Chronicles the author's teen years in the Tampa area during the 1930s and 1940s

In this narrated cookbook, Adela Hernandez Gonzmart and Ferdie Pacheco memorialize their passion for the Columbia, the nation’s largest Spanish restaurant and Florida’s oldest restaurant. This special 115th anniversary edition of The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook features a touching foreword by Andrea Gonzmart Williams, granddaughter of Adela. Adela’s affair with food is a family legacy that began in the early twentieth century, when her grandfather Casimiro Hernandez emigrated from Cuba to Tampa. In 1905, Casimiro purchased a small corner café, where he started selling soup, sandwiches, and coffee. Out of gratitude to his new country, he named his small café Columbia, after the personification of America in the popular song “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean.” Prophetically, he added this motto to his sign: “The Gem of All Spanish Restaurants.” Casimiro became known for dishes that the Columbia still serves today—Spanish bean soup, his hearty creation that combines sausage, garbanzo beans, and potatoes in a beef stock; arroz con pollo, a classic chicken and rice dish; an authentic Cuban sandwich; and the “1905” Salad®, dressed with the family’s special blend of fresh garlic, oregano, wine vinegar, lemon juice, and Spanish olive oil. This anniversary edition of The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook is a history of the elegant family restaurant, which now boasts multiple locations across Florida, and a delicious cookbook of 178 recipes that make them famous. It is also the biography of Adela, the heart of the Columbia, with commentary by Ferdie Pacheco—Muhammad Ali’s “Fight Doctor,” Ybor City’s famous raconteur, and Adela’s childhood friend. Adela and Ferdie have since passed, but this book remains a testament to their love of good food and their joy in sharing the aroma, the seasonings, and the glamour of the Columbia.

"[In this book], Ferdie Pacheco chronicles his life, from, his childhood days spent growing up in the Spanish section of Tampa, Florida, to working as Muhammad Ali's cornerman and physician. ..."--Back cover.

Decades before Miami became Havana USA, a wave of leftist, radical, working-class women and men from prerevolutionary Cuba crossed the Florida Straits, made Ybor City the global capital of the Cuban cigar industry, and established the foundation of latinidad in the Sunshine State. Located on the eastern edge of Tampa, Ybor City was a neighborhood of cigar workers and Caribbean revolutionaries who sought refuge against the shifting tides of international political turmoil during the early half of the twentieth century. Historian Sarah McNamara tells the story of immigrant and U.S.-born Latinas/os who organized strikes, marched against fascism, and criticized U.S. foreign policy. While many members of the immigrant generation maintained their dedication to progressive ideals for years to come, those who came of age in the wake of World War II distanced themselves from leftist politics amidst the Red Scare and the wrecking ball of urban renewal. This portrait of the political shifts that defined Ybor City highlights the underexplored role of women's leadership within movements for social and economic justice as it illustrates how people, places, and politics become who and what they are.

Spanish explorers arrived in Tampa Bay in the 16th century. Jews were first allowed to live in Florida in 1763 and less than 100 years later, Tampa became a city. The arrival of the railroad and the cigar industry in the 1890s attracted immigrants. Many were Jews, who helped propel growth, especially in Ybor City, where they owned more than 80 businesses. Over the decades, Jews participated in civic and Jewish organizations, the military, politics, and in developing Tampa as a sports center. Today, with about 23,000 Jews in Tampa, there are fifth-generation residents who represent the continuity of a people who contribute vibrancy to every area of the community.