FOOD TOURISM - DO WE TRAVEL TO EAT?

 

New research has shown that food tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors for the discerning traveller.Enjoying local food and drink is becoming one of the dominant ways that Brits interact with a local culture,  according to a survey by Caxton FX. While 14% of people said that they spend most of their budget for a holiday experiencing tourist attractions and going on day trips, a staggering 53% said that eating out in local restaurants was an essential part of experiencing the local nuances while abroad.

Top tourist destinations tend to have unique gastronomy that is rooted to their origins, and this research proves that Brits are some of the most experimental and gastronomically curious of all Europeans, putting food as a consistent factor that contributes to a good holiday.

This should be good news for anyone heading to a winter sun holiday in Barbados this November.World renowned chefs including Marcus Samuelsson, Jose Garces and Anne Burrell are set to return to the Caribbean island for the fourth annual Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival, 22 – 25 November 2013.
Marcus Samuelsson - the man who made Ethiopian food sexy - is one of my favourite chefs. His Red Rooster restaurant in New York's Harlem is regularly packed out and is one of the few places which manages to combine African, European and American cuisine

MOTHERS RUIN REVISITED - MORE GIN HITS THE CAPITAL

 

In 1751, artist William Hogarth published his satirical print ‘Gin Lane’, which depicted disturbing scenes including a gin-crazed mother, covered in syphilitic sores, unwittingly dropping her baby to its death down some cellar stairs. From such gin sodden debauchery to the glamorous Martini bars of ritzy hotels, London has been the spiritual home of gin for centuries and the affair continues with a new generation of brands and drinking establishments throughout the capital In the last decade or so enthusiasm for interesting gins has grown, and with it, the number of small distillers such as  Portobello Road, a small outfit boasting its own 'Ginstitute', a tiny room above the Portobello Star dedicated to the history and scientific understanding of gin.

Mini gin distillery Sispsmith in Hammersmith has open days  and tasting evenings, although I hear they are currently booked through into the new year

And last night I met another gin - Butlers’s Gin a new, British, artisan spirit produced in Hackney Wick, East London. A smooth yet refreshing fusion of juniper, lemongrass, cardamom and citrus notes, Butler’s Gin has a light, crisp character which is set to become the drink of choice for the cognoscenti, bringing something extraordinary to every occasion.

Ross William Butler is The Butler. A designer, brand developer and lifelong gin obsessive, Ross spends much of his time on his speedboat Fletcher, enjoying the waterways of South-east England.  It was on Fletcher, whilst moored in London's Docklands one summer, that The Butler developed his first batch of gin.  This small personal venture swiftly grew as friends and acquaintances tasted its delectable aroma.

Originally inspired by a Victorian recipe, the gin is placed in a 20-litre glass jar with infusion bags containing fresh lemongrass, cardamom, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, fennel, lemon and lime. After infusing for 18 hours it is hand-bottled.  

Ross was handing out the gin at the delightful Hackney Heart, a lovely pop-up shop . gallery and creative space on hackneys Mare Street.

 Originally intended as a medicine, gin became suddenly affordable in Britain due to changes in the duty levied following the accession of William of Orange to the throne. French brandy prices went through the roof, a great many small-scale gin distilleries were established across London and by the early years of the 18th century what had become known as the Gin Craze was truly out of hand. In the first third of the 19th century, advancements in distillation eventually allowed for the mass-production of pure spirits using "continuous" stills. These spirits were then re-distilled to make "London dry gin", the defining stipulations for which are still in force today: it must contain no added sugar, be flavoured primarily with juniper and a minimum of 37.5% alcohol by volume.

With the discovery that quinine was effective against malaria the colonial officer class began to drink the new "tonic water" enlivened with gin. Now enjoyed in fashionable circles, the rehabilitation of mothers' ruin was complete, with the added bonus that the antimalarial tonic water actually worked.

The perception of a link between gin and glamorous living received another fillip in the jazz age. The drinking of cocktails and the culture around them grew and flourished even during American prohibition, and President Roosevelt's first act upon signing the paperwork which repealed the alcohol ban was to mix a martini, using plenty of gin, vermouth and olive brine. The growing popularity of gin cocktails provided the distillers with another challenge: the fruity juniper and citrussy coriander seed flavours which work so well with tonic water are not always ideal in a cocktail

MINOR DILEMMAS - TRAVELS WITH MY SONS

 

I am walking down Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, followed by three youths wearing hoodies. They are right behind me, muttering and swearing. They are breathing down my neck. I can smell their sweat.

They are my sons.

 

 

This is our last Big Family Holiday. The Boys are aged 20, 18 and 16. So before they flew the nest, we flew them to California, where under 21s are not allowed to drink alcohol. The challenge was to find out if all the family could enjoy themselves in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas while respecting the local laws regarding minors. Would the boys be too old for Micky Mouse, too young for Caesar’s Palace?

 

Luckily many attractions in California reduce even mature adults to the level of children. By the time we reached The Simpsons’ Ride at Universal Studios, Los Angeles, we had practically turned into Homer, Marge and co.

 

In San Francisco, the hippy trail on Haight Ashbury was strangely intriguing to a generation conceived 20 years after The Summer of Love, but the boys’ favourite stop was at the sobering island penitentiary Alcatraz. We escaped The Rock for milk shakes on Pier 39.

 

Leaving California behind, we drove through the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas, stopping en route at Calico, developed in 1881 during the largest silver strike in California. Now a ghost town, it is a quaint and rickety taste of the old Wild West where grown men and big kids alike can play at cowboys.

 

Las Vegas is where Peaches Geldof married ,aged 19. ‘There probably wasn’t anything else to do’ empathised my sons.  Although bouncers kept them away from the gaming machines and the bars, star struck teenagers found the buzz and bling of Vegas addictive enough on its own.

Flying home across the Grand Canyon, we agreed that although alcohol-wise this region  is as dry as the desert for the under 21s, we all got a kick out of California and Las Vegas.

 

Cooking with Omega at True Blue Bay, Grenada

One of the great things about visiting the Caribbean is the opportuntity to taste and enjoy the many flavours of the islands. The freshness of the produce such as locally caught fish and the tropical colours of the fruits add a dimension to the trip that  enhances the experience. So, Ive enjoyed conch in The Bahamas, jerk chicken in Jamaica and sampled souse in St Kitts. But for spices, its got to be Grenada. Its not called the Spice isle for nothing. here we find nutmeg, cinnamon, mace and very conceivable pepper, each with their own distinctive taste. On a recent visit i stayed at True Blue Bay resort in the south of Grenada where among other things, I enjoyed a  cookery session with the chef Omega who taught us how to make delicacies such as plantain baked in orange ginger and fish and callaloo fritters.  Omega, pictured here, was thorough and entertaining teacher and the proof of the dishes was certainly in the eating, which we did with gusto!

The hotel is decorated in vibrant tropical colours and there is even a Nutmeg Colada on the cocktail menu

ON THE MARLEY TRAIL

JAMAICA - ON THE MARLEY TRAIL

A trip to Jamaica to see two of  reggae icon Bob Marley’s homes and his final resting place took us to  through the  colourful capital of Kingston , the lively beach resort of Ocho Rios and the fabulous countryside inbetween.

To follow reggae legend Bob Marley from cradle to grave takes about 2 minutes, stepping from the house where he lived as a child to the mausoleum where he is laid to rest in St Ann, in the north of Jamaica. We chose to start the reggae trail in Kingston and then took in Jamaica’s lush interior en route to Ocho Rios, but the highlight of the trip was the music.

Everybody on the five-hour Zion Bus tour taking us from Ocho Rios to the Bob Marley Mausoleum, Nine Mile., was singing. The tour includes lashings of rum punch and videos of Bob’s concerts, which made it impossible not to join in. The village of Nine Mile in the rural parish of St Ann is where Bob Marley was born and where he is buried, along with his half brother. His body is encased in a large square tomb covered by a simple cloth.

The site is treated with great reverence and loyal fans come from all over the world to lay tributes to Jamaica’s most famous son. A stream of fast-talking Rastafarian guides, most of them claiming to be close family friends, gave us endless detail about Bob’s life,. They say sometimes Bob’s mum, Nessa, will pop out to say hello but she wasn’t around the day we went.

Bob’s final resting place is twice the size of the house he occupied when young, which is next door.  The small house is painted beige with streaks of red, yellow, and green. - The colours of the Rastafari.

We had started our journey 80 miles south in Kingston, where even Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were photographed playing the bongos outside the Bob Marley Museum, during their whirlwind tour of the Caribbean . Their Royal Highnesses joined Bob’s widow Rita Marley at a mini concert staged in the grounds and they are said to be keen reggae fans. The museum is housed in Bob Marley’s old house and recording studio on Hope Road.

Kingston is not always top of the list for visitors to Jamaica but is well worth a visit before embarking on the journey to the big beach resorts of the north. We found it perfectly safe to wander around the historic centre, crammed with 17th-century buildings; see some Jamaican art at the National Gallery and some tropical blooms at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

A couple of doors from Bob Marley’s museum is Devon House, which was built in the late 19th century by George Stiebel, Jamaica's first black millionaire. It has some pleasant restaurants off the courtyard garden, but we settled for a couple of patties on the lawn.

Before heading north to the beaches, from Kingston we took a ride out into the dramatic Blue Mountains which form the backbone of the island. There I came across the Twyfords; a British couple who 30 years ago made a home perched in the mountains and grow their own coffee using traditional methods.

The interior of Jamaica is also a heaven for bird watchers, and houses a number of fabulous eco-lodges and rainforest tours. Lime Tree Farm in the Blue Mountains is a quiet retreat, about an hour and a half's drive from Kingston, where you can taste great home-style Jamaican food such as traditional breakfasts of breadfruit and fresh ackee - spicy callaloo soup, fried fresh fish

Three thousand feet above sea level, the Blue Mountains are popular with artists and birdwatchers that come to see hummingbirds or the rarely spotted Jamaican lizard cuckoo

We stopped for lunch at Strawberry Hill, owned by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records and credited with bringing Marley’s music to the masses.

Blackwell’s Island Outpost operates a number of high-end resorts in Jamaica which include Strawberry Hill and Goldeneye, the previous home of Ian Fleming where all the James Bond books were written, is among the most exclusive of these resorts.

The famous James Bond beach can be found at Orcabessa, just 20 minutes from the hustle and bustle of Ocho Rios. When we eventually arrived in ‘Ochy’ as it is affectionately known, we found Orcabessa and took a guided waverunner tour which passed Goldeneye, as well as a number of other impressive residences of the rich and famous. Bob Marley, who died aged 36, never lived to see such luxury, but James Bond Beach is also home to many international and local concerts, including the Bob Marley Tribute, which takes place throughout the year.

Away from the Bond girls and the many all inclusive beach resorts that dominate the coastline, Jamaica, which is the 2nd largest island in the Caribbean, has a huge personality. Despite is lively reputation; it is one of the safest destinations in the Caribbean. Jamaicans are the Liverpudlians of the Caribbean, they love nothing more than wise–cracking, and although reggae is taken very seriously here, most other things aren’t.

ROCK STARS - CARIBBEAN PETROGLYPHS

  Long before the planes, the cruise ships and the tourists ever came to the Caribbean; long before the region was settled by the British, or even discovered by Christopher Columbus, there was a civilisation on the Caribbean islands, then inhabited by native Arawak Indians that through their rock art can still be appreciated today.

Caribs, Arawak, Siboney. Kalinago - these early inhabitants lived on the Caribbean islands from around the time of Christ to 1650 AD (approx).

Although little remains of their ancient culture, they left their mark in a range of fascinating stone carvings (petroglyphs) which still exist on many islands including Anguilla, St Vincent, St Kitts, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe  and Grenada. These mysterious drawings provide an insight into the early people of the islands and their beliefs, and are currently being studied by archaeologists from all over the world

But you don’t need to be an archaeologist to appreciate these carvings. As well as giving us a glimpse of the past, the petroglyphs are all visible in beautiful locations dotted around the islands

ST KITTS

As you approach the entrance to the Wingfield Manor Estate, you will find fascinating Carib Petroglyphs. These drawings show two of the original carvings drawn by the Caribs, perhaps depicting images of their Zemi or gods.

Anguilla

   Based on archaeological research we now know that, in common with many other                Caribbean islands, Anguilla was first occupied by indigenous peoples as early as 1500 B.C. At least two of the sites identified thus far in Anguilla can be attributed to this era, referred to by archaeologists as the "Preceramic" or "Archaic" period.

The Fountain on Anguilla is a cave filled with Arawak-carved petroglyphs. Recently, some 40,000 Amerindian artifacts have been uncovered on the island... A few of the local residents are in the process of compiling an inventory of  the remaining undisturbed sites, so tread carefully when checking them out

Where to see them

The cavern is in The Fountain National Park which comprises 14.46 acres of land located in the north east of the island on the western side of Shoal Bay. The Fountain Cavern is a large limestone cavern located on a ridge at about 70ft above sea level

St Vincent

Thomas Huckerby, an archaeological surveyor and British missionary on the islands of St. Vincent and Grenada first revealed the St. Vincent petroglyphs to the outside world in his 1914 American Anthropologist article: Petroglyphs of St. Vincent, British West Indies. There Huckerby commented: “Throughout the West Indies archipelago, there is nothing of greater archaeological importance than the St. Vincent petroglyphs”

Where to see them

North of Kingstown, lofty terrain rises before descending to the water. Here you can see the massive Carib Rock, with a human face carving dating from A.D. 600, but the locals say it looks as if someone painted it yesterday.

Puerto Rico

The Taino or pre-Taino site in southern Puerto Rico provides new information on Indian life in the area before the arrival of Columbus, from sacred rituals to eating habits. Tainos were the first Indians that Columbus met during his voyages, and they migrated from mainland several centuries before he discovered the New World.

The lady carved on the ancient rock is squatting, with frog-like legs sticking out to each side. Her decapitated head is dangling to the right. That's how she had been, perfectly preserved, for up to 800 years, until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came upon her while building a $375 million dam to control flooding in southern Puerto Rico.One interesting petroglyph depicts a human figure with frog legs. The frog appears to have been a figure of fertility to the Taino Indians. The creature was identified with feminine qualities and figures prominently in petroglyphs and pottery designs.  There were also several tombs in which the bodies were located face-down with the legs bent at the knees, a pattern detected for the first time in the area. "The plaza may contain other artefacts dating from 600 A.D. to 1500 A.D., including piles of refuse from daily life," said Rivera.

Where to see them

The ancient petroglyph of the woman was found on a five-acre site in Jácana, a spot along the Portugues River in the city of Ponce, on Puerto Rico's southern coast. Among the largest and most significant site ever unearthed in the Caribbean, archaeologists said,  it includes plazas used for ceremony or sport, a burial ground, residences and a ‘midden mound’  - a pile of ritual trash.

Some of the Taíno words were borrowed by the Spanish and subsequently by the English languages, and are modern day reminders of this vigorous race of people. These words include barbacoa (barbecue), cacique (chief), canoa (canoe), and huracán (hurricane).

Grenada

Pearls, on Grenada's Eastern Coast has been described as 'the most important archaeological site in the Caribbean’. This area was a major stopping point for the Kalinago nation as they travelled northward from the Orinoco River basin in South America.

The Kalinago were drawn to Pearls by its rich soil, fishing, and natural resources. Their religion was based on the seasons and their cyclical patterns. The dry season was considered the men's domain, because their skills of hunting and gathering were in demand at this time. This was represented in pottery and other art by the bat, a creature which was more prevalent during the dry months Conversely, the wet season was regarded as 'feminine' in nature, a fertile time for growing crops and maintaining stability.

Other symbols commonly used by the Kalinago included owls (representing the underworld) manatees (once inhabitants of Grenada's bays and inlets), simple face designs, suns, moons, and cosmological figures.

Where to see them

The Pearls site is located on the windward eastern coast on rich agricultural land along the north side of the Simon River. The site is about one-quarter mile inland from the Atlantic Ocean

Work on all these sites continues as historians discover more and more of the rich history of the region. What do they mean? Whether a form of ancestor worship, or simple boundary markings, they are certainly not to be regarded as mere curiosities. In some locations they represent the only intellectual remains of the ancient inhabitants.

While visitors are encouraged to appreciate the carvings close up, measures are also in place to protect the petroglyphs, so when taking a rock tour of the islands, respect the work of these people who lived here long ago and contributed to the unique heritage we can appreciate today.

WHEN HORRY MET FANNY - Nelson's Nevis

A silk cotton tree stands at Montpelier Plantation on the Caribbean island of Nevis marking the spot where a young Admiral Horatio Nelsonmarried local beauty and widow Fanny Nisbet
They were married  in 1787. A copy of the marriage certificate is on display at the Saint John Figtree Parish Anglican Church and the cotton tree still stands on Montpelier Plantation, from where it is a short trip to Saddle Hill Fortress, Nelson’s lookout point for spying on enemy ships
Nuestra Senora de las nieves (Our Lady of the snows), was the name given by Columbus to the tiny island of Nevis as he thought the cloud covered peak looked like snow. One of the wealthiest and most prized of the colonies along with its sister island St Kitts, Nevis grew wealthy and became a model for the plantation system based on sugar production and slavery
As well as the fascinating Nevis Heritage Trail, which gives an insight into the cultures and historical influence to be found here, the tiny island of Nevis has all the sights and experiences that one expects from a Caribbean destination, but without the crowds who flock to more sophisticated tourist offerings. Beautiful beaches, hiking trails, water sports and golf are all here.  You will spot the cheeky Green Vervet monkey as you travel around the island, as well as colourful hummingbirds, lizards and mongoose.  In addition to some fine dining restaurants at establishments such as the Four Seasons there  is also a lively vibe and great food at beach bars such as Sunshine’s,  Chevy’s, and Double Deuce at the pretty Pinneys Beach. Try local dishes such as chicken and ribs, or freshly caught fish such as snapper and mahi mahi, washed down with cold beer and the sounds of live calypso
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Plantations

Scattered across the countryside, the stately ruins of old sugar plantations rise from amongst the cane fields, a physical reminder of days gone by when St. Kitts and Nevis was renowned for sugar production.  Many of these elegant plantation houses and their sugar mills have been converted into charming boutique inns, where guests can enjoy serenity and relaxation while sipping a cool cocktail – preferably rum based. Nevis is certainly not the place to come for high rise hotel chains and all-inclusives.

Nevis has a number of such  inns including Montpelier plantation, a Relais & Chateaux property and Nisbet Plantation, an historic plantation house situated right on the beach .