The competition to handpick the Best 2014 Excelencias Gourmet Hors d’oeuvre gave a special touch to the Seminar. Three randomly chosen chefs – from restaurants Gourmet Cubano, Bavaria and Esto no es un café – were asked to prepare a cold starter and pair it with unlabeled wine bottles.

Objectively showing the level reached by professional sommeliers in Cuba, expressed by means of the theoretical and practical knowledge of the job, that’s the main objective of the competition to choose the 2014 Excelencias Gourmet Sommelier, which held its first qualifying round on Monday.

As a coda to the opening session of Excelencias Gourmet’s 4th International Gastronomic Seminar, Mirelis Acosta launched Havana Club 7 Years: Cuba’s Nitty-Gritty, and positioned it among the new consumption strategies suggested by the company.

The lunch offered during the opening session of Excelencias Gourmet’s 4th International Gastronomic Seminar got two enthusiastic thumbs-up from participants and guests.

Miriam Rendón, president of Formatur at Cuba's Ministry of Tourism, keynoted during a special panel that debated on the Economics of Cuban Catering, held within the framework of Excelencias Gourmet's 4th International Gastronomic Seminar.

The contest –summoned by the Excelencias Group, Cuba’s Tourism Professional Training System (FORMATUR is the Spanish acronym) and Cuba’s Federation of Cuisine Associations, in collaboration with Cuba’s Bartenders Club– was organized in order to praise those who carry out such important activities related to gastronomic services, and foster the exchange measuring of knowledge, habits and skills among catering professionals.