Thirteen students competing in the Senior Division of the 32nd annual Bahamas Young Chef Culinary Competitions and Conference had to use local ingredients to create dishes that could pass scrutiny by 10 Bahamas Culinary Association judges, all of whom are certified to judge locally and internationally.
“Savoring Tradition, Shaping Tomorrow: Bahamian Culinary Heritage for a Sustainable Future”, is the theme for this year’s competition.
Education Officer, Family & Consumer Science Education Unit, Department of Education, Raquel Turnquest explained the meaning behind the theme during the competition held at Anatol Rodgers High School on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
“Family and Consumer Science education is really centred around preparing students for life and when we talk about preparing them for life — it is about being able to develop the knowledge, skills and abilities that will allow them to take care of their family and also take care of themselves.
“In other words, giving students job skills; giving them the ability to create a small business, and giving them the ability to create a business where they can employ other persons.”
Ms. Turnquest added, “It is really about how we sustain ourselves and families as well as how we contribute to the economy of The Bahamas.”
She said this year, the focus was on traditional food items, because food is a part of the Bahamian culture, values and morale. “What we eat, how we prepare our food is all a part of our culture.”
Ms. Turnquest noted that Bahamians are typically world travellers, and many of them are impressed by the food culture and culinary heritage they experience abroad.
However, she said The Bahamas has its own culinary heritage that must be passed from one generation to the next.
The Education Officer said, “We want students to be creative; we want them to synthesize what they are learning in the classrooms; we want them to translate it into something new.”
The students put these local ingredients to use and created unique dishes of their own with coaches to guide them along.
The dishes included Coconut “boiled fish” with Rice, Grits and Johnny Cake; Fish Bone Tuille; Sapodilla Bennie Delight; Conch Dumplings; Rice and Plantain Pancake with Seared Lionfish; Soursop and Seagrape Marble Cake with Passion Fruit Curd topped with Toasted Swiss Meringue; Cilantro lime-sushi rice topped with tempura snapper, deconstructed coleslaw and fried plantain, paired with crawfish dressing and homemade eel sauce.
The judges not only tasted the dishes but they also passed along constructive advice such as making sure dishes have different textures; adding colour to discusses; creating a sauce rather than placing fruit on top of a dish to make it more aesthetically pleasing, timing how long it takes to make a dish to fall within the time limit, tasting the food throughout the cooking process as well as mixing together ingredients that complement each other.
The students participating in the competition this year include:
- Kahree Bowe, Kingsway Academy, New Providence
- Amina Eneas, Home Schooled, New Providence
- Gabryele Green, Doris Johnson Senior High School, New Providence
- Kayla Derisma, Patrick J. Bethel High School, Marsh Harbour, Abaco
- Clinteea Rolle, A. Loftus Roker High School, Acklins
- Moneliesha Johnson, Central Andros High School
- Prenia Moxey, Mangrove Cay High School, Andros
- Kendrianique Forbes, Central Eleuthera High School
- Michaela Dorsett, Preston H. Albury High School, Rock Sound, Eleuthera
- Shaun Darville, L. N. Coakley High School, Moss Town, Exuma
- Talea Martin, St. Georges High School, Freeport, Grand Bahama
- Omega Cox, Inagua All Age School
- Kennyiah Rolle, North Long Island High School
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