IMAGES: AWL IMAGES; ALAMY; TATTIANA TIBBETTS
GRAND CAYMAN
C
urled ribbons of long beans lay in a tangled heap. They’re competing for space with a pile of glossy aubergines, each shaped like a crescent moon. On an adjacent stall, there’s a box of speckled,
avocado-shaped fruits I don’t recognise. “This is a June plum,” says Luigi Moxam, picking
one up and cutting me a slice. “They’re from Southeast Asia.” It’s unexpectedly tart, a curious cross between a mango and a starfruit. I could be at a food market in Bangkok or
Barcelona. The only sign that we’re in the Caribbean are the bunches of plantain hanging from the ceiling. Those, and the traffic cone-coloured scotch bonnets that Luigi makes a beeline for. “How you doing today, Miss Joy?” He greets the vibrantly dressed woman manning the stall while grabbing the last two bags of the fiery, fruity peppers. Sporting aviator shades and cargo shorts, Luigi
bounces between vendors, addressing each one with a warm familiarity. A local restaurant owner and Grand Cayman native — his Italian-inflected name is due to his father’s admiration for footballer Luigi Riva — he’s proud of how local agriculture has exploded on the island in the last decade. “There’s a lot of diversity in what’s able to be grown here now, and it’s exciting to see,” he says. This agricultural variety is hard-earned. Arable
land in the Cayman Islands is severely limited, so more than 90% of produce is brought in from overseas. Despite this, a growing number of farmers and chefs are harnessing the resources at their disposal to create a genuine local food movement. The bustling Hamlin Stephenson Market, where
we’re standing, is a direct result of this burgeoning movement. Established in 2019, this central George Town institution brings together dozens of the Caymans’ independent food sellers, plus artisans selling jewellery and traditional crafts. After collecting an armful of ingredients he’ll
be cooking up later — pimento peppers, just-ripe coconuts, bags of grassy callalloo — Luigi invites us to lunch at one of his restaurants. We drive towards the port area, past pastel-splashed shops and idle cruise ships, until we reach Cayman Cabana. Set right on the water, this is Luigi’s farm-to-table ode to Caymanian cuisine, where ingredients are sourced locally whenever possible. “Everything I do is about celebrating the
Caymans,” Luigi says as we take a seat on the capacious overwater terrace. The midday sun is warm and the port is quiet, with only the waves as a soundtrack. It’s not long before our appetiser lands on the table — coconut ceviche, made entirely
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with fruit sourced from the market we just visited. The coconut is remarkably meaty, with a chewy, scallop-like texture and lashings of citrus. I scoop it up with crisps made of breadfruit — a starchy vegetable that’s a fixture of local diets — as Luigi tells me his story. He was born in the rural centre of Grand Cayman and recalls a wild childhood hiding in bushes and plucking cerasee (a bitter melon fruit grown around the Caribbean) from the branches. “I remember the school bus had to stop for
the cows,” he reflects, a small smile forming. In adulthood, Luigi ran a local fashion brand before meeting his wife, Christina, a Canadian working in local media on the island. Inspired by the Caymans’ growing agricultural community, they decided to open Cayman Cabana in 2012, despite having no restaurant experience. It took off, and a few years ago they opened their second outpost, Thatch & Barrel, on the cliffside grounds of Pedro St James. Once a plantation Great House, it’s one of the oldest surviving stone structures on the island. The conversation drifts back to the present as our
mains arrive — stew conch, drenched in fragrant coconut milk and flanked by fresh, pull-apart fritters and fried plantain. This chewy mollusc is central to Caymanian cuisine, and it’s most often served this way, the fresh-pressed coconut milk stained golden-brown from paprika and speckled with black pepper. We also dig into a tidy pile of ackee and saltfish — another signature dish, deliciously briny with a subtly creamy texture. It’s a veritable feast, but Luigi explains that this
abundance is fragile. “A single hurricane can sweep it all away, and it can take a long time before these ingredients are available on the island again.” Due to these precarious conditions, local farmers
have had to get creative, experimenting with protective cages, hardy crops and clever irrigation to make the soil yield the most stubborn harvests.
Farming in a fragile paradise The following day, I travel to visit one of these farmers, driving deep into the undeveloped island interior of Luigi’s childhood. The large resorts along the highway fall away, traded for swaying palms and candy-coloured houses trimmed with wrought-iron porches. Between them, I catch electric-blue flashes of the sea. A long dirt road crunches under the tyres until
Beacon Farms comes into view. Opened in 2017, it’s one of a handful of ‘backyard farms’ — so-called because their production is below industrial levels — now in operation on the island. I’m greeted by the senior supervisor, Obed Powery, dressed in a neon-green T-shirt, scuffed jeans and work boots.
There are shaggy okra plants crowned with delicate white flowers and small trees dangling with stubby aubergines
Clockwise from top: Beach Bay, near Bodden Town, is one of Grand Cayman’s more secluded beaches, known for its peaceful swimming cove; in coconut ceviche, coconut milk softens the sharpness of the lime; Beacon Farms provides training and employment for Caymanians recovering from addiction Previous pages, from left: Seven Mile Beach is one of the most renowned beaches in Grand Cayman, known for its vast stretch of alabaster sand and crystal-clear waters; Hamlin Stephenson Market features many independent food sellers and artisans
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