Textures of veal, tenderloin, tortellini and croquette with ptato press, stuffed zucchini, parsnip puree, glazed carrot, tomato confit and tamarind-rosemary jus.
In nine days Marv Cunningham will mount his Taste of the Caribbean bartender of the year title, but before that, he will be mixing it up for six of those days in Cuba in the hunt for the 11th Havana Club Cocktail Grand Prix title.
Cunningham departs on Monday to represent The Bahamas at the Cuban competition that is held ever two years and will feature 65 competitors from 65 countries around the world. They will participate in a mystery basket competition in which they have to make use of local fresh ingredients to create a Cuban-inspired cocktail.
“It’s a mystery basket competition, and I like it, because it pushes your creativity, and pushes you to the limit to see what you’re made of,” said Cunningham.
He and his fellow competitors will be exposed to all things Cuban culture — food, music, history lessons on Cuban rum and historical sites — in advance of the mixology competition in an effort to give them inspiration.
They will be guided through Havana’s produce markets where they will have to find and purchase the ingredients necessary for their drink. They will have to create the perfect cocktail, a fusion of a Cuban classic with elements of the competitor’s culture or tradition. They will present their new creation to the jury, and hope they manage to convince the judges to send them through to the 10-man final.
Then finalists will do it all over again. They will engage in a market trip, followed by a brainstorming session to come up with the drink that best epitomizes Cuban fusion. The winner will receive the traditional golden Giraldilla trophy and a bottle of Havana Club Maximo, and will get to define, together with Havana Club, a rum project that he/she would get to carry out (a book, a pop up bar, a rum blend).
“It will be a grueling competition,” said Cunningham. He’s hoping to finish top three, and says he will be going for the jugular.
Having done research on the competition, he’s hoping to showcase a twist on the original daiquiri, and is on a mission to enlighten people on the daiquiri that he said many people don’t know wasn’t always a frozen drink, but can also be shaken.
“The daiquiri was originally made in the 1800s, and consisted of equal parts rum, lime juice, and simple syrup, and shaken — later they added mint and called it a mojito. The last three winners have taken that concept and won.”
One day after returning home, Cunningham will jump onto the plane to head to Miami for the June 6-10 Taste of the Caribbean competition at the Hyatt Regency in Miami. He said the turnaround would not affect him at all at Taste as he prepared in advance.
“My syrups, purees … all of those things were made this week and stored in my freezer, so when I get back I put them in my cooler and go.”
And he’s going into bartender battle confident that his non-alcoholic and rum libations will win best drinks.
“My vodka, I’m happy with it, but I just have to wait and play it out, and hope it catches the minds of the judges. I want to beat the rest of the guys in the Caribbean with their own game and their own ingredient.”
Cunningham’s non-alcoholic drink was described by teammate chef Sheldon Tracey Sweeting as “off the chain” so much so that he said it freaked him out, because it’s an everyday ingredient that Bahamians use daily, in breakfast, lunch and dinner applications.
It’s a drink that has freaked out a chef who has earned four Pastry Hall of Fame distinctions at Taste of the Caribbean (2015, 2014, 2013 and 2006) and been recognized for best use of chocolate. This year Sweeting has moved out of the pastry category that he has dominated in recent years, and will compete in his specialty for the first time — savory. This will be his first year cooking at Taste.
“For the non-alcoholic drink I went way back to the islands for this concept. My grandparents and great grandparents used to do this and I just recreated it in such a modern fashion that it would blow your mind,” said Cunningham.
“When I first tasted this thing, I told him for originality and most creative drink that if he doesn’t win that something’s wrong. Because the flavor you get from this, you would be like mother freeze. I asked him if he bought espresso,” said Sweeting.
In his first year (2014) at the Taste of the Caribbean from which he returned home with a silver medal, Cunningham’s drinks consisted of the sapodilly dream (his vodka submission), a deconstructed bell pepper colada (non-alcoholic) and the smoky pineapple (rum drink).
Last year he took to the competition with his sour sop float (non-alcoholic), his essence of the sea, his take on the conch salad (vodka submission), and his pink pearl Manhattan that won best rum drink at. He topped the podium in 2015, taking the gold medal, and bartender of the year title.
“This year I did a lot more research. I felt bad not winning categories. I won best rum, but did not capture best vodka. If I had captured best vodka with the conch salad, then I would have felt pretty good. I did not capture the non-alcoholic either, but I won overall, that’s what matters,” he said. “I vow this year to win each and every category.”
Cunningham and Sweeting will be joined at competition by chefs Charon McKenzie (beef competition candidate); Jamal Small (cheesecake candidate); Richmond Fowler II (seafood competition candidate); Shelby Coleby (pastry chef); Leonardis Moss (junior chef); Savannah Adderley (junior chef 2); and Marvonne Thurston (junior chef 3).
After staging a successful team demonstration dinner, where Cunningham a showcased a pineapple rosemary switcha non-alcoholic libation as well as a classic mango Gun Cay daiquiri — both drinks that got rave reviews.
Team Bahamas said they are just ready to compete, and beat the team that won last year, which means they have to beat themselves.
The Bahamas mounts its title defense as Trinidad and Tobago return to the competition after a two-year hiatus and look to expand on their five previous Team of the Year wins, the most by any country.
Puerto Rico holds the record with the highest number of Chef of the Year titles with four, and will strive to repeat their 2015 victory in the category.
St. Lucia will defend their 2015 Caribbean Junior Chef of the Year title.
St. Maarten returns to the competition after a six-year hiatus.
Anguilla is participating and is training to go for the gold following a 2015 silver medal win.
Barbados is prepping to try and recapture the Team of the Year honor, a title they were awarded in 2013.
Bonaire is aiming to be a gold medal contender to duplicate their 2015 showing.
Curacao rejoins the competition after its 2015 performance.
Suriname has entered the competition and is working towards besting their silver medal in 2015.
U.S Virgin Islands is striving towards a gold medal performance after taking home a silver medal in 2015.
As Cunningham prepares to head out to Cuba and Miami, he thanked his mother Vernice Newbold who he said has told him that there is nothing she likes more than seeing her son happy and doing what he likes to do. He also thanked his wife Kenya, and children Khaedyn and Makiah who he said support him, and gave God thanks for his strength and inspiration. He also thanked his boss, Terrence Chisholm who he said had also been supportive of him through his many competitions.
TEAM BAHAMAS’ DEMONSTRATION DINNER MENU
Hors d’oeuvres
Vegetable cheesecake, aerated bell pepper curd
Conch cake, spicy herb calypso dressing
Lobster and spinach ragout in plantain cup, rum caviar
Breads
Mushroom doughnut with truffle spray
Coconut overload braids and sesame lavash
Bread sides
Onion marmalade
Pesto butter
Curry honey butter
Soup
Creamy pumpkin and leek soup, stuffed chicken dumpling, sausage, chicken cracker, pumpkin seed oil
Appetizer
Pressed marinated tomato with smoked and grilled shrimp variation, crispy crab lollipop, tropical salsa, tomato chutney, cilantro-jalapeno aioli, avocado
Cheese
Goat cheese panna cotta, thyme sable, spicy watermelon jam, compressed watermelon, goat cheese fondant, baby pea shoots, olive oil snow cheese
Sorbet
Sands and ruby red grapefruit sorbet, gin-infused honeydew melon
Entrée
Textures of veal, tenderloin, tortellini and croquette with potato press, stuffed zucchini, parsnip puree, glazed carrot, tomato confit and tamarind-rosemary jus
Dessert
Bahibe ginger mousse with chocolate cremeux, bruleed lemon pudding, lemon sponge, spice tuile, mocha ice cream, lemon raspberry gel, lemon dust and mango-passion coulis
Shavaughn Moss, Guardian Lifestyles Editor
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