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Your Palate in Paradise
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posted on
6/7/2008
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I promised myself that I would not focus heavily on Antigua, as I have a natural bias, but I cannot help talking about an event I went to on Mother’s Day. I can imagine that the event could be held in any and every Caribbean destination and perhaps that is something that the organisers could consider and develop into a franchise. So as I describe, imagine you are in your favourite destination (there - I don’t feel so bad).
 The Food and Drink Industry party was awesome! Held at the most stunning setting, a restaurant with multiple terraces overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Special invitees (I am really glad I am still making some of those guest lists. Don’t forget me now!) gathered to taste the most fabulous food ever devised by local chefs in the top hotels across the island. What was special about this event was that the top chefs in the island were partnered with students at the Hospitality Training Institute in developing unique dishes utilising as much local produce as possible.
Dishes included Seared Tuna Tartare with Tri Pepper Salsa and Cilantro Oil; Duck Foie Gras Terrine served on Brioche with Grape and Apple Chutney; Roulade of Fresh Atlantic Salmon and Scallops with Smoked Salmon and Caviar; Spicy Scallops in Saffron Coconut Gazpacho; Lobster, Leek Roulade Topped with Keta Roe and Caviar; Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Phyllo Baskets; Cassava Crusted Shrimp with Pineapple and Golden Apple Salsa; Tropical Fruit Sushi Dessert; and Antiguan Bread Pudding (which we got wrapped to take home.) Well there is no excuse for not trying these out myself as we were presented with a booklet with information on all the chefs and trainees and recipes of all the dishes. But which should I try first? 
 Organiser, Gulliver Johnson, publisher of the Food and Drink Guide managed to bring together an array of elements: great food, great wine (that blend of chardonnay, pinot gris and pinot noir- no words can describe!), great music (that local jazz band sounded like an international quartet), great entertainment (although I am really perturbed by that magician, since I couldn’t work out how he did those tricks and I was really close with an inquiring and critcal eye - beats me!) and great prizes and auction items.
What was unusual also and most fitting for the event held on Mother’s Day, was that children were welcomed and were introduced to the finest food on the island. My son has discovered caviar and thought it was the best food he has ever tasted. Since he already loves shrimp and smoked salmon I had better start to get a few more clients to keep him in the lifestyle to which he is quickly becoming accustomed!
Gulliver has already expanded the Food and Drink Guide to Dominica and Nevis, I understand, and I really think this high quality publication, listing an array of restaurants, local recipes and industry characters could be taken throughout the region and perhaps even a Caribbean edition. (No - he is not paying me). 
“Foodies” seem to be a growing trend in the travel industry, but before I go on, I had to take a look at Wikepedia (what did we do before Wiki?) to find out what a Foodie really is. “Foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news,” and according to Wikipedia has given rise to the Food Network and other specialized food programming, popular films and television shows about food such as Top Chef and Iron Chef, a renaissance in specialized cookbooks, specialized periodicals such as Gourmet Magazine and Cook’s Illustrated, growing popularity of farmers’ markets, food-orientated websites like Zagat’s and Yelp, specialized kitchenware stores like Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table, and the institution of the celebrity chef.
So back to Foodies and travel, a recent Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) study found that 58 percent of all U.S. leisure travelers say they are somewhat/very interested in taking a trip to engage in culinary or wine-related activities in the next year and currently “27 million travelers, or 17% of American leisure travelers, engaged in culinary or wine-related activities while traveling within the past three years”.
Apparently, these travelers are younger, more affluent and better educated than non-culinary travelers. They are clearly motivated by unique experiences, reinforcing the benefits of focusing on a destination’s individual environmental and cultural elements and as such wine and culinary experiences may be a driver of destination choice. Culinary activities “foodies” participated in while traveling included cooking classes, dining out, visiting farmers markets, gourmet food shopping and attending food festivals. “These travelers are also more likely to take local foods and wines back home with them, providing a secondary opportunity for destinations to spread the word about their unique offerings,” said the Vice President of Research of the TIA. Also, Erik Wolf, President and CEO of the International Culinary Tourism Association indicated “It’s also the perfect tool for economic and community development because visitors fly, buy and try new food and drink and look for it when they return home, helping boost value-added food and drink exports. Every community should be looking for ways to promote its unique food and drink experiences.”
Well, the Caribbean is ideally placed for such growth in this niche market of Culinary Tourism which is defined as the pursuit of unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences of all kinds. A quick recall of my Caribbean travels brings to mind so many unique and memorable experiences: eating shark and bake (Trinidad) Jouvert morning during Carnival; ackee and saltfish after church (Jamaica); Bois Bande tea (Dominica… that needs a whole blog post of its own!); mango picking in season (Antigua…OK, I don’t actually eat mangoes but I went along for the lime (fun)); eating a whole pound of jerk pork and festivals from a jerk shack on the drive from Kingston to Ocho Rios (Jamaica) (that was before I became a semi-vegetarian, and it still brings back great memories); flying fish cutters in St. Lawrence Gap (Barbados) after a nightclub crawl; Conch Chowder at a local restaurant in Paradise Island (Bahamas); and Roti and Curry (Guyana… well my Aunt’s house in Edmonton, London).
There are a whole host of food festivals also: Gastronomic Week in Martinique (May); Placencia and Caye Caulker Lobster Fest in Belize (June); Nevis Fruit Festival (July); Portland Jerk Festival in Jamaica (July); Fishermen Feast in Dominica (July); MangoFest in Antigua (July); Breadfruit Festival in St. Vincent (August); Wine and Food Festival in Jamaica (September); Taste of Barbados (October); Food and Rum Festival in St. Lucia (October); Kingston Restaurant Week in Jamaica (November); Rum Festival in Martinique (December); and many others not to mention the weekly events in Oistins (Barbados); Anse La Raye and Gros Islet (St. Lucia).
For those already enticed, you might even catch a festival in your hometown. Coming up soon on Sunday June 8 is “ A Taste of the Caribbean Food Festival” in Montreal, which attracts more than 1,000 Montrealers each year at the Raymond Bourque Arena in Ville St. Laurent to enjoy the tastes, sights and sounds of the Caribbean. The event is geared to satisfy some of the cravings for the foods of the Caribbean where you can taste the “sweetest hands” of the Caribbean. Apparently it is the only culinary arts festival of its kind in Canada and is supported by the City of Montreal.
Is the prospect of good food and drink important in choosing your destination or even your hotel? Are you interested in going out to the communities and markets to experience the food culture of places you visit? Send me some of your most memorable food experiences in the Caribbean and recipes you have tried at home. Bon Appetit!
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A Carbon Neutral Caribbean? (or Plastic Bags in Paradise?)
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posted on
6/7/2008
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I just returned from the supermarket to pick up a couple of items and for the first time, that I can recall, came away feeling guilty. The day before, my son and I had been watching a documentary on BBC World about some coral islands in the Central Pacific called Midway where many species of birds nest, especially the endangered albatross. But the birds are dying from eating the remnants of plastic items badly disposed, or dumped at sea, from all parts of the world, which ocean currents transport to these tropical islands. The scientists are also researching whether the toxins from the plastic are being assimilated by fish and affecting fish eaters like me (that may explain a lot!) My son was eager to stop using plastic until we realised just how much plastic we use every day. So with my two plastic bags in hand after my supermarket visit, I actually wondered whether they might end up being eaten by Al the Albatross in years to come (hence the post title!)
 We seem to be seeing and hearing so much more on the environment lately and with Earth Day a few weeks ago and World Environment Day on June 5, there has been a lot of media attention. We had turned off our lights during Earth Hour at the end of March. This global movement which started in Sydney, Australia last year, apparently reduced the city’s energy consumption by over 10% in the hour that many households and businesses turned off their lights. Well, apart from the feeling that you are helping to address the problem, the hour spent in the dark just talking was magical. We really do rely too much on technology for entertainment, although my son would probably have preferred his Nintendo DS to me waxing lyrically about my childhood exploits!
I have also recently been relishing the benefits of my solar water heater over the course of the past year (at the insistence of Dad - thanks again for the cheque!). Instead of having to remember to put on the electric heater before a shower or bath, you have instant hot water whenever you want, once the sun has been shining (and it always shines in the Caribbean!). I have wondered whether it would be possible to run all my appliances from solar power - especially refrigerator, fans and air conditioning which rack up my electricity bill! Or even wind power, the trade winds have been especially strong in recent months. The number of Wind Farm operations is growing worldwide in adding to the national electricity grids and offsetting fossil fuel generated electricity. On the flip side, there have been concerns about noise, the shadow flicker, safety issues and the visual impact on the landscape. Perhaps, in the Caribbean, we could place these wind farms on uninhabitable offshore islands with cables running to the mainland (well they built the Channel Tunnel, it is possible!)
So how important is the environment to you when you choose a place to vacation? Is the latest media buzz on the environmental impact of air travel a concern? I read at Travelmole that responsibletravel.com, a specialist UK travel operator, had seen major growth in UK vacations among British holidaymakers because of concerns for the environment. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you that. But there will be those who will want to continue to see the world and the Caribbean in particular. In fact the counter argument is that by travelling to developing countries and contributing to local economies, tourists are being very responsible and helping to reduce poverty. (I think I have redeemed myself). Also, it is said that air travel contributes less to carbon emissions than households, and responsibletravel.com suggest things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint equivalent to your flight’s carbon emissions, which will make you feel less guilty. (Check out the CEO’s blog at www.responsibletravel.com, where the issues are much more eloquently said. They also have a list of Caribbean destinations - that list needs to be longer!)
So you have reduced your emissions by taking a shower instead of a bath and turned down your thermostat by 1 degree, and have booked your guiltless flight to the Caribbean. Do you now consider a hotel based on its environmental approach?
Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism the Caribbean is #1, leading the world in the number of Green Globe certified properties, with 57 Certified Properties in the region. Green Globe is an international certification system for environmental practices in the travel and tourism industry. When you look for a hotel, do you check whether it is Green Globe certified? Have you heard about Green Globe before?
I was watching the recent Papal visit to the U.S, when somewhere in the commentary the Vatican was described as the only Carbon Neutral state in the world. Apparently a company has measured the carbon footprint of the Vatican and has offered to plant trees to restore an ancient forest on a denuded island in Hungary to offset the Vatican's carbon emissions. It seems that cleanliness (or greenliness) is next to godliness at the Vatican! Perhaps, the Caribbean could be the first tourism region that is carbon neutral by offsetting the impact of air travel and other environmental impacts of the region through sustainable projects in the region. (Caribbean Airlines has established a Carbon Offset programme).
The Caribbean Hotel Association and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation have presented a number of ideas in collaboration with international tour operators and airlines and there are many other ideas being discussed around the region. In fact at the end of April the CTO held the 10 th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development held in the Turks and Caicos which apparently attracted 50% more participants than usual. The interest seems to be growing. The Conference looked at a number of areas including coastal tourism, marine sites, policies, products and investment and in general encouraged the world’s population to “live within its means and not compromise opportunities for future generations” as outlined by leading environmentalist, Dr. David Suzuki. Back to Green Globe, apparently the International management of Green Globe has signed an agreement with Caribbean leaders to “deliver sustainability and carbon neutrality solutions for the region” and specifically deliver collaborative results for all tourism stakeholders in each destination rather than just individual hotels, and most importantly, to let people all over the world hear about it. Is this important to people interested in visiting the Caribbean? Or do most visitors just want to escape for a few weeks from all of these issues they constantly hear at home? Let me hear your thoughts. Tomorrow, I will be looking for some fluorescent bulbs, a reusable shopping bag and a copy of “An Inconvenient Truth”- it’s a start.
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By Lorraine Headley
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posted on
4/22/2008
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 So here I am, 17 years after moving from England to live in the Caribbean- Antigua being my base. I fell in love with the sunshine, the people, the cricket and the carnival, and in the Caribbean this often culminates into one happy mix called Test Match cricket which drew me in.
I was blessed with mixed parentage- yes, one from Antigua and one from Guyana- who visited their home countries reasonably regularly with me tagging along, to escape the winter doldrums of London. So after graduating from the ever so proper of proper Universities, Cambridge, my mind and body felt compelled to take a couple of years (the plan was 2 years!) living a completely different lifestyle.
My Dad tells me I spent the first few years of my life in the Caribbean on a long vacation- every afternoon after work at a secluded beach, alone alas, but memorable nevertheless. I spent Tuesday through Sunday exploring the varied nightlife- Monday was my night off!
A stint with a regional organisation took me regularly to many islands in the Caribbean- I still have quite a few, mostly Spanish and French islands, to tick off before I can reach my goal of every country touched by the Caribbean sea. A couple of jobs after that stint brought me to the position of Director General of Tourism in Antigua and Barbuda- another unique perspective of the Caribbean, more in touch with the needs and wants of the visitor and how Caribbean countries are seeking to meet those needs and wants.
Which brings me to where I am now, an independent consultant (one of my goals ticked off!), working to help the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (another goal ticked off- really!) to provide a perspective of the Caribbean from a quasi tourist.
Over the weeks I hope to touch on subjects of interest to those thinking of visiting or those who have been before, but want to get an inside track. So, to kick it off, what are some of the questions you have always wanted to ask about the Caribbean, its people, its lifestyles, its cultures, but were afraid to ask? I’ll try and get some answers from around the region and get some insight on things that give the Caribbean its special flavour and especially on my favourites –the people, the festivals, the cricket and the climate. Drop me a line with your thoughts and send pictures of recent visits. Look forward to talking again next week and starting our journey via the Caribbean Insider.
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