The 17th annual Cayman Cookout has come to a close after hundreds of food and drink fans attended more than 70 events over the five-day festival, with chefs and mixologists coming from around the world to offer cooking demonstrations and share culinary secrets.
Top French chef Gerard Bertholon who was attending his ninth Cayman Cookout, summed up the appeal of the festival to chefs and food fans alike.
“Everyone’s sharing ideas so when you go home, you’re full of inspiration from what you’ve seen here,” he said, while slicing onions fresh from the sous-vide at Rum Point’s Beach Bash on Saturday. “The chefs ask each other, ‘How did you do that?’ and you give them the recipe. There’s no rivalry, no competition.”
The relaxed Cayman vibe also helped, he said.
“You know, if we are doing this show in New York or Washington, it would be be more stiff, but when you arrive in Cayman, you just let it go. People are in shorts, on the beach, they’re not wearing shoes, so when you talk to them, they have a different mindset. It’s very informal.”
The festival, hosted as always by The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman kicked off on 14 Jan. with an ‘Epicurean Eve’ and ended on Sunday 18 Jan. with a sold-out Grand Finale dinner at the Blue by Eric Ripert restaurant, celebrating not only the Cookout festival but also 20 years of the Ritz-Carlton in Grand Cayman.
In between, events such as the popular Barefoot BBQ on Seven Mile Beach, the Beach Bash at Rum Point and the signature Sunday Brunch were highlights of a packed schedule that included food and drink from countries around the world including Italy, Haiti, China, Mexico, Japan, the US and of course, Cayman and the Caribbean.
The Barefoot BBQ was possibly the largest event of the festival, with hundreds of people kicking off their shoes to sample food, wine and cocktails from dozens of tasting stations. One of the chefs serving up culinary delights was Vincent Rodier, who said he was enjoying the festival vibe.
“I think it’s the most unique chef event in the world, to have so many chefs in the same place for five days,” he said. “It’s also an incredible location and the people are very welcoming and friendly.”
Like many festival ticket-holders, Kent and Jean Marie Newman from the US had come to the Cayman Islands specially for the Cayman Cookout. “It’s my fifth year here and while it’s expensive, it’s just amazing,” he said. “This year we encouraged four of our friends to come along with us.”
The Newmans had planned a packed schedule during their time on island.
“We play golf and tennis and pickleball in the morning, then maybe do some scuba-diving and then a Cayman Cookout event or two during the day,” said Kent. “In total I think we’re going to eight events, including the Champagne and pickleball event, which we won! We’re also going to try some restaurants beyond the festival too. We love the local chefs as well as the international ones and it’s a great way to experience some great food.”
Expectant parents Josh and Lindsay Savage from North Carolina said that it was a last-minute decision to come to the Cayman Islands.
“We wanted to go somewhere before the baby arrives, and we’d narrowed it down to a couple of places, but then we found out that the Cayman Cookout was happening and that was the decision made,” said Lindsay.
After sampling everything at the Barefoot BBQ they were planning to spend the days relaxing and evenings visiting local restaurants including The Wharf, Ragazzi and The Lobster Pot.
“We love the Cayman Islands; it’s our favourite spot,” said Josh. “I’ve been here three times now.”
Attending the Grown in Cayman event on the Ritz-Carlton Great Lawn, Minister for District Administration and Home Affairs Nickolas DaCosta sampled the local snapper tostados and had particular praise for the Ministry of Agriculture’s partnership with the event, which connected local farmers with international chefs.
“Here we have local chefs and local produce, showcasing how world-class our local cuisine is,’ he said. “We’re known as the culinary capital of the world and I think it is true.”
Also attending Grown in Cayman was Agriculture Minister Jay Ebanks.
“What I love about Cayman Cookout is that it gives us the opportunity to showcase what our local farmers can do, particularly when it helps us with our food security,” he said. “It’s opening up tourism and bringing agriculture to tourism, which I want to continue.”
He added, “The connections that our farmers make from the tourism market have been unbelievable, especially when we started our NEST programme [and] now we have a lot more of our hotels starting to take our local products … and that’s what this is about.”
Chefs taking part in this year’s Cayman Cookout included Eric Ripert, Andrew Zimmern, Dean Max, Emeril and E. J. Lagasse, Jose Andres, Stephanie Izard and The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman’s culinary director Frederic Morineau.
This year, said the organisers, the festival focused on introducing up-and-coming chefs as well as more established names, and also featured more drink-related events with leading mixologists and sommeliers including global bartending champion Charles Joly and bartender and author Jeffrey Morganthaler.
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This is so wonderful to hear how the tourist $$ reached well beyond the event and into other facets of our community. Bravo to the CC! Bravo to incentivizing stay over tourism! I sure don’t hear of the cruise ships creating a positive community impact on this scale (if at all).