Food & Rum Festival off to hot start

FOR the next few days, the local culinary scene is expected to be a hive of activity as the 2019 edition of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival gets into full swing. With this year marking the 10th anniversary of the annual event, worlds are set to collide as local and international stars of the food and drink meet up here in the culinary capital of the Caribbean.

Getting started on Thursday night with an event called “Night Out in Oistins”, the traditional Friday night activities were bumped up a day as hundreds came out to witness and partake of the mastery of chefs and mixologists on hand. Setting the tone for the rest of this weekend’s activities, Chef Creig also celebrated his 10th year with the festival as he kicked things off with a no-bake vegetable macaroni pie as he was assisted by England’s Tom Aikens and Canada’s Craig Harding, who have been fixtures in the festival for the past three years.

Keeping things light and fun, they executed Creig’s spin on the local traditional dish. One of the other highlights of the night was Mixologist Damian Williams cocktail which he called ‘Monkey Business’ and created just the night before.

With last night seeing the festival moving into Day 2 with the Gourmet Safari Dine Around, today will see Pelican Village come alive with the Food Truck Mash-Up which is set to run from 2:00 PM to midnight as locals and visitors alike will be able to sample some of the island’s finest street food offerings. The festival comes to a climax on Sunday night with Epicure: An Evening of Elegance at Ilaro Court.