GRENADA OFFERS YOU
Spicy Grenada is packed with fun, flavour and friendly locals, as renowned chef Rosemary Shrager discovered
Y
ou'd think that being a chef, I'd want to escape the toils of the kitchen while on holiday – but the opposite is true. I jump at the chance to experience new flavours and gather fresh inspiration.
And where better to tickle your tastebuds than in glorious Grenada? The island is known for its zesty spices and self- sufficiency – the only food it imports is milk. Meat and fish are plentiful and, because the soil is very fertile, the vegetables, fruit and salads are the glossiest you'll ever see.
Grenada's seasons are similar to our own, which means cauliflower, broccoli and pumpkins in spring. Exotic fruit – mangoes, star fruit, passion fruit, melon and skin-up, which is like a lychee – are the stars of the summer.
Autumn heralds guavas, sweetsop (sugar apples) and soursop (similar to pawpaw), and then there is the temptingly named mammee apple, which is a Caribbean version of a peach. I stayed in the southwest of the island at Peter de Savary's Mount Cinnamon Resort on Grand Anse Beach, near the charming town of St George.
It offers well-equipped self- catering villas, each with its own terrace and wonderful views of the bay. You can cook your own supper, but the bubbling restaurant scene is difficult to resist.
Beach bars abound. I especially liked the Beach Cabana at Mount Cinnamon, where they serve fabulously strong cocktails made with local rum at all hours of the day and night.
People come across from nearby islands to enjoy the weekly bonfire on the beach, at which local musicians play. This is the Caribbean at its best. Just beware of those generous drinks
measures! The main restaurant is the open-air
Savvy, where the farm-to-table cuisine features a mix
of Caribbean and Asian traditions with freshly-grown vegetables from the hotel's own gardens and from nearby plantations.
I order plums, mangoes, cherries and avocados, all picked that day. The fish is as fresh as can be – so the tuna tartare, a signature dish, almost leaps off the plate. The next day, I watch a fish cookery demonstration at Mount Cinnamon: a traditional dish of kingfish marinated in coconut, ginger, lime, spices, peppers and chives, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over a wood fire, and served with delicious breadfruit chips.
If you want to mingle with Grenadans, there is nowhere better than a rambunctious food market. St George's market brims with local spices and everything else that is grown on the island.
16 DIALAFLIGHT WORLD January 2021
In a 17th-century working plantation – a colonial house and estate – you can witness the crops of fruit, exotic flowers and spices in
their regimented glory. Here, I learn to cook the Grenadan national dish, oil down. This is a hearty, one-pot meal with
Paradise on a plate
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