Food lovers' paradise
Published:Thursday | December 6, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Taste buds taken on wild epicurean adventure
Lovelette Brooks, Lifestyle Editor
They came to the village from diverse localities - home and abroad. Most were on point in fashionable daytime, relaxed couture. But all had one thing in common: a passion for food. So they descended on the Richmond Estate in St Ann last weekend to indulge in the first Jamaica Epicurean Escape (JEE).
By mid-morning on Saturday, day one of the Gleaner-sponsored two-day food festival, the spacious and beautiful grounds of Richmond Estate, situated on the island's scenic north coast, had all the senses on high alert.
The delicious aroma of gourmet treats - baked, roasted, stewed, jerked, sautéed and blended - led the swell of patrons towards the tasting village where the food adventure began.
"This is all very, very good," beamed Faye Lord, who, accompanied by husband Robert, simply could not stay home. "We live just across the road, and so we hopped over," said the retired couple from Vancouver, Canada. They were indulging in seafood fare from RIU Hotel, one of many hotels which joined the escapade. Other participating hotel kitchens were Jewel Resorts, Cardiff Hotel & Spa, and Spa Retreat, Negril.
The biggest attractions for many patrons were the live cooking demonstrations and seminars conducted by some 40 professional local and international chefs. Chef Patricia Miranda Allen from Panama held a captive audience on Saturday as she delved into ways of using indigenous foods to create healthy meals.
"Back home, I do a lot of workshops with women to teach them ways to combat malnutrition, which is a big problem in rural Panama," she said, demonstrating how she uses simple, ethnic foods to create gourmet dishes which are easy on the pocket but great on nutrition.
She shared a pumpkin drink and a sweet-potato pie with the eager audience, which gave nods of approval after the tasty sampling.
DELICIOUS CORNISH HEN
Over at Isle Chix booth, Alexx Antaeus, managing director of the company, and chef Lloyd Sterling were kept busy dishing out samples of the all-natural Jamaica Cornish-style hen.
"Simply delicious", "really good", responded Amanda and Marino Maffessanti after tasting the smoked bird dipped in one of Isle Chix's magic sauces.
Orlease King, VP - operations, said that the birds are special in that they are home-grown, raised right here in Clarendon.
"Our birds are bred at a poultry farm where we also have our processing facility. They are raised on a high-protein, no-hormone diet," she stressed, adding that the chicklets cook in almost half the time it takes to cook regular chickens.
Guests left this booth with the idea of serving up Jamaican-smoked Cornish hen as an alternative to the regular ham for Christmas.
Copperwood pork, prepared jerk by Cardiff Hotel & Spa's Chef Kelle was another popular offering. Many savoured the succulent strips of tender pork under the watchful eye of Lorraine Fung, food consultant to the JEE.
"The response to the festival is great. Our expectations have been met and more," she informed, moving between booths to ensure the smooth flow of demonstration and sampling.
Chef George Matthews and his team of chefs from the United States Embassy received nods of approval for his escoveitched smoked marlin crustini, and even more nods for his jerked pigtail with Blue Mountain Coffee and Scotch bonnet pepper sauce.
Jackie Sutherland could not resist second helpings and gushed, "I did not know ordinary pigtail could be so delicious."
Molecular biologist Dr Pamela McLaughlin was among the few exhibitors offering sweet treats. Her cookies, branded Gourmet Cookies, took off from a hobby "that took on life", she remarked.
"I do customised cookies, which are preservative-free. They remain fresh for up to two and a half weeks," said the research scientist, whose production is occasion-driven. She takes orders for bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, anniversaries, and corporate functions.
A hop away, patrons of Arosa were treated to a vibrant mixing session. Here, master blender Joel Vazquez, who journeyed from Puerto Rico for the epicurean festival, was busy with his blender and shakers.
"Arosa has its offices and production facilities right here in Drax Hall, St Ann. We distribute Old-World vintage wines - 25 years and older," said Regional Sales Manager Camille Prince, who directed us to the attractive display of wines and pre-made mixes her company had on display.
"Our fruit purées set us apart from other drink distributors. We produce a variety of fruit purées - banana, berry, peach, mango, strawberry - and we sell to bartenders and persons who need to prepare food and drink on the go," she explained.
"What is also good is that our products are shelf-stable. They are good three months opened and are good up to a year in the refrigerator," she added.
TASTY SAUSAGES
Apart from the wines and mixes, Arosa also sampled its Smokehouse speciality German sausage, knackwurst, and Swiss sausage, bratwurst. "Very tasty" was the response from the booth after sampling the Smokehouse offering.
Café Africa, located in the Yaad-style section of the village, caught our attention with its colourful display booth sporting red, green and gold and heaps of vegetables and herbs. Here, Emprezz Golding was in charge, supervising Chef Ohia from Nigeria. He was preparing an "authentic African" moritania peppered steak with a coconut sauce.
By the end of the first day, the organisers would have already achieved more than was expected of a food festival of this nature.
"We have now cemented Jamaica Epicurean Escape as a premier international calendar event in Jamaica around the festive season. The support we got - both locally and overseas - was tremendous. It was an excellent two-day festival," said Maxine McDonnough, communications manager of the JEE.