Ropa vieja (Spanish: Ropa vieja - “old clothes”) - a meat dish with a side dish of vegetables, widespread in Cuba and in some other Latin American countries.
Rope vieja is very widespread in the Canary Islands and Cuba, in various versions it is also prepared in Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and in the Spanish-speaking communities of the United States. Initially, this dish was prepared among the Sephardic Jews of medieval Spain, known from the XII century. Later gained distribution in the Canary Islands, from there fell into Cuba.
Currently, the basis of ropa vieha is meat stewed in tomato sauce. In the Canary Islands, beef, pork or poultry is taken for this; in the Cuban (Latin American) version, only beef of various types is used, sometimes combined with each other (brisket, peritoneum, neck, etc.).
As a side dish for ropa vieja, boiled yellow (in Cuba) or white (in Mexico) rice with garlic as seasoning, cassava, black beans, onions, hard-boiled eggs (in Mexico), bananas are used.