Permanently based in Grand Cayman, one can be easily get caught up in the pressing issues of the day – rollover; traffic; insurance premiums; status gyrations – and lose sight of the number of small things that combine for the good life we enjoy here.
A case in point would be the home-made soup you can get at Foster’s (Hurley’s and other places sell it, too) every day of the week. These piping hot offerings are not only great for the palate; they are also very friendly to the pocket book: for a nudge over $3 you can get a substantial cup of soup and a tasty bun – that’s a bargain in any man’s country. And in case you’ve never sampled them, let me assure you that this is no strained out and diet-driven clear broth akin to what is found in hospital kitchens. This is potent stuff, laced with chunks of meat, a variety of vegetables, and red beans or spinners dancing around. This is stick-to-your ribs fare; the kind that calls for a spoon; the kind you could never suck up with a straw. This is food, mister; sustenance guaranteed to take you through the day – for the larger appetite, buy two. This is the kind of nutrition that, as we say in the Eastern Caribbean, ‘makes you walk fast’.
Besides good taste, you also get variety. Some days it’s red beans, some days gungo peas (some of us call it pigeon peas) and every conceivable kind of bread kind, including some you’re not sure of, is swimming around down there ready to fill you up.
And it’s so convenient. You don’t have to wait to be attended to; you don’t have to fidget while your order is being processed. You simply walk in there, manoeuvre the ladle to get the right combination of meat, vegetables and bread kind that you prefer, and you’re out the door in five minutes flat – time enough to do a couple other chores on your lunch hour.
When you stop and think about it, that lunch time soup is a bonanza. We sail through there, scoop one up and are gone with it, saving time and money, but not often seeing it for what it is – one of the many small things that make for the good life in Cayman.
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