“The Music Is Everywhere. Time Is An
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THE MOB MUSEUM AND THE CUBAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION PRESENT Hot “The music is everywhere. Time is an endless round of dark rum and rhumba, light rum and marimbas, for Havana is the mistress of pleasure, the lush and opulent goddess of delights.” — CABARET QUARTERLY, 1956 Hot Havana Nights Dancers entertain patrons at Havana’s Sans Souci nightclub in 1958. (Associated Press) HAVANA WAS a nightlife power- rants brought throngs of U.S. tourists lyn Monroe and George Raft. house in the 1950s to the island. Flights from Miami Music and dancing were the glue The nightlife in pre-Castro Cuba were less than an hour, and special that held the nightlife together. was legendary. As described in a Cuban flights served drinks and Cuban music stars introduced the 1956 issue of Cabaret Quarterly: “The had floor shows on the plane to get rhumba, cha-cha, and salsa to a tourist is caught in a heady torrent the tourists in the mood. Gamblers wider audience. Performers such as of rich laughter and swept along in flocked to the numerous casinos and Dorothy Dandridge, Cab Calloway, swirling freshets of gaiety. The music the massive clubs like the Tropicana, Desi Arnaz, Eartha Kitt, and Nat is everywhere. Time is an endless which held more than 8,000 people. King Cole were regular fixtures in the round of dark rum and rhumba, light There also was the seedier side, nightclubs during the 1950s. rum and marimbas, for Havana is complete with burlesque shows, — Scott Deitche the mistress of pleasure, the lush shag film houses, and brothels. and opulent goddess of delights.” Mixing with the regular tourists were The mix of nightclubs, casinos, movie stars and celebrities, from Ava cabarets, golf courses, and restau- Gardner and Frank Sinatra to Mari- Cuba Classic Libre daiquiri Hot Havana Nights IN ESSENCE, the Cuba Libre (Free Cuba) WHEN PEOPLE think of the daiquiri, they is a rum and Coke with lime juice. But its often think of premixed icy drinks, super ties with Cuban history make it one of the sweet, and served in big glasses with most iconic Cuban cocktails. As one story huge straws. But the original daiquiri goes, a U.S. Army Signal Corps captain was much more simple and elegant. It’s a was celebrating the United States’ Cuban mix of rum, lime juice, and simple syrup victory over Spain. He ordered rum with (sugar and water). The drink was named Coke and lime. He toasted “Por Cuba for a beach and town in Cuba. libre!” and a new drink was born. The frozen daiquiri was made popular Some recipes call for a few dashes of in Havana’s El Floridita Bar when bar- Angostura bitters, some have darker rum tender Constantino Ribalaigua blended instead of white rum. However you de- shaved ice into the cocktail. Over the cide to make this popular Cuban libation, years the term daiquiri has expanded to it’s a refreshing drink for the dog days of include a variety of rum-based drinks, summer. but the classic daiquiri is still the best. 2 oz. white rum 2 oz. white rum 1 lime 1 oz. lime juice Coca-Cola ½ oz. simple syrup Squeeze and drop the lime into a high- Combine rum, lime juice, syrup and ice ball glass with ice. Add in the rum. Top in a cocktail shaker. Stir vigorously for with Coke and stir briefly. Garnish with a thirty seconds Strain into chilled cocktail lime wedge or slice. (Photo: nikilitov©123RF.com) glass. (Photo: yasuhiroamano©123RF.com) THE LEGENDARY American writer Ernest Hemingway first visited Cuba in the late 1920s when he was living in nearby Key West, Florida. He moved to Cuba with his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, in 1939 and lived there until 1960. Hemingway lived in a house in a small town east of Havana called San Francisco de Paula. His favorite Havana watering holes were the Bodeguita del Medio, where he helped make the mojito famous, and La Floridita bar, home of Papa the daiquiri. He kept his fishing boat, El Pilar, in Doble a village called Cojimar. Two of Hemingway’s best-known novels, For Hot Whom the Bell Tolls Havana and The Old Man and Nights the Sea, as well as the memoir A Moveable Feast, were written in Cuba. Today, Hemingway’s house, called Finca Vigia (Lookout Farm), (Hemingway Daiquiri) is a museum that contains Hemingway’s Hemingway was known for his love of 9,000 books, stuffed Cuban cocktails. He was a regular at the Hemingway at Finca animal heads from his famed El Floridita bar in Havana, where Vigia. (Ernest Hem- his favorite drink was this variation on a African hunting expeditions and daiquiri. ingway Collection, John one of his typewriters. F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum) Hemingway did not have much 2 oz. rum to do with the organized crime ½ oz. grapefruit juice figures who dominated Havana’s ½ oz. lime juice casinos and nightclubs in the 1950s, ¼ oz. maraschino liqueur but his circle of friends during his years in Key West were known as “The Mob,” and they Add ingredients to cocktail shaker with all had nicknames when they went on fishing ice. Shake vigorously for thirty seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Anoth- expeditions. er variation (pictured) can be made by — Geoff Schumacher combining the ingredients in a blender with ice and blended until smooth. (Photo: ivanmateev©123RF.com) SPONSORED BY.