Dec. 10, 2008 — A lucky few dozen got treated Wednesday to dishes made from the freshest locally grown and raised meats and produce, prepared creatively by St. Croix's finest chefs. They stuffed themselves with juicy local pork marinated with sugar apple and cinnamon basil, mashed papaya in coconut cream, and roast mashed pumpkin sweetened with sugar apple.
It was the premier local food luncheon for the nascent Farmer Chef Connection program, a cooperative project creating direct connections between local restaurants and farmers to provide diners with the freshest, tastiest and most distinctive local produce.
Tables topped with steaming chafing dishes lined the walls of the University of the Virgin Island's Great Hall on St. Croix, and, after the obligatory congratulations and ceremonious words for the day, the crowd lined up to feast.
Some dishes were traditional Caribbean favorites. Angela Morales of Villa Morales served up traditional stew goat and stew lamb, with carrots and root vegetables, using tender, fresh goat from the farm of Dale and Yvette Browne, lamb from Stedroy "Lal" Mintas and fresh thyme from Grantly Samuel.
Maurice "M.A.N." Newson Jr., a 15-year-old St. Croix Educational Complex student and vice president of the Junior V.I. Farmer's Cooperative, served up fresh homemade sorrel drink, tamarind drink, lemonade, coconut water, guavaberry drink and other traditional island "local drinks."
Ironically, the emphasis on strictly local produce eliminated some of the most popular local dishes.
"There is no rice, because we don't grow rice," said Stafford Crossman of the UVI Cooperative Extension Service. Nor was there any wheat, whether for breads or pasta, for the same reason. And the local drinks were sweetened with local honey instead of sugar, because St. Croix now has a growing honey industry, while sugar is no longer made here, Crossman said.
Some dishes were humble, unadorned good food. Shanté Samuel, a student at Central and member of the Junior Farmers, served up steaming plates of white cassava and yam, and green sweet potatoes, delicious and wholesome without elaborate recipes or extensive ingredient lists.
Others were as elaborate and artistically arranged as anything one might find at a five-star restaurant. Keith Weitzman, representing the V.I. Sustainable Farming Institute's Creque Farm, created an elaborate but easy-to-eat vegetable salad bouquet, where he took lightly blanched, tender young mustard greens, wrapped them around slices of pickled eggplant, Italian flat beans and other vegetables, and tied the whole up into a little beggar's purse with a single, chopstick-thin, blanched yard long bean. Diners could squirt a little homemade soy and local honey dressing into the bundle to their own taste. Fresh, crisp and intensely flavorful with the spice of the mustard, the tartness of the pickle and the pungency of the soy honey dressing, the dish proved distinctive and refreshing.
Jason Gould of Elizabeth's at H2O served up slow-roasted Caribbean-style pork ribs with mango salsa. Valarie "Wala" Hendrickson of UCA's Kitchen served up vegetarian curried okra and a savory dish of mashed papaya in coconut cream that was just scrumptious, using produce from farmers Henry Schuster and Dale and Yvette Browne.
Asked what item they liked best, the diners, one after another, cited the mashed roast pumpkin sweetened with sugar apple, a creation of Frank Pugliesi, chef at Frederiksted's Beach Side Café, the restaurant of the Sandcastles on the Beach hotel.
"I particularly liked the pumpkin with the sugar apple," said Assistant Commissioner of Tourism Brad Nugent. "I love the hint of sweetness of the sugar apple. Also the bouquet with fresh pickled eggplant I liked."
"The pumpkin was delicious," said Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen Jr. "But I am also a fan of the local drinks. They were so good, I blended them and they are still delicious."
Aside from making the pumpkin creamy and delicious, Pugliesi took a traditional dish — mashed pumpkin, raised by Charles Horton — and, by adding distinctively Caribbean sugar apple from the farms of Oswald Jackson and Aberra Bulbulla, made something new and unique. Pugliesi's marinated pork was a hit, too. He took tender, locally raised pork from the farm of Philbert Ponponne, marinated it with Jackson's and Bulbulla's sugar apples and cinnamon basil from Walter I.M. Hodge Jr.
Marrying the best of local produce with the best of St. Croix's restaurants fits hand and glove with the goal of marketing St. Croix as a destination for ecological and cultural tourism, Nugent said.
"Today's tourist is looking for something new," he said. "They are looking for an experience. They want some authenticity. What we see here today is just the beginning of what we want to see happen."
UVI historian and ecologist Olasee Davis said this sort of project can bring benefits on several fronts.
"The local produce is very good, and today people want to know where their food is coming from," he said. "It is the freshest and healthiest produce you can get. It is a unique thing, something from the earth of this island for all of us. By growing it here instead of importing it, the food tastes fresh and healthy — it doesn't taste processed. It's a real good thing for St. Croix that I hope will help preserve and promote agriculture as another part of our culture."
If you missed it, don't worry — you will get another chance. Daniel A. Stanley, the director of marketing for the Agriculture Department, said the goal is to have a big annual event, joining Mango Melee and the Agriculture Festival in the year's celebrations of local agriculture. Then, during the year — especially during the slower summer months — local boosters plan to host smaller events and dinners at different restaurants.
"It would be good for them, having an event to draw people in, and good for the farmers," Stanley said. "And it would give something unique and different both for the tourists and for local customers. They can show their support for local farms while showcasing their food."
A farmer and chef directory is in the works, too.
"From this project, we are working to publish an agriculture directory this spring," said Clarice Clarke, public information officer for the Agriculture Extension Services. "We want to have farmers' names, addresses, telephone numbers and the crops they produce, along with a list of restaurants and chefs, so either a chef or a farmer will be able to just pick up the phone and call. That would help both groups a lot."
If you are a chef or a farmer and want to find out more about how you can get involved and get access to more local fresh produce, call Stanley at 340-778-0998.
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