The Texas Cuban

Hector Ward is the real ‘Texas Cuban’.  He grew up in southwest Houston on a cattle ranch that has been in his family for 120 years.  He is the first born of a Cuban refugee.  His parents came over to the United States via boat when Castro came into power when they were only 13 years old.  As many from his family that could come across, came over and landed in Miami.  In fact, a lot of the recipes from the Texas Cuban trailer are inspired from traditional family recipes from his grandmother, aunts and mother.

As to be expected, the ‘Texas Cuban’ sandwich is one of the trailer’s best sellers.  Other favorites include the Croquetta’s which involve mango nectar shipped from eqgypt to Miami and the Media Noche sandwich.  The Papa Rellena offers a scrumptious take on hamburger meat cooked with green bell peppers and olives, balled up and surrounded with mashed potatoes and deep fried in the healthiest possible of oils.  Have a Mexican coke with real sugar and some plantain chips with one of these and you’re set.

Hector cooked throughout his younger years in the commercial food industry and in the family kitchen before he became a musician.  It was in October of 2009 during an economic downturn that he and some of his band members decided to pool resources and try their hand at the trailer food business.  Hector Ward and the Big Time is a 10 piece band and Hector employs not only his own band members but other musicians as well.  “We’re all certified to do what we do in the kitchen, it’s just a way to get the good food out there and put good people to work,” Hector reports.