Many of us are choosing our winter getaway destinations and a lot of us are heading to the Caribbean. A favourite Canadian destination is Barbados, home of Rihanna and Mount Gay Rum. This is not the place for an all-inclusive: this is the island to explore the many phenomenal culinary offerings.
Within the past couple years, there has been a larger representation of women in the food space, so I went to the Barbados Food & Rum Festival to meet some of these women and find out what Canadians can expect when we visit Barbados.
I chatted with BT on some of the delights I discovered.
Julianne Breaker -Mount Gay Rum
- First female distiller in 400 years
- One of the first in the Caribbean
- She has an all-female team
- Aging rum in the Caribbean is different than many other spirits because of the climate: tropical aging and maturation
Mandy Wyndham-Gittens – Wyndhams Coffee
- Big focus on sustainability and repurposing
- Coffee brand Cane Dog contributes to saving abandoned pups and send many to Canada
- Old coffee sacks are repurposed with local artisans
- Primary roaster is also a Bajan woman
Ann Marie Leach – Vegan Chef
- One of four chef at the festival and the only Vegan
- Wanted to show that food can be good and healthy without meat and/or fried food
- Uses local Produce
Shanese Phoneix – Chef
- Starting to see a stronger female chef community & female executive chefs in hotels
- Mostly does weddings and caters special events as she tries to increase visibility
Zahra McCaskie – Baker
- Studied abroad in NYC to really hone her craft
- Wants to see a greater representation in industry
- Teaches teen baking classes to introduce more girls to the options within the industry
- Finally seeing money invested in women and cooking in a way that they didn’t see
before - Offers bake & sips as an activity