The Elena Ruz is a Cuban sandwich originating in late-1920s or early-1930s Havana.

Most of the time I ate pastel de pollo growing up, it was not homemade, at least not in my abuela’s home.

I can’t remember a year in my life where my Grandma Lucille laid out the smörgåsbord and the korv was missing.

As a young girl, I dreamed of my father coming home and saying, “Hey kids, I brought fried chicken!”

My mom was born in Cuba but fled with her family in 1959. They settled in Puerto Rico, where she spent much of her early life.

My first bite of smörgåsbord every year is bruna bonor, rice pudding, and lingonberry sauce. It still tastes the same.