Bit of Barbados comes to Grand-Pre

BY JAMES BROWN

February was a cold and blustery month this year. We didn’t experience the deep drifts and snowbanks that have characterized other years, but we had light snow or flurries nearly every day.

The Grand-Pre fields and dykes were enshrouded in white powder the entire month. After the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, people remained huddled up indoors or headed off to southern destinations and a large dose of vitamin D.

To ward off the winter blues, Grand-Pre residents Naomi and Peter, in what now has become an annual event, gather the clan at their home for an authentic Barbados-themed party.

It has been customary at these events to dress accordingly. Women don bright summer dresses or Capri pants whereas the men, more emboldened than brave, wear shorts and sandals, Hawaiian shirts and tropical hues, sunglasses and broad-brimmed island hats.

Bay of Fundy as water motif

The scene unfolds simultaneously in three rooms that are particularly appropriate for the occasion. The ‘piece-de-resistance’ (if I may allow a French pun) is a sunroom facing east over the dykelands with the Bay of Fundy as the water motif.

At the centre of this rather large glass enclosure stands a table replete with Mountain Gay rum among other varieties, a selection of tropical punches, ice buckets, crystalware and an ample selection of wines and beer. The revelers gather here first to tip a glass and exchange greetings.

Adjacent to the sunroom is a kitchen divided in half by a cooking and serving counter. Naomi scampers about behind her countertop stove, readying a seemingly endless supply of appetizers. Eager guests wait on the other side of the counter for the tasty morsels to appear.

Flying fish is sine qua non of Barbadian cuisine and guests are reminded of that three times over. One could savour the flying fish pate and then move on to the spicier flying fish croquettes, or cap off the sequence with flying fish crostini.

The latter are especially delicious and colourful; white chunks of fish are accompanied by goat’s cheese and mesclun salad. The fish were brought in fresh from the islands by Fred, one of the guests.

Not a hurried affair

An afternoon in Barbados isn’t a hurried affair. The party progresses in slow, rhythmic phases while guests commingle here and there, moving leisurely from sunroom to kitchen to dining and living rooms. In the background, tropical music plays as softly as a Caribbean breeze.

Such moments find time suspended as if by other notorious plants native to the island. Feeling groovy best describes the state of mind thanks to Peter’s generous libations.

Following the pre-dinner primers, the guests pass into the dining room where a buffet awaits.

The table displays such favourites of Barbados as coconut-crisp chicken, generous slices of roasted pork, fried filet of flying fish, and a noodle casserole.

Accompaniments include fluffy white rice, a puree of squash and Barbados salt bread supplied by a Bajun from Windsor.

The guests chipped in for dessert. Felicity prepared a pina colada daquoise; Beth did a daiquiri mousse; and Anna offered a lychee cream.

With their plates full to near overflow the merrymakers adjourn to the living room, the kitchen or the sunroom, or they stand in small groups to taste and compare the various delicacies.

The mood is easy, the pace is slow. Conversations take on a different turn than the normal chit-chat, probably because the atmosphere has been infused with an air of exoticism. ‘Slow food, slow travel’

Although the purpose of a simulated party in Barbados wasn’t aimed specifically at slowing down the pace of life for an afternoon, one may draw similarities to the worldwide phenomena of “slow food” and “slow travel”, bona fide movements with large memberships that believe in a philosophy of leisure and enjoyment.

People, not work, are put at the forefront of priorities. We’re here to interact and to value each other’s presence.

The annual Barbados feast in Grand-Pre does not find women huddled on one side of the room and men on the other looking awkward and uncomfortable. The tropical ambience creates an interactive space in which guests can relate their own travel experiences, discuss cultural differences and compare the cuisines of the world.

In short, it’s a way to put some sunshine back into winter and some spice back into life.