May 2017


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The UWI’s Faculty of Food and Agriculture hosted the practical component of its “Development of Caribbean Cuisine” course, on April 15, 2017, giving students a chance to showcase their skills to the public. In its third consecutive year, the theme this time around was “Caribbean Delights in 28 Bites,” and featured the authentic tastes of seven Caribbean states, alongside a backdrop of solid entertainment, serene weather, great people and a range of on-site vendors from artisanal to commercial. Managed by the course lecturer, Nequesha Dalrymple, this year’s event outshone its previous two, and has everyone, including myself, looking forward to next year.

The students fared brilliantly under the pressure of managing their respective kitchens, engaging with their customers and arranging their creative decorative displays to lure votes for the coveted “People’s Choice” award.

From my perspective as an event judge, we assessed various components of their presentations, from knowledge about the dishes and the countries that they represented, to culinary specifics such as food science, safety, standards and a little general banter to lighten things up a bit. No questions were left unanswered, evidence that their lecturers did a stellar job preparing them for the real world. This was also backed by some long patron lines at each tent, with some of them returning for seconds and in some cases thirds.

As a judge, it was a little overwhelming to taste well over 28 bites in a compressed time, but our palates were offered a brief interlude with a surprise live performance by Isasha, a popular local dancehall, reggae and soca artist, who had the crowd singing along to his popular tunes.

The dishes were simply brilliant and for each country there were at least one amazing bite that made me go WOW! Innovation and creativity was really at the forefront and these students all delivered.

The seven teams:

  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Cuba
  • Grenada
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • St. Lucia
  • St. Martin

Judging Panel:

  • Mr. Ottley Alexis
  • Ms. Michelle John
  • Ms. Renata Sankar
  • Mr. Noveck Gowandan

The winners:

  • 1st Place: Team Bahamas
  • 2nd Place: Team Cuba
  • 3rd Place: Team St. Kitts and Nevis

People’s Choice: St. Martin

Noveck Gowandan is a cook, food blogger and the eLearning team lead at Campus IT Services, UWI, St. Augustine.