CREATING CULINARY CONVERSATION-PIECES takes time. Ask celebrity chef Jason Howard about his 36-hour soy glazed pork belly with plantain and vanilla mash and Caribbean stew. Or chef Omar Robertson about his 24-hour brined roasted free range chicken on a mini waffle with maple hollandaise & sautéed baby Swiss chard. Chef Dane Saddler had much to say about his six-hour braised seasoned pork belly with panko crusted sweet potato and plantain.
On Sunday at Holders Hill, while a polo match was being played on the field, chefs were playing with ingredients to tantalise taste buds at the Barbados Food & Rum Festival Taste The Spirit Of Polo.
While the crowd was smaller and more intimate, it didn’t take away from the four chefs dazzling display of culinary knowledge as they minded their peas and cubes while in friendly rivalry.
Chef Howard, a Bajan who flew in for the festival, could be seen sampling the other chef’s delights and chef Scott Ames’ coconut chili shrimp flambéed with St Nicholas Abbey white rum served with cucumber souse and pickle mango had a waiting line as the servers couldn’t plate fast enough.
Ames, known as the sushi king in Bim, offered seared cilantro tuna served with a salsa of sea beans and avocado with sherry vinegar and herb oil. Also on his table was roasted Portobello mushroom risotto finished with mascarpone and parmesan.
More seafood was served, with Robertson doing seafood curry coconut milk broth with tempura baby octopus & cilantro oil and Saddler’s appetising Bajan sushi with cou-cou and flying fish rolled in nori and served with a Creole salsa.
Howard used local crayfish in a unique way as they were seen live in a tank as presentation, while their prepared “family” were done as crayfish bisque with crayfish relish plantain and white rum cream.
It was love at first bite for all as the top dish from Howard’s hands was the buttered chili salt fish with sweet potato scotch bonnet mash with fresh avocado salsa and herb oil.
The “kitchens” were hot as the four chefs made sure that those who bought tickets had enough. Curiosities were settled as to how you paired cinnamon spiced pumpkin fritters with extra old pulled leg of lamb (Saddler) and crispy smoked pork belly with mustard green lentils and pomegranate (Robertson).
Mingling in the crowd were other local chefs who came out to support and also see what was on the menu as patrons sipped on cocktails prepared by Mount Gay’s bartenders.
Jem’s Gourmet Chocolates provided dessert in the form of Great cake and rum coconut.
It was delightful to see the local chefs get rave reviews from the patrons, and many who had their favourites said next year should be of the same make-up.