The Cuban capital, full of attractions for tourism of the most diverse nature, complements its proposals with unique options linked to the country's extensive culinary traditions.
According to experts, Cuba's gastronomy is a fusion of the Taino, Spanish, African and Caribbean cuisines.
Indeed, Cuban recipes share the wisdom of the combination between spices and techniques inherited from native Tainos, and later combined with Spanish and African cuisines, with certain Caribbean influences on spices and flavors.
Undoubtedly, there are influences from the African slaves, most of whom worked in sugarcane plantations, although in most cities they constituted a minority.
The famous Bodeguita del Medio (La B del M) stands out in the list of centers that attract visitors with their gastronomic options, since its inauguration in 1942.
Cuba has simple establishments, designed in the most modern styles of fast food restaurants, and centers with a history of several decades, which are within everyone's reach.
The 78 years of experience provide La B del M with a long history in the world of traditional Cuban cuisine, as it exhibits on its walls photos and signatures of hundreds of personalities who have made it famous, including presidents, Nobel laureates, athletes, writers, poets, painters and musicians, both national and foreign.
La B del M's fame is not only in its food, but also in a singular custom that leads diners to stamp their signatures, phrases and photos on the walls of the establishment, as an indelible sign of their visit to Cuba, and they already total several thousands.
The list of famous people who have visited La B del M range from Nobel Prize for Literature Ernest Hemingway to the late Chilean President Salvador Allende, including dancers, painters, writers and artists of all kinds and countries.
It is worth mentioning that La B del M is located a few steps from Cathedral Square, (207 Empedrado St.), a site highly visited by tourists, and among its best known offers is Mojito, a drink made of light Cuban rum, mint, lemon, ice and sugar.
Precisely this preparation made Hemingway one of the restaurant's regular customers, also attracted by the establishment's cozy and familiar atmosphere, with the exquisite smells of a kitchen that can meet the demands from most customers.
In addition to the main venue in Old Havana, there are branches in several Cuban destinations, including Varadero, Trinidad and Holguin, in addition to a dozen franchises in Mexico, Australia, Macedonia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Poland and Lebanon.