Chef Randie tops ice-carving contest at Taste of the Caribbean

Sheena Gayle, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

Rainforest Seafoods' corporate chef Randie Anderson is reeling off his success, beating Caribbean nationals in the ice-carving competition at Taste of the Caribbean hosted in Miami from June 22 to 26.

"This was the first time participating in the Taste of The Caribbean; however, I have been doing ice carving since 2004," an elated chef Randie explained.

Taste of The Caribbean is an annual food and beverage competition involving the best culinary minds across the Caribbean, offering a unique opportunity to network and polish professional skills while competing before a large audience of industry peers and consumer culinary enthusiasts regionally and internationally.

Chef Randie's carving was themed Tropicana, which reflected a swordfish loin jumping from the Caribbean Sea, against a coconut tree. It's a concept he said was developed with the aim of representing nature, Jamaica and a Caribbean theme.

"It is an absolute pleasure and honour to take home the medal to Jamaica and be awarded the best ice carver in the Caribbean region. The competition took concentration and required the competitors to be focused at all times to display intricate creativity in carving the ice," the chef outlined.

He said there were three participants in the ice-carving competition, and all competitors were allocated an hour to complete their carvings. However, he only needed 45 minutes.

Interestingly, this affable chef wanted to become a civil engineer while attending St Elizabeth Technical High School.

"My first passion was becoming a civil engineer while attending high school and being exposed to technical courses. I am now a certified welder and auto mechanic, along with my culinary skills. My love for being a chef grew as I was exposed to the discipline associated with the skill and, of course, the uniform," he smiled.

He revealed that his role at Rainforest Seafoods does not include or require any form of ice carving. However, "it is just one of the many skills and talents that fall under my culinary knowledge and it was self-taught. I would also like to encourage culinary professionals to include ice carving as a part of their skills as it will make them more marketable, and the fact is, it's a dying trade."