Mary Pickford
A classic Prohibition Era cocktail, this drink was named after the Hollywood star Mary Pickford with rum, grenadine, pineapple juice and maraschino liqueur being the prime ingredients. Invented during the 1920s, it honoured the Hollywood starlet who was America’s sweetheart at the time and starred in numerous silent films of that time.
There are conflicting views as to where exactly this cocktail originated, most say it was invented at a bar in Cuba when Pickford was filming with her husband and Charlie Chaplin. This is recounted in Basil Woon’s 1928 book, When it's Cocktail Time in Cuba. It says Fred Kaufman crafted it during her visit to Havana and that version did not have the maraschino liqueur that is an essential ingredient today. Another version completely disagrees saying her filing schedule did not mention Cuba at all. Perhaps Cuba honoured her by making this cocktail in her name.
Woon was hired by Cuba to promote the country and what better way to do so than to promote the local booze? The Prohibition Era was in full swing in the US and this was the perfect time to promote the liquor of the Caribbean island, where drinking was still legal. That doesn’t go to say America washed its hands of liquor, creative ways sprouted to partake in tipples discreetly as did their making. Numerous speakeasies mushroomed where women too partook in drinking; women were known to popularise the sweeter drinks – using fruits to mask the bitterness of the booze.
Cuba always had a vast supply of rum, so it's hardly a surprise that rums in different forms and measurements were served in cocktails. Aside from Daiquiri, El Presidente and Mary Pickford was one of the first cocktails to be crafted in Cuba. The Prohibition made many bartenders move to sunnier climates where alcohol was still legal. Fred Kaufman, an English fellow, was one of them who was the head bartender at the Sevilla Hotel. Most agree he was the person to create the Mary Pickford but some say another bartender who was a New Yorker, Eddie Woelke was the one behind the drink. Woon’s book drew attention to this particular cocktail, and in the book, he explained how the drink was actually made from crushing the pineapple to deftly being shaken by the bartenders before being served to waiting customers.
Being named after a woman, pineapple juice is the hallmark of this drink not to mention the rum. As a result, the cocktail is as smooth as fine wine and before you know it, you might have just downed one too many and the aftereffects hit you. Such a vivid description of the drink popularised it further and demand for it also rose back in the US and also Europe, with people wanting a sip of the sublime cocktail named after a revered celebrity.
Ingredients
Method
Grab a cocktail shaker, add ice to it.
Pour all the ingredients into it and shake vigorously.
In a goblet or coupe glass, strain the ingredients and serve.
