DestinationSaint Lucia I Weekend Crowds at Anse La Raye’s Fish Fry. Photo: WCC/Clare Pengelly
Try Jump Up’s street food for an authentic taste of Saint Lucia
Most places in the Caribbean have a carnival once a year. In Saint Lucia, it’s a carnival atmosphere every Friday night. The main attraction is the Friday night Jump Up in Gros Islet, just a short walk or taxi ride from Rodney Bay. It is well named. You hear it before you see it. Reggae and soca blasts out from vast speaker stacks and people sing and laugh in the streets, jumping up to dance by themselves or with complete strangers. The streets are lined with stalls heaving with bottles of spirits, with a large bottle of spiced rum usually at the centre of it all. Each bar owner has their own favoured concoction. There is plenty of street food to try too – lots of zingy jerk chicken, barbecue ribs and spicy roti. The action centres round the inter-
Still great after all these years
section between Dauphin Street and Marie Therese Street where the speakers and the DJ booth is set up. You will see tourists and locals alike involved in impromptu dance-offs. It is all pretty good natured although the local police are on hand to make sure things don’t get out of control. Many tourists go earlier in the evening, from around 8pm, and the atmosphere certainly changes after midnight but you don’t get much more authentic than this. If you like authentic but want a quieter experience, head down the coast to the fishing town of Anse La Raye. Here, on Friday nights the town comes alive for its weekly Fish Fry when whatever the town’s fishermen have caught that morning is charcoal grilled for residents and visitors alike.
Below: A copper still at The Roseau Distillery Left: Chairman’s reserve, finest Saint Lucia Rum
Sugar growing started in Saint Lucia in the 18th century and for the next two centuries, it was the main export. And wherever sugar is grown, rum quickly follows. The traditional process for making rum is deceptively simple. You squash sugar cane for its juice which is then fermented with yeast and distilled to get the raw spirit. This is then matured for a few years in oak casks. A fraction of the rum evaporates – known as the angel’s share – while the remainder takes its flavour from the charred interior of the casks. With sugar cane production less important now, most distilleries start with molasses instead of raw sugar cane but the process is still pretty much the same as it was two centuries ago. Today, Saint Lucia Distillers are still making rum at their distillery in the Roseau valley, just south of Marigot Bay. It makes around 4,000 litres a day, the vast majority of which is enjoyed during the island’s carnival. In recent years, the company has won many awards for its Forgotten Casks rum. The story goes that in 2007, a fire devastated the distillery and the company had to find new places to store its casks. Some were overlooked and found only recently. When the distillers tried the rum inside, it was found to be sensational. Whether the story is apocryphal or not, the rum is delicious. The distillery runs tasting tours and you should try some of the various rum-based liqueurs on your visit. The distillery’s 160 proof Denros rum is not for the faint-hearted – sipping it transports you to the dentist’s chair and your lips become anaesthetised. More information www.saintluciarums.com
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