IMAGES: STOCKFOOD; ALAMY
EAT
F IVE FOOD FIND S
Surfer’s Cafe in Oistins, a popular place for its beach bars and rum shacks
As I continue on to the east coast, it’s easier BREADFRUIT Growing to the size of a football,
this sweet, nutty fruit can be eaten pickled, fried, roasted or mashed.
MAUBY A drink made from the bark of the
mauby tree, which is boiled up with orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves and then sweetened.
BAJAN CHERRY
A local superfood that’s one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C in the world; it contains around 50 to 100 times more than an orange.
GUAVA CHEESE
Guava pulp is stirred over a high heat with sugar, lime juice and
spices and then left to set into a fudge-like slab.
BAJAN SWEET BREAD
Bajans are famously sweet-toothed and love this heavy bread, which is like a soft biscotti, packed with coconut, raisins and cherries
54
NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/TRAVEL
to get a sense of the island’s agricultural heritage and the handful of innovative projects looking to the future of food production. With most of the land given over to sugarcane crops for centuries, Barbados has never been self-sufficient — a problem highlighted during Covid lockdowns and that it’s now seeking to address. Situated in the hills above the surfing
village of Bathsheba, PEG (People Environment Growth) Farm & Nature Reserve is a 108-acre project run on biodynamic principles. It’s the vision of former rally driver Paul Bourne. “Nine years ago, this was all sugarcane; there were no roads, just bush,” he says as we gaze from the cliffs over a tangle of forest towards the coast below. He’s established a field-to-fork cafe,
medicinal herb garden and beehives. We walk along grassy tracks, past cattle, turkeys and pigs wallowing in mud. He shows me plots that he rents out to farmers who share his pasture- fed, pesticide-free vision and dedication to restoring soil health. There are tours, an off- grid campsite and he has plans to build an eco resort on the cliffs — a sustainable farm stay. Jumping back in the taxi, I head to my final
stop a few miles away. Coco Hill Forest is part rewilding project, part regenerative forestry initiative. Over 300 metres above sea level, the 53-acre site is home to one of the island’s last remnants of endemic tropical forest. Barbados
lost much of its native flora when the land was turned over to sugarcane, owner Mahmood Patel tells me as we wander around his nursery, past beds of turmeric, basil and rosemary. Over the past eight years, he’s planted around 80 varieties of tree and plant, including mahogany, teak, black pineapple and sugar apple. The planting mimics the forest’s natural
layers, with a canopy of coconut, bananas beneath that, then ginger. “The idea is to create an edible forest,” Mahmood explains as we hike paths through the trees. He shows me how he’s terraced the land and planted lemongrass to help prevent soil erosion, then plunges into the undergrowth to return with a giant bay leaf. On the drawing board are a museum of agriculture, sustainable eco- lodges and a forest-to-fork cafe. It’s a world away from the resorts on the other side of the island. “This will be my life’s project. Next year, I’d like to host a Food and Rum Festival event — food from the forest,” he muses. Mahmood’s passion is contagious and the
forest is already starting to bear fruit. Soon, in the not too distant future, eating like a Bajan might start to look very different indeed.
HOW TO DO IT: British Airways has seven nights, room only, in Barbados, including flights from London, from £792 per person.
ba.com. This year’s Barbados Food and Rum Festival takes place from 19 to 23 October.
foodandrum.com
visitbarbados.org lickrishfoodtours.com
pegbarbados.com
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