“Dining and discovering Barbados”

Food enthusiasts and visitors gathered beachside at the historic Colony Club with salivating mouths, eager to taste the delectable dishes from Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin on Tuesday.

The chef-proprietor of one of Britain’s finest restaurants, The Kitchin based in Edinburgh Scotland, is in Barbados as part of a three-day local culinary experience, Dine and Discover Barbados, hosted by Elegant Hotels, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) and Kitchin himself.

The event which runs from March 30 to April 3, included a market tour and five-course dinner at Tapestry restaurant and a cooking demonstration at Colony Club. A meet and mingle with sunset cocktails at The House will be held on April 3.

For his cooking demonstration, Kitchin introduced visitors to Barbadian cuisine whilst using traditional food preparation methods. The food lovers were pleasantly surprised with roasted breadfruit, grilled tripletail fish, and pig roasted in a China Box which they devoured.

While speaking to the media at the sidelines of the inaugural culinary showcase, Kitchin noted that he had become fascinated with the island’s food culture as its culinary customs and practices spoke about the country’s history. He expressed that the culinary experience was an important aspect of Barbados’ tourism product and needed to be explored more.

“I have been coming to Barbados for 15 years and the guys laugh at me because I want to eat pickled Seacat, chicken feet; I want to eat barbeque pigtail. I want all that stuff and it really annoys me when tourists don’t get that as well,” Kitchin said.

“It is about creating something that people are going to come to Barbados and take away with them and they are going to tell 100 people and those people are going to want to come to Barbados… so many tourists come here and they don’t experience a proper Barbados and that annoys me,” he continued.

The owner of the award-winning Kitchin Group who stressed that growth was linked to investment in local sectors such as agriculture and fisheries revealed that he only used local ingredients during his five-course dinner at Tapestry restaurant.

“If I had a restaurant here, I wouldn’t be importing anything. You work with the seasons and you work with your farmers and your fishermen and that is really how you support the community; that is how businesses get to grow.”

Group Operations Manager of Elegant Hotels, Gayle Talma disclosed that the culinary showcase received “a phenomenal response” in its inaugural year with all the events sold out. She hinted that Dine and Discover Barbados might return in 2020.

(KK)