Nationalized Ice Cream: Helados Coppelia, Cuba

Visitors to Cuba will more than likely see the Coppelia ice cream shops dotted around the island. The most famous location is in the Vedado district of Havana, but the sweet treat is so popular there are shops in towns all over the country. It might look like any old ice cream, but Helados Coppelia has a unique history that marks it from other ice cream makers.

According to the history books, revolutionary leader Fidel Castro was so enamored with ice cream he used to have diplomats bring back a personal stock for him to beat the blockade. Such was his love for it, he then decided every Cuban should have access to ice cream via a nationalized chain of parlors.

As a result, Helados Coppelia was born. It has since been written into Cuban folklore as a place for gossiping, people watching and taking a break from the heat of the day. A visit to the 1966 modernist parlor in Vedado is a must, although you’ll have to queue if you want to eat with the Cubans. Otherwise foreigners are shooed into a special zone where you pay around 20 times the price.

There are plenty of flavors to try, but to be honest the real attraction is the people and the history rather than the ice cream itself.