Georgetown: Five Guyanese chefs are slated to showcase a range of dishes at the Jamaican Epicurean Escape in Jamaica on May 24 and 25, Fly Jamaica Airways announced yesterday at a press briefing at their head office in Ogle, East Coast Demerara.
The Guyanese chefs, their assistants and six chefs from New York will be attending this festival, an annual gastronomic extravaganza, courtesy of Fly Jamaica.
The five Guyanese from various restaurants in Guyana are: Nesa Walker from Oasis Café; John Bettencourt of Bettencourt Food Establishment; Dane Henry from Carnegie; Bharratt Puppyal from Princess Hotel Guyana; and Dustin Dalgetty from Silhouette Restaurant.
Managing Director of Fly Jamaica Airways, Roxanne Reece, said that she believes it is part of the company’s role not only to facilitate the movement of Caribbean people within the Region but also to help in strengthening the bonds among the territories of the Region by highlighting the similarities that the Region shares.
She said: “The Jamaican Epicurean Escape provides the ideal platform on which to exhibit the tie we share. We eat many of the same foods; it is only that we prepare them differently. Our Guyanese chefs are looking forward to working at the festival and the opportunity it will present for them to interact with other chefs.”
She explained that they picked the foods that they would like to have the chefs prepare and this is because they wanted to have foods that are basic to the Region’s culture. Some of the foods to be prepared at the festival are ‘cook-up rice’, dhal, coconut choka, boulanger choka, pepper pot, and metemgee, among others.
Reece noted also that on numerous occasions her flight crew would take delicacies from Guyana to Jamaica, and they would be enthusiastic about their comments and compliments. The airline will soon be introducing their own cuisine onboard for passengers to enjoy.
Indranauth Haralsingh, Director of Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), congratulated Fly Jamaica Airways on being the first to have embarked on such a venture and he also commended their efforts to promote Guyana. He noted that when visitors come to Guyana, “we are guaranteed that they will consume at least three meals daily and as such we would need to make a lasting impression on them.”
He also encouraged and congratulated the participants and indicated that they are not only going to impress persons with their culinary skills but they are also tourism ambassadors of Guyana. “With food we have a competitive advantage here in Guyana because we are an agricultural-based rRgion and our importation of food is low,” Haralsingh said. He reiterated that the Ministry of Tourism and GTA have organised the Guyana Festival slated for the August 8-10, 2014 and within these three days there will also be a cook-off done by various ethnic groups across Guyana.
He also stated that the Ministry of Tourism and GTA are in full support of the ‘Best Chef Competition’ which will be held in October, where chefs from across Guyana will participate. “We will crown our best chef and that chef will then move to the next round to compete with other Caribbean chefs for the title of ‘Best Chef in the Caribbean’ in Miami – this is also sponsored by Fly Jamaica Airways.
The Jamaica Epicurean Escape is an annual event that celebrates excellence in Jamaica’s food, music and culture. This two-day event showcases the most celebrated chefs in Jamaica along with the young and upcoming who have stood out from the rest in their field. The objective of the Jamaica Epicurean Escape is to showcase the best of Jamaica’s food, music and culture, while paying tribute to the international influences that have come together to create what the world now knows and loves as Jamaican.
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