Published On:Wednesday, August 18, 2010

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Writer

PREPARING for the 'Taste of the Caribbean' culinary competition in Puerto Rico next month, the Bahamian team is honing its skills by preparing a special meal for a dining room full with guests.

Leading up the competition, the Bahamas team dining trials will be held each Wednesday until August 25.

During the trials, which are held a Choices restaurant in the Culinary and Hospitality Management Institute on Thompson

Boulevard, the chefs prepare a three-course meal from a 'mystery basket' of ingredients.

Explaining the process, Clarence Rolle of the Ministry of Tourism said: "After each meal, the guests will critique the chefs and the bartender on the team. Their comments will be used to improve their skills and strategy, and after three weeks of practice, they will travel to compete against other Caribbean teams."

Mr Rolle said the competition is going to be very exciting.

"Each Caribbean country holds individual competitions to select the three chefs, one pastry chef and one bartender that will make their national team. Excitement builds in each country as the teams have local events where they practice for the competition," he said.

"The team is very focused on the win and I am very excited to be working along with the team," said DeAnne Gibson, an assistant manager in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation who is coordinating the team's efforts.

Ms Gibson pointed out that the Bahamas has a reputation of being a formidable culinary force.

Therefore, she said, the Bahamas team is already seen as a major competitor by the other teams.

However, she said, there is much that the team must do to prepare for next month's test.

It is very possible that the Bahamian team will have to become more familiar with ingredients that are popular in Caribbean, but rarely used in the Bahamas.

The ingredients for preparing meals will be a mystery until the last moment, Ms Gibson said.

"You might have saltfish, you might have flying fish where we use a lot of snapper and grouper. So we have to adjust our skills," she said.

At the Taste of the Caribbean event, a random drawing takes place where teams are assigned their competition spot and it is determined whether they will prepare a lunch or dinner dish.

The competition is a hot food competition where the competitors cook and present food to be judged on taste as well as execution of skills and presentation.

These competitions are somewhat larger in scope than cold food competitions, in that kitchen space is required, raw products and servers are provided. Hot food competitions are best to determine the skills required of chefs and cooks.

Ms Gibson told Tribune Taste that in the past the Bahamian team has won four medals - three gold and one silver.

"We have captured pastry chef of the year; in 2004 Sallie Gaskin won and in 2006 Tracy Sweeting won," she said.