DESTINATIONS FOOD EXPERIENCES CARIBBEAN
a food tour of capital Nassau. Tru Bahamian Food Tours offers three-hour trips through the city, taking guests off the beaten track to try delicacies such as conch fritters, rum cake, and baked mac and cheese in one-off spots where they’ll get to know local chefs and artisans, while exploring the colourful, colonial streets that make up downtown. Recommend it to anyone wanting to see this city in a different light. Book it: The three-hour Bites of Nassau Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour costs $69 for adults and $49 for children. It sets off at 11.30am on Mondays to Saturdays.
trubahamianfoodtours.com
AINSLEY HARRIOTT
Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen started on January 20 on ITV1. We spoke to the chef to get his verdict on Dominica, where he spent time getting to know the food scene. “Dominica, nature’s island, has been a real eye-opening experience. I’ve had a lovely time here – the people are so warm, and there’s this stillness about it. It’s just not as busy as the other islands. You go to a restaurant and it has a casual atmosphere, with people just sitting around. When the food comes, it comes – and when it comes, it’s delicious, seasonal and beautiful.”
EXPERIENCE RICK’S CAFE, JAMAICA No list would be complete without mentioning Rick’s Cafe, a bar and restaurant perched on a 10-metre cliff in Negril. Cocktails such as rum punch and Rick’s frozen rum runner are served against sizzling sunsets, while daredevils jump into the stretch of deep azure below. Explore visits on its Explore Jamaica
trip, which adds in a trip to a Rastafari village to learn about Rasta culture and try a traditional Ital lunch (connected to spiritual beliefs around purity and vitality), with natural ingredients and exotic spices in hearty, flavourful curries. Book it: Explore’s 11-day trip costs from £2,485 per person, including flights, internal transfers, accommodation, some meals and an Explore leader.
explore.co.uk
At Rick’s Cafe, a bar and restaurant perched on a 10-metre cliff, daredevils jump into the stretch of deep azure below
RIGHT: Rick’s Cafe, Jamaica BELOW: Tru Bahamian Food Tours
COOK WITH ‘THE CARIBBEAN SPICE GIRL’ There are cooking classes, and then there’s this; an immersive culinary experience with famed Curacao ‘Caribbean Spice Girl’ Helmi Smeulders, author of two cookbooks and one of the spearheads of modern Caribbean cuisine. Offered as an excursion on Holland America Line cruises, it offers guests the chance to learn all about her food philosophy, while sampling various local fruits and vegetables, before creating their own meal. Dishes include ceviche with lime-tequila dressing, jerk chicken with mango mayonnaise and funchi fries with spicy pika sauce, all enjoyed outside with a glass of wine (from $300 per adult). Book it: A 14-day Southern Caribbean cruise with Holland America round-trip from Tampa, Florida, starts at £1,299 per person, based on an ocean view stateroom.
hollandamerica.com Best of the rest
Try making pastry Travel 2 recommends the adult-only Treasure Beach by Elegant Hotels in Barbados for pastry-making and other culinary workshops (complimentary for guests), as well as sommelier-hosted events in the wine cellar.
Visit the home of the mudslide We have Grand Cayman to thank for the Kahlua, Bailey’s and vodka concoction that is the mudslide. Recommend heading to Rum Point to see its origins.
Cook with rum For a truly local experience, suggest Nicole’s Table in Antigua, where chef Nicole takes visitors to markets, before preparing the produce in her hilltop house, nestled among papaya trees and overlooking the whole island.
Eat lionfish
Anse Chastanet has found a solution to the invasive lionfish species – by serving it up in a six-course tasting menu right on the beach, with creative preparations that span slow-cooked, skewered, grilled and ceviched.
Go rum tasting Kuoni recommends Saint Lucia’s Cap Maison for rum-tasting sessions, while Zemi Beach House Hotel & Spa in Anguilla has a dedicated Rhum Room housing more than 100 single- estate varieties, including premium produce never released for sale.
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travelweekly.co.uk24 January 2019
PICTURES: SHUTTERSTOCK; DWAYNE TUCKER; JONNY CROSBIE
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