Por Danay Galletti Havana, Mar 7 (Prensa Latina) Cuban culinary professionals work hard to include the island's cuisine as a cultural and tourist attraction, and to do so, they promote the idea of creating a gastronomic route and giving visibility to local ingredients. Cuban cuisine has been largely influenced by its native people, Spanish and African cultures and to a lesser extent by Haitian, Chinese, Italian, American, Mexican and French influence. The resulting mixture is what characterizes Cuban cuisine's authentic flavors. 'The aromas that motivated renowned Cuban historian Don Fernando Ortiz to affirm that Cuba is a melting pot stem from that rich mixture,' said the president of the Cuban Culinary Federation (FCC), Chef Eddy Fernandez Monte.