Gastronomy

SPICE UP your visit

From local fare at roadside stalls to top cuisine prepared up by master chefs trained in leading culinary schools, food in the Caribbean is a feast for all the senses, says Karl Cushing

From Oistins’ bumper Bajan Friday Fish Fry in Barbados to meals made special by dramatic settings – such as at Antigua’s Sheer Rocks – dining in the Caribbean is both a delight and a cultual experience.

At Montpelier Plantation on Nevis, candlelit lanterns illuminate the ancient weeping fi g tree afront the restaurant’s stone façade, while at Miss T’s Kitchen in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, local fl avours are enjoyed along with a rustic, colorful ambience.

Visitors can savour everything from the famed fi ne dining of Anguilla - often prepared by chefs trained in New York and California’s best culinary schools - and St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, where highend establishments include Too Chez and Savant, to comforting local staples such as Jamaican curry goat or ackee and saltfi sh.

Regional differences further spice up a visit: peruse a menu in the ABC islands, where high-end eateries include Bonaire’s Brass Boer, and you’ll fi nd enervating dishes such as bonchi kora soup, pan bati pancakes, and classic desserts such as tentalaria di cashupete.

The infl uence of Spanish cuisine is felt in many parts of the Caribbean. In the Dominican Republic enjoy stewed chicken dish pollo guisado, or head to Puerto Rica for classics such as stewed beans and rice, or the pork dish Pernil abodo, with pineapple rum cake among the lip-smacking desserts. And no trip to Havana, Cuba’s capital, is complete until you’ve dined in a grand old paladar, such as La Guarida.

Highly-rated destination restaurants such as Le Petibonum on Martinique and L’Esprit, on St Barthelemy underpin the French Caribbean’s reputation as a gastronomic powerhouse, while diners at Le Pressoir, on St Martin, can be forgiven for lingering longer than expected on account of its adjoining rum palace, Le Part Des Anges.

The Caribbean’s abundance of fresh, healthful produce, from fruit and veg to seafood, makes market and farm visits a must, not least on Grenada where spice garden and cocoa farm tours are popular.

Culinary events such as the annual food and drink festivals held in Barbados, Saint Lucia and Jamaica make great hooks for booking a trips as do Anguilla’s Extraordinary Eats in April and the Cayman Cookout on Grand Cayman in April.

The surfeit of sensational seafood is a highlight. The humble conch is celebrated in Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos which holds a Conch Festival each November. The mollusc is equally beloved in destinations such as the Bahamas, where eateries like Flying Fish Gastrobar, Graycliff and Banana Bay enjoy loyal followings.

Events that showcase a particular product include Belize’s San Pedro Lobsterfest (June/July), Grenada’s Chocolate Festival (May and the Nevis Mango Festival (July), an appetiser to St. Kitts & Nevis’ Annual Restaurant Week. •