Havana, Cuba.- Rum is not just alcohol but culture and traditions, as the renowned Cuban bartender Pavel Fernández, one of the participants in the First Gastrocult 2019 Academic Workshop, stated here today.

In statements to Prensa Latina, the also vice president of the Association of Bartenders in this capital stressed that the Cuban cocktail bar culture should be declared intangible heritage of humanity because it not only represents the art but the cultural heritage of the island.

His presence in Gastrocult 2019 aroused admiration in the participants after his master class with the preparation of the Cuban national cocktail, the classic daiquiri.

Appetizer par excellence, this drink based on white sugar, lemon juice, Havana Club rum 3 years and ice, this time it was completed in a twist with the addition of ginger as a tribute to India, the guest country of honor.

Fernández said the daiquirí arose in 1899 in the homonymous mines of the southeast province of Santiago de Cuba. It went to Havana from the hand of Emilio Maragato, famous bartender who worked at the Plaza Hotel, and later it was Constante Ribalaigua, owner of the world-famous El Floridita bar-restaurant, who transformed it into frozzen daiquirí (with frappe ice) with the introduction of a blender.

‘Many owners of bars, bartenders and American clients came to the island at that time because they could drink alcohol and some assured that the local bartenders were not prepared to attend to that clientele, something that was not true,’ he said.

As in its initial years, the Bartenders Club of Cuba currently offers cocktails, languages and food pairings, and adds thousands of members in the country.