careful.
Of course, you know, you're oil
is extremely, extremely hot.
You just wanna cook them until they get
just a little bit brown on the sides.
Less than a minute on each side.
Loving my parents, their cooking,
the love that they put into the food.
It was just, you know, something wonderful.
If I were in my son's shoes,
and my mom were cooking,
absolutely, I would know in a heartbeat
which one would be hers.
So, we have our three dishes here.
Let's plate up.
Normally, we're like to put a little bit more,
but because Raymond has to taste two other dishes,
we're gonna just give him just a little taste here.
We'll give him three 'cause I know he likes them. (laughs)
And here's our dish, picadillo,
white rice, and sweet plantains.
Hopefully, he picks mine.
- Hi, my name is Raymond Royero Jr.
I am Sonia's son, her favorite son, her only son,
but still, her favorite.
I hope I get it right
'cause I wouldn't be able to live it down
with myself if I don't get it right.
Let's just put this into perspective, okay?
I didn't come in my car.
So, if I get this wrong,
I'm probably gonna sit in the trunk.
Guys and girls are watching, pray for me, yeah?
(woman laughs)
Time to eat.
- [Woman] Time to eat.
- Let's eat.
(gentle music)
Number one.
It looks pretty good.
If you're Cuban, and you don't like this.
(speaks in foreign language)
(gentle music)
Flavor's good.
The plantanos tastes familiar,
but it tastes different at the same time.
The rice, though.
I don't know.
That really doesn't taste like my mom's rice.
I just don't know.
The seasoning on the picadillo's a lot different
that how my mother really makes it.
You never know.
Once I try the other plates, I will be sure.
Damn, this looks really good.
This one actually has raisins in it.
I like it.
The ones that have raisins in it,
if you don't like raisins in your picadillo,
you should really try it.
It's so good.
(gentle music)
(speaking in foreign language)
The rice isn't bad.
The picadillo is just amazing.
The seasoning isn't as thick as the first plate.
I mean, it's really balanced.
It's not too salty.
The plantanos, they look amazing.
Not too burnt.
Though I kind of like it a little dark,
but this is really nice.
The rice is not bad either.
I'm a big rice guy.
I like rice.
So, number two was really good.
Number one was good.
Number three, is it meant to be?
Let's see.
Well, this looks a lot different.
The plantanos are darker.
The picadillo looks good.
Oh my god, it has potatoes.
And it actually doesn't have olives.
It's good, but the seasoning's just a little
bit too much on this one.
The plantanos are good.
I love that there's potatoes.
I love potatoes.
It helps balance out the food.
It helps balance out the flavor.
Out of these three dishes,
I'm stuck between one and two
because, visually, they're both similar to my mom's,
but I know how my mom cooks.
It's gotta be number two,
and if I'm wrong, this might be the last time
all of you see me.
Mom, I picked number two.
The plantains were made exactly the way you make 'em.
You don't put 'em too dark.
You don't put it too light.
But, I could be wrong.
But please tell me if I got it right or wrong.
(laughing)
- Well, no, this one.
- Oh, no way.
- It's this one.
- Oh, thank god.
(Sonia laughs)
I'm sweating right here, I am.
I'm, oh, please get this right.
Oh, my god.
- You got it right.
- Thank God.
(Sonia laughs)
- So I can sit next to you on the ride home?
- You got it. (Raymond laughs)
- I got it right. (Sonia laughs)
So all those years of eating with her,
it worked for something.
So eat your food that your mom gives you.
Look, she only has to deal with me the rest of her life.
So this is just one stage of me surviving.
(gentle music)