Navigator's Table brings Caribbean chefs to Barbados Food and Rum Festival
Founder Nneka A. Nurse says two dinners featuring open-fire cooking, black-belly lamb and Guyanese pepperpot will showcase the region's food heritage.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados. Navigator's Table, a residency programme founded by Nneka A. Nurse, will bring Caribbean chefs together for two dinners officially included in this year's Barbados Food and Rum Festival.
The dinners mark a milestone for the programme, which began hosting culinary events in the Caribbean in 2023. Using locally sourced ingredients, eight-course tasting menus and cultural storytelling, it aims to showcase the region's food traditions and strengthen links among chefs across the Caribbean diaspora.
Nurse, chief flavour officer of Best Dressed Plate, said both dinners will feature rum. One will focus on open-fire cooking, while the other will highlight Barbadian pork and black-belly lamb alongside the Guyanese version of pepperpot.
Family across languages
The programme brings together about 17 chefs from the diaspora. Previous dinners have explored modern plant-based Caribbean cuisine and historical links between Jamaica, St Lucia and the Bahamas.
Nurse stressed the importance of bringing together chefs from English- and Spanish-speaking territories. "They're still family, right? They just speak a different language," she said.
Barbadian brands in New York
Through the WeBiz Bajan Trade Show, organised with the Barbados Trust Fund Limited and Export Barbados, 29 Barbadian brands recently showed their products to consumers and industry professionals in New York. About 60 per cent sold out, according to Nurse, and organisers are considering a larger venue.
She said businesses seeking to expand abroad face shipping and packaging costs, regulatory requirements and distribution hurdles, and that training, grants and US partnerships can help. She believes international growth can diversify the island's economy, create jobs and encourage young people to invest at home.
"Food is the economic arm of the region."
Nurse plans to revive her Caribbean tradition dinners and Slice to Savor cooking classes next year, and is developing the Caribbean Culinary Impact Awards, recognising chefs and restaurants in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean.
