It seems sorrel is a dying Barbadian Christmas tradition.
That’s the opinion of two sorrel vendors who spoke to the DAILY NATION on Christmas Eve.
“It’s a dying Christmas tradition,” one said as she plied her trade in The City.
“I find a lot of people aren’t buying the sorrel anymore. I don’t know how much it is in the supermarket, but you don’t find people making sorrel drink anymore,” she added, declining to give her name.
The vendor explained that she had spent over four hours in the field picking 40 pounds of sorrel which she sold at $3 a pound.
In addition to this, she explained that the pods were often the home to centipedes which presented another problem.
Despite all these difficulties, the vendor said it seemed people thought the $3 price was too high.
“Sorrel is not an easy crop and people should be more appreciative,” she said.
“In addition to that, Barbados has become a society where they prefer things ready done. They don’t want to start it from scratch. You find that they are buying the ready-made syrup because it’s processed,” another vendor said. (AD)