The National Cultural Foundation is taking its support of this weekend’s Agrofest to another level.
While the Foundation has been a proud sponsor of the event over the years, for the first time ever, the NIFCA Culinary Expo will be featured at Agrofest on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The culinary expo takes on two components. There will be an exhibition of 100% local cooking products and a chef’s roundtable where sessions of 15 participants at a time will benefit from tutelage with two Bajan Top Chefs.
The exhibition will showcase a wide cross-section of entrepreneurs, many of whom are past NIFCA participants, who have developed into businesses through the NCF’s Business Development Grant and the BTMI Accelerator Programme.
The 14 exhibitors will have a variety of products on offer. Items include herbal teas, condiments, infused cooking oil, Bajan pastries, alcoholic beverages and delights as well as gluten-free baked products. The exhibitions will be open from Friday to Sunday.
The Chef’s Roundtable will feature Chef Creig Greenidge and Chef Glenroy Alleyne. Participants will get the opportunity to observe and learn culinary skills. Chef demos will offer an interactive experience that is especially useful for cooking at home. The chef demos will help equip those who sign up to create dishes with Bajan products.
The on-site cooking demonstrations will be a great way to show off easy and delicious recipes while promoting local ingredients which clients may be unfamiliar with or highlighting a less common preparation method. Chefs will also walk the exhibition and choose ingredients and then prepare the dish.
The demo sessions are Saturday and Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The free sessions are limited to 15 people per session. To sign up for the Chef’s Roundtable email karen-pestaina@ncf.bb or call 234-5511.
NCF Event Planner Karen Pestaina said the team is ready to welcome Agrofest patrons into the culinary expo. “We are looking forward to seeing people come out in their numbers all three days. We welcome them to our culinary space. While we have a limit of 15 persons per session, the opportunity is there for anyone to be part of the expo. You may not get to participate but you can certainly look on and learn. You also purchase from our exhibitors and try your dishes at home.”
Pestaina continued: “Those who register will have a chance to find out why a chef chose a particular sweet potato, tomato or pepper. You will find out why Chef Creig or Chef Glenroy picked a certain product to use in their kitchen.
“We are going to the vendors to buy vegetables, seasonings and herbs that we will take into the kitchen. We are not doing demonstrations with lobster and shrimp. We are doing it 100% Bajan style,” she said.
The culinary expo showcase is in keeping with this year’s Agrofest theme: “Let’s Eat What We Grow.