Friday, March 29, 2024

Bajan food at its best

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Queen’s Park was transformed yesterday by delicious and pleasing smells of spices, herbs and fruit sourced from a variety of local food and wine stores.
Scores wearing casual wear visited the area for a taste of 100 per cent Bajan food at the Bajan Street Food and Extravaganza slice of the 2013 Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival.
Restaurants, businesses and street vendors prepared scrumptious meals and finger-foods like fishcakes and samosas which they offered to locals and visitors to sample or purchase.
The SUNDAY SUN chatted with some of those who turned out for the event. both vendors and patrons were pleased with the offerings, which also featured entertainment and cooking demonstrations.
As they browsed the stalls, an excited Canadian family of three were glad that they came to the “family-oriented event” where they all enjoyed themselves.
Jeremy Jackson said his family was pleased with the local foods they sampled and purchased, especially the breadfruit flour which they intend to use during the rest of their stay on the island because it was a favourite with the nine-month-old baby in the group.
“Our son loves breadfruit. We gave it to him a couple days ago for the first time and he loved it, so we are going to continue giving him,” said Jackson.
Ciril Kammermann, a visitor from Switzerland, was thrilled about the opportunity to try Bajan food because “in my country, we have no idea what you eat or what you produce”.
From what Kammermann saw and tasted, he was falling in love with the island’s cuisine, especially the national dish cou-cou and flying fish.
“I didn’t know that there was a fish which is flying and this was a new experience for me. I never thought I would ever eat a flying fish, and it tastes very good,” the Swiss national said.
Some of the vendors also expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to market and expose their products and services. Some reported good sales, while others said they ran out of samples very quickly.
Ria McCollin from NFUZE wine company said that people were impressed and ready to sample a fusion of wines made from tamarind, jamun, gooseberry and carambola, among other flavours.
“The carambola is a definite hit with the tourist while the locals are in love with the gooseberry wine,” McCollin explained.
Joseph Veeravalli, an official at the Maharani Restaurant stall, reported that there was a favourable response to the wide variety of Indian food.
“People love our Indian food, especially the curried chicken which is very rich. We have just started selling and the chicken curry is almost [gone],” said Veeravalli.
Jerome Ishmael, director of Premier Event Services Inc., which organized the event that has the potential to become the biggest portion of the festival, said it was intended to highlight the island’s vibrant street cuisine and make it a big “Bajan lime”.
Speaking about Bajan lime, Olga Rogers could not get enough of the Bajan Street Food and Extravaganza.
Rogers said she heard about the event through word of mouth and was happy she came because the food and drinks she sampled were pleasing to her tongue.
“I had some sweet and sour chicken [on] taste night, and this sandwich I eating here now taste good too,” said Rogers as she tucked into her sandwich.

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