Posted 14 August 2006 - 03:38
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Natural Daïquiri
In a shaker / Cocktail glass
Ingredients:
- 1.3 oz of light rum
- 0.7 oz of lime juice
- 0.2 oz of sugar syrup
Preparation: Shake the ingredients!
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Daïquiri's story
The Canchánchara
The combination of two thirds of rum and one third of lemon juice was an efficient cure for the thirst of the Cuban combatants fighting against the Spanish colonial army during the second part of the 19th century. It was an excellent painkiller for the injured persons. There is why a bottle of Canchánchara was often seeing hung at the saddle of the soldiers' mount. From that time, it has been a synonym of the struggle of the Cuban people for their independence.
The Natural Daïquiri
Version Nr 1
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At the beginning of the 20th century, the engineer Pagliuchi visited an iron mine called Daïquiri at the east of Cuba. He questioned the American engineer Jennings S. Cox about the work of the mine because he wanted to exploit deserted mines in the area of Cobre (near Santiago de Cuba).
At the end of the day of work ended Pagliuchi suggested having a drink. The legend says that in Cox's storeroom there were only rum, lemons and sugar. They mixed these elements in a shaker with ice.
"What is this cocktail called?" asked Pagliuchi. "It has no name - so it must be a rum sour", answered Cox. Pagliuchi retorted that "this name isn't worthy of such a fine and delicious cocktail. We'll call it Daïquiri.
This was the birth of a great classic...
Version Nr 2
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In 1898 the American troops, under the command of general Shafter, landed in the south-east region of the Daïquiri area (there still a beach which bears this name near Santiago de Cuba) to intervene in the war between Cuba, Spain and the United States. The general was fat. It was impossible for him to ride a horse and had to be transported in a cart pulled by a team of horses.
In addition he made a lot of mistakes during the Cuban campaigns. In spite of his faults, Shafter was an inveterate gourmet. He didn't take long time to discover the preferred drink of Cuban patriots, a mixture of rum, lemon juice and sugar. Tasting it he declared: "Only one ingredient is missing: ice".
The real origin of Daïquiri can be attributed to one or the other of these legends. It's probable that each one contains an element of truth.
Today this cocktail is known under the name of the Natural Daïquiri.
Daïquiri Floridita
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It was probably Emilio Gonzälez, a cantinero (bartender), of Spanish origin who introduced the formula of the cocktail to the capital (at the Plaza Hotel). What is certain, is that the person who made it famous was the cantinero Constantino Ribalaigua Vert - El Grande Constante - in the bar where he worked, "El Floridita" which was afterwards nicknamed "La Cuna del Daïquiri" (The Cradle of the Daïquiri).
Constante tried and changed three different recipes before to attaining the perfection with the fourth version. He named it The Daïquiri Floridita". To prepare his cocktail, Constante imported from the United States a machine "Flak Mark" brand ice crushing machine. He built a metal box with the bottom pierced with holes, which kept the crushed ice in good condition.
He added crushed ice and five drops of Marasquin to the recipes of Pagliuchi. He mixed these ingredients in an electric blender and served the drink well cooled in a frosted glass. The strict observation of the mixing time and of the proportions gives to the Daïquiri Floridita its characteristic density, its unique texture and its inimitable taste.
From the time of Constante and for more than half a century, the tradition was kept preciously, passed from cantineros to cantineros.
Because of this tradition or thank to the ability of the cantineros, or the atmosphere and the personality of the place, the Daïquiris, which are prepared at the Floridita, have a unique taste. They are still different from those we can find elsewhere.
Papa Hem
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In 1932 the American novelist fished swordfish on board the "Anita" on the open sea of the north coast of Cuba. The same year, he settled at Ambos Mundos hotel on number 153 of Obispo Street. He enjoyed the most beautiful view of the city and the bay.
This place, bathed in the breeze from the sea, was ideal for writing. He began the final version of his work, "For Whom the Bells Toll", two hundred meters from this bar which was to become one of the most famous in the world, largely thanks to the ritual and almost daily presence, at its bar, of the future Nobel Prize. During all of this period, and until the end of his life, Hemingway resided in Havana. It's at this time that he discovered the Floridita and its Daïquiri.
One morning, Hemingway was walking in Obispo Street, one of the busiest streets in Havana, where both the Floridita and the Ambos Mundos Hotel are located. Coming to the corner of Obispo and Monserrate Streets, he couldn't resist the charm of the Floridita, which called him with its munificent bar of precious hard wood. The open doors invited him to come in.
Antonio Meilán (The cousin of the wife of Constante, the creator of the Daïquiri Floridita) says that Hemingway came into the bar to go to the toilet. When he came out, the drinks that everyone was drinking attracted him. He tasted one and said: "That's good but I prefer it without sugar and double rum". So, Constante prepared it to his taste and served it to him saying. "There it is Papa". That's how the cocktail, which was named after him - the Papa Hemingway - was born. Later grapefruit juice was added and that gave the "Hemingway Special". Some people preferred it even to cocktails like the Daïquiri or the Mojito.
From that day, he did neither wish nor was able to separate himself from the Floridita and its Daïquiri. He came every morning about ten o'clock. He settled on his stand, number one, at the corner of the bar. He asked his driver to buy the newspaper at the Plaza Hotel at hundred meters from the Floridita.
The Floridita became also an experience that he offered to his friends who passed in the island. He brought, among others, the Duke of Windsor, Gene Tunney, Jean-Paul Sartre, Gary Cooper, Luis Miguel Dominguin, Ava Gardner, Tennessee Williams, Spencer Tracy?
Today, in the Floridita, on the wall, above his favourite place, there is the bronze bust inaugurated in 1954 for his Nobel Prize of literature. His seat, protected by a chain, remains forever unoccupied.
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