Cooking "Foodie" Tours?

[gold1959]

We will be in St. Lucia on March 1, 2013 on Celebrity Eclipse. Hubs is a chef (I'm his "foodie" LOL) and I'm looking for an interesting local cusine cooking /market /eating /drinking/learning day for us! Any advice, connections, contacts, ideas? If not St. Lucia, other possibilities are Antigua, Grenada, Barbados, or Curacao... Thanks!

[reedprincess]

We will be in St. Lucia on March 1, 2013 on Celebrity Eclipse. Hubs is a chef (I'm his "foodie" LOL) and I'm looking for an interesting local cusine cooking /market /eating /drinking/learning day for us! Any advice, connections, contacts, ideas? If not St. Lucia, other possibilities are Antigua, Grenada, Barbados, or Curacao... Thanks!

 

Several ideas. Right across from the port is the Castries Food, Spive and Craft Market. It was recently rated the #3 food market in the world by National Geographic. You can wander through there and sample local produce, etc. There are several small food stalls where they prepare fresh meals with local products - not sure they will let you in the back to cook with them, but you can see it being done with the ingredients from the market - including meats and fish, etc. Was featured on Food Netowk a few years ago with Paula Dean.

Contact the St. Lucia Tourist Board about setting up a cooking demonstration at one of the local resorts or restaurants. Definitely possibility.

Contact several of the resorts or restaurants directly and perhaps speak with the chefs and arrange your own cooking demonstration/experience.

Some that have very talented and world renowned chefs near the port: The Edge in Rodney Bay, Jaques in Rodney Bay, Cap Maison, Calabash Cove, Xavier's in Rodney Bay or Spices of India in RB.

Also consider contacting Jade Mountain, Anse Chastenet, Jalousie, Ladera and Hotel Chocolat in Soufriere. They are all about 1-1.15 hours from the port, but all are 5 star luxury resorts with amazing local gourmet dining and outstanding chefs. AC/Jade Mountain are sister resorts and they produce comes from their own farm - perhaps a tour of the farm and then cooking demo. Ladera does cooking demos during the week, but not sure which days.

Another last option may be to contact Chef Orlando at Mago Estate in Soufriere. He used to be the chef at Ladera - helped develop the menus, etc. and is still a consultant chef for them. Amazing with the local ingredients, etc. He may be able to arrange something.

Good luck - there are not organized cooking or food tours of the island. You would have to do a lot of the leg work/planning/contacting, etc yourselves. If the food & craft market doesn't appeal, then consider going through the tourist board or contacting the resorts directly. They all have websites/email. Enjoy your visit.

[Floridiana]

This market is certainly colorful..... but sanitary? Maybe they cleaned before Paula showed up with a camera team.

 

I would try all of the tourist boards of the islands you have mentioned. At least one of them should have an appropriate offer. I saw a cooking class as part of an excursion in Dominica and on Yucatan. Maybe some other places have caught up with this trend.

 

Barbados had a rum tasting at 10 am - very good! It was held under the Banyan tree of a restaurant behind one of the museums = former sugar baron estate: Sunbury Great House

http://www.barbadosgreathouse.com/

The Bajans are an enterprising lot.

http://www.foodwinerum.com/

 

By the way, Oceania is the perfect cruise line for foodies!

[gold1959]

Thank you both! I will check it all out! The food/craft/spice market sounds like an absolute must-do for us! Yum-O! :)