SOLID GOLD

BARBADOS’ golden culinary team touched down at the Grantley Adams International Airport to a warm welcome from tourism officials on Wednesday night.

The team won six gold and silver in the annual Taste of the Caribbean, culinary competition, held in Miami, last weekend. Thirteen teams from other Caribbean islands competed.

The victorious team also brought home the prizes of Caribbean Team-of-the-Year, Caribbean Bartender-of-the-Year and Best Seafood Overall.

The members of the group, who walked off the plane proudly carrying their gold medals, were greeted on the tarmac by the Chairman of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), Alvin Jemmott, who praised and thanked them for a job well done and for putting their country on top.

The cheer continued in the arrival lounge where they were congratulated by the President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), President Roseanne Myers, BHTA Chairman Paul Collymore, and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association president-elect Patricia Affonso-Dass, among other tourism officials.

Myers told The Barbados Advocate that BHTA was ecstatic to see that the members of the team were reaping the benefits of their hard work, having spent long hours preparing for the intensive competition.

Furthermore, while last year it was felt that Barbados should have won the overall team prize, the members did not let that stop them from giving their best this year.

“They went forward positively and they got the results. If you look at the number of gold medals apart from the overall team prize, it really says that it’s a rounded team of persons who work very well together.

“The team went out under the leadership of Chef Henderson Butcher and did the job well. We need good news in Barbados right now and they certainly have given us some, “Myers said.

“The BHTA has for many years been involved with the competition and we want to say congratulations to Judy Wilkinson [BHTA’s Special Projects Co-ordinator] who co-ordinated the team this year,” the President said.

Meanwhile, bartender coach Jamaal Bowen said despite last year’s hiccup which caused the team not to bring home the coveted prize of Caribbean Team of the Year, copping so many gold medals this year definitely filled that void.

“The mere fact that in almost every single category we received a gold medal and kept the points really high is absolutely an amazing thing.

“For Ryan [Adamson] to win Bartender of the Year and become a hall of famer is actually another massive thing that pays tribute to what we go through every single year in the culinary team,” Bowen said.

Minister of Tourism and International Transport Richard Sealy was not at the airport to greet the team members on their arrival. However, speaking to the Barbados Advocate earlier that day, Sealy said he was delighted, but not surprised at the team’s achievements.

The Minister said he too was aware of the hard work the team put in every year in preparing for the highly anticipated competition, noting that he was pleased to have been a partner in the exercise.

“They are an excellent culinary team; a combination of experience and youth. We have some young people on that team that definitely are the future of our culinary experience. So I congratulate all of them,” Sealy said. (AH)