New Gates Swing Open for the Culinary Art
Mr. Jose Carlos de Santiago Bartolome, President and Editor-in-Chief of the Excelencias Group and Ambassador of the Iberian-American Gastronomy Academy, opened Tuesday the First International Gastronomic Seminar “Excelencias Santiago de Cuba 2015” and the First “From Cacao to Chocolate” International Symposium by thanking the attendance of boldface names at the Conference Hall of the Sierra Maestra Hotel in Santiago de Cuba.
In his keynote speech, Mr. Santiago underscored the presence of Paco Torreblanca, one of the world’s best pastry chefs, as well as Maria Cristina Jorge, principal of the Latin American and Caribbean Confectionery, Patisserie and Bakery School, and Ciro Bianchi, President of the Cuban Gastronomy Academy. Representatives of the travel industry and haute cuisine from both the turf and overseas also attended the grand opening.
“It’s an honor to have this group of distinguished delegates in Santiago de Cuba, people who’ve come to take a closer look at the island nation’s cuisine. We’re also overjoyed to see gastronomy as the best ambassador of the culinary art from the Caribbean region, willing to showcase how our peoples eat, serve food and enjoy the warmth of these lands,” said Mr. Santiago Bartolome in his opening remarks.
The seminar will have a number of theoretical sessions, lectures and tastings of rums and habano cigars. The event is sponsored, among others, by Bavaria Beers, La Estancia and Del Soto.
“There’s no gastronomy without tourism, yet there’s no tourism without gastronomy,” concluded the President and CEO of the Excelencias Group.
