Several hundred people enjoyed free tastes of locally produced food cooked by some of Cayman’s best chefs at the market at The Grounds during the celebration of the territory’s first Slow Food Day on Saturday, 4 February.
A Cayman Culinary Month event, Slow Food Day included two elements, with the first starting out at The Grounds in Lower Valley where the regular Saturday morning farmers’ market took place with added elements.
Five local chefs cooking at stations provided by Bon Vivant prepared dishes using local ingredients provided by Cayman’s farmers.
The event was a collaboration between Slow Food Grand Cayman, Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, the Cayman Islands Agricultural Society and several local chefs and farmers.
The chefs and their dishes included Keith Griffin (island-spiced pork with fruity grilled vegetable salsa and scotch bonnet mustard), Thomas Tennant from Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink (Donna’s soft scrambled farm eggs on garlic toast with grilled green onions and Piave vecchio cheese), Nevin Patel from Brasserie (Patrick’s all-natural jerk chicken with heirloom tomatoes, Chinese long beans and local eggplant panzanella), Paul Carroll from Grand Cayman Beach Suites (warm pumpkin soup with toasted coconut and bruschetta of tomatoes and peppers) and Sara Mair from Ortanique (gnocchi with tomato and callaloo ragout and ackee nage). Farmers included Patrick Panton, Errol Watler, Hamlin Stephenson, Joel Walton, Donna Connolly and Paul Bodden.
From 9am to 11am, visitors to the market were given free tastes of the chefs’ food while swaying to the tropical tunes of the J.R. Douglas Band. Visitors also received free ‘green’ shopping bags with the Slow Food Day logo donated by the soon-to-open Bay Market. Children were able to play on a bouncy castle.
Governor Duncan Taylor and several of Cayman’s legislators came out to support the event, including Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Conolly, Leader of the Opposition Alden McLaughlin, Cabinet Minister Mark Scotland and East End MLA Arden McLean.
The event also served as the launch of the 45th Annual Cayman Islands Agricultural Show, which will take place Ash Wednesday, 22 February.
James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schwartz was also at The Grounds, as well as American celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman, who signed copies of his cookbook ‘Italian, My Way’.
During the evening, the Slow Food Day action moved to Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, where guests feasted on a four-course menu created by Chef Waxman and featured his dish chicken salsa verde, one of the staples offered at his Manhattan restaurant, Barbuto. The meal was paired with wines provided by Blackbeard’s.
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