By Aviso Paul in Barbados
The Barbados Food and Rum Festival has returned to the island of the flying fish after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grand culinary festival, which is being hosted by the Barbados Tourism and Marketing Inc. (BTMI), was declared open on Thursday evening with a traditional street lime at Oistins, Christ Church, Barbados, which saw thousands of persons, including tourists, on hand.
At the opening, which was given the theme of “Oistins Under the Stars” and ran until the wee hours of Friday, Barbadian chef Greg Greenidge kick-started proceedings by showing live on stage how the Bajan fish cake is prepared. While it is similar to the local fish cakes, it is made with stripped salt fish in a unique, well-seasoned batter, which is then scooped up and placed into a hot pot of oil, in much the same way pholourie is made.
In addition to the cooking, there was live entertainment and performances by various Bajan artistes as well as mixologists on hand to serve a diverse variety of rum, rum punches and other alcoholic beverages.
A regular tourist to Barbados, Benarva Brown, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was at the opening event and praised how the cultural aspects were integrated into the experience.
“I really enjoy the cultural aspect, like the drumming and dancing. Although it’s a rum and food festival, it still shows how they were able to incorporate everything. The setup there at Oistins was very, all the food was very authentic and the rum punches were really good. I love that you can’t really taste the alcohol in the drinks… this entire experience thus far has been really great… I’ve visited Barbados before on numerous occasions but this trip I was able to immerse myself in every single way,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, a first time visitor to the island, Sabrina Diaz, said it had been a great experience, particularly “seeing the people come together where the similar cultures were portrayed” and the food, which she noted was shared in large portions. “The official opening of the festival was amazing, the drums and the dances and the entertainment over all was very thrilling. I’m just really excited for the continuation of the festival.” The young woman, who is from Venezuela but resides in Miami, where she does public relations, also said that she hopes to visit Guyana one day for Mashramani, which she has heard all about.
“So it’s because I won a trip that’s why I’m here and I’m super elated for that cause it has been an experience so far. The food and the rum punches that I had last night (Thursday night) were delicious, the fish was well seasoned and the punches you couldn’t tell that they had alcohol so the mixologists really outdid themselves,” said Sidni Fullerton from Jamaica.
A journalist called Bruno (only name given) from Martinique and who is a frequent visitor to the island explained that his experience this time around was more “intoxicating and sweet”. Bruno described the food as “well seasoned” but “a bit different” from what he’s accustomed to. “Other than the tasty fishes and other dishes, the rum punches were very good as well, they tasted like normal drinks but we both know it had some rum in there” he added.
Among those in the packed streets of Oistins on Thursday night were visitors from the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Mexico and other counties far from and near to Barbados.
Along with ‘Oistins Under the Stars’, there are a series of activities that are planned for festival, such as ‘A Fusion of Culinary Secrets,’ where a number of chefs from various countries around the world will be given the opportunity to cook their favourite dishes live in front an audience mostly comprising a number of journalists from around the world; and ‘Rum Route,’ will allow access to the offerings of all the restaurants and bars in Barbados which will be in various booths at St. Lawrence Gap, along with local entertainment and a street parade.
Additionally, for the first time ever, the festival will see the ‘Rise and Rum Breakfast Beach Party,’ which will be done early in the morning at the beach side. There will also be other events.
BFRF1: The chefs preparing to cook at the official opening of the Food and Rum Festival at Oistins, Christ Church, Barbados
