Jamaica Tourism launches first Gastronomy Network

project
https://www.eturbonews.com/151428/jamaica-tourism-launches-first-gastronomy-network-project/

The Jamaica Blue Mountain Tour will be one of the first projects of the Gastronomy Network, which was
created with the intention to foster the growth of culinary tourism as a product niche for Jamaica

 editorMarch 29, 2017 03:52

The Jamaica Blue Mountain Tour will be one of the first projects of the Gastronomy Network, which was

created with the intention to foster the growth of culinary tourism as a product niche for Jamaica.

The rich history, culture and cuisine of the Blue Mountain region were on full display, as the Gastronomy

Network of the Ministry of Tourism hosted the soft launch of the Blue Mountain Culinary Tour on Sunday

March 26, 2017.

The tour currently features 15 participating eateries and attractions such as Café Blue, The Gap Café,

RafJam Bed and Breakfast and Old Tavern Coffee Estate – with more expected to come on board before

the trail officially begins later this year.

Speaking at the launch ceremony at Belcour Lodge in Irish Town, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund

Bartlett indicated that the concept was designed to not only highlight the gastronomic product in the

region, but to also directly benefit community members and tour operators who conduct business within

the area.

“We are trying to bring the wealth of tourism into the communities that are in the Blue Mountain Area. The

concept is a low density, low impact, soft tourism which drives a different type of demographic. It will bring

a mixture of nature and creativity with additional efforts on our parts to include a little bit of hard

infrastructure work, because we have to do the tours along nice roadways,” said Minister Bartlett.

Much to the delight of culinary aficionados the tour will feature unique eateries, from both the Eastern and

Western end of the world-renowned Blue Mountain Range, with tours highlighting coffee farm

experiences, traditional local cuisine, and Jamaican fusion cuisine.

Chairman of the Gastronomy Network, Nicola Madden-Grieg, also shared that the network has informed

tour operators that the tour is customizable.

Tour guides have the option to combine the culinary experiences with stops at places such as New

Castle, Heritage Gardens, and Holywell. Individuals as well as tour operators may also choose to have

their own itineraries including stops at area bars and food stalls,” said Madden-Grieg.

During the soft launch of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Culinary Tour, the Ministry also disclosed that the

Gastronomy Network will also be hosting the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival in March 2018.

The three-day event, which is in the preliminary planning stages, will take place in the Blue Mountain

region featuring activities such as training and development seminars for coffee farmers; coffee farm and

factory tours; culinary tours and experiences; and a coffee exhibition. International coffee buyers will also

be invited to attend the festival.

Minister Bartlett shared that the strategic focus on Gastronomy in Jamaica is not coincidental as it is an

important part of his Ministry’s growth agenda. It is also his hope that the project will be so successful that

it can be used as a prototype for the member states of the United Nations World Tourism Organization

(UNWTO).

“We are launching today this coffee tour but we are going beyond that because I want to build a coffee

experience that will become part of the gastronomy prototype of the UNWTO. So that we will be able to

bring thousands of visitors annually to destination Jamaica to experience the gastronomy prototypes as

we utilize various elements of it that are endemic to different geographic areas,” said Minister Bartlett.

The soft launch included stops to Belcour Lodge, Craighton Estates, Strawberry Hill and Café Blue.

Guests, who included tourism officials, local tour guides and members of the media, got a sample of what

to expect on the culinary tour – with history and sampling of the gastronomic product in the area being the

primary focus of the all-day event.

JAMAICA EMBRACES FOOD RENAISSANCE BEYOND JERKRK

https://www.travelsense.org/jamaica-embraces-a-food-renaissance-beyond-jerk/

With an array of new farm-to-table restaurants, celebrity chefs, and a freshly formed Jamaican
Gastronomy Network, the island has become a foodie’s delight. Are travelers ready to dig in?

Serving up a curried mushroom pâté and yellow yam- and pineapple-stuffed croquettes
breaded with coconut on a 15-acre organic farm overlooking the quiet community of
Free Hill, Jamaica, Chris and Lisa Binns are reimagining Jamaican cuisine with vegetarian
creations at Stush in the Bush, their farm-to-table restaurant. Chris, a Rasta who grew up
on this farm embracing the vegetable-heavy Ital diet, met Lisa, Barbadian by birth and
New York-raised, at the Fi Wi Sinting Festival in Portland, Jamaica some 10 years ago,
and their love led to their inventive culinary collaboration. With her cooking and
epicurean tendencies, Lisa fulfills the role of “stush” (meaning prim and proper in
Jamaican slang), and Chris grows and harvests the fresh produce from “the bush,” their
farm, in order to serve up new riffs on traditional Jamaican ingredients like ackee-stuffed
doughy ravioli, Red Stripe beer bread, and cho cho apple pie using chayote (a green
mirliton squash).

The Binns are among the protagonists ushering in the rebirth of Jamaican food culture
that has occurred within the last five years and that rose to organized prominence in
September 2016 with mailto:support@popup-builder.com?subject=Hellothe formation
of the Jamaican Gastronomy Network. It’s a branch of the Tourism Linkages Network
that Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism created under Minister Edmund Bartlett to use
particular passion points as pull-factors to lure visitors to the island. The Gastronomy
Network consists of a consortium of chefs, local members of the media, business
executives, and academics who are charged with boosting the profile of Jamaican
cuisine domestically and abroad.

Of course, flavorful Jamaican food is typically seen as jerk chicken, sweet potato
pudding, beef patties, and snapper topped with spicy Scotch bonnets, and there can be
a sensibility that this isn’t quite fine dining. But at a time where veganism and all-natural
are on-trend, Jamaica has leaned into its Rasta roots that promote clean eating and
embraced the country’s natural mélange of Chinese, Indian, Arab, Portuguese, Spanish,
and British food influences. That range within the country’s culinary offerings based on
its history creates a built-in fusion those in the food and tourism industry have identified
as a strength they should emphasize. And the results can manifest as fancy haute
cuisine.

Nicola Madden-Greig, chair of the Jamaican Gastronomy Network and director of

marketing and sales for hotels like The Courtleigh Hotel & Suites, sees a growing
cohesive momentum across the island to highlight Jamaica’s flavorful cuisine.
 There is definitely a major Jamaican gastronomy movement happening,” she said. “We are
seeing more farm-to-table experiences, new themed restaurants, an explosion of local talent
making cuisine their career, the formation of culinary trails, an increased number of food
festivals, and a deepening of the offerings. 

The Gastronomy Network has also created a consumer-facing brand called Taste
Jamaica that includes a website and sleek app to chronicle various available gastronomic
experiences on the island and help people make dining and tourism decisions. Pop-Up
Gourmet is another important resource to stay on top of what’s hot in the Jamaican
culinary world.

High-profile chefs have also put Jamaica on the map as a food destination. Chef Andre
Fowles is the proud two-time winner of the Food Network’s “Chopped,” the first
Jamaican-born chef and the youngest chef to win this award. Formerly of New York’s
Miss Lilly’s, owned by blue-chip nightlife and hospitality figures Serge Becker and Paul
Salmon, among others, he is opening the restaurant for Skylark in Negril, the sister
restaurant to Salmon’s Rockhouse Hotel.

The Culinary Federation of Jamaica is another major player and partner in promoting
Jamaica’s culinary boom. The executive committee consists of many of the country’s top
chefs, including Dennis McIntosh, president of the Culinary Federation, and Mark Cole,
executive chef of The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. As a further vote of confidence
for the country’s rising culinary profile, this past fall the James Beard Foundation invited
Jamaican all-star food figures Colin Hylton, Gariel Ferguson, and Robin Lim Lumsden to
cook a special “Savoring Jamaica” dinner at the Beard House in New York City.

Get off the Resort Property: Culinary Trails, Festivals, and Beyond

In addition to promoting some of the long-existing tours, like the Appleton Rum

Tour and Craighton Coffee Plantation Tour, Jamaica is doubling down on its food
offerings with organized festivals.

Among the most popular events that showcase the island’s wealth of culinary options
are The Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival (March), Jamaica Rum Festival
(March), the Little Ochie Seafood Festival (July), the Jamaica Food & Drink Festival
(October), and Restaurant Week (November).
The recently launched Blue Mountain Culinary Trail emphasizes Jamaica’s organic food
offerings in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. It includes visits to Holywell
Recreational Park within the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, Old Tavern
Coffee Estate, Blue Ridge Restaurant and Cottages, and Mavis Bank Coffee Factory.

One participating attraction is Lumsden’s Belcour Lodge, a coffee estate from the 1800s
nestled in the foothills of Jamaica’s Blue Mountains where she runs Belcour Preserves, a
company that uses the orange groves, pineapples, and guavas on property to make
marmalades and jams. Her small apiary also allows her to make her signature Blue
Mountain Honey. Chris Blackwell’s Strawberry Hill and the Serendipity Holistic Resort
and Spa, both in Irish Town, offer savory offerings from right off the land.

In addition, since 2017 the Gastronomy Network has built out Devon House in
Kingston as the country’s first Gastronomy Centre. A top-notch food experience can add
nuance and texture to a traveler’s experience on an island like Jamaica by helping the
visitor move beyond the canned, generic tourism and experience something deeper.

 Sun, sand, and sea will always be a draw – that is the nature of the Caribbean – but you still
have to eat,” said Lisa Binns of Stush in the Bush. “Having a great meal outside of the all-
inclusive, participating in a local food festival, attending a cooking class, or going a bit further
afield and experiencing farm-to-table dining all provide options to engage in a more authentic
way. 

Whether taking an organized tour or visiting hot new restaurants on their own, visitors
to Jamaica can find an added dose of that authenticity by opening their minds and
broadening their palates.

 Tourists who come to the islands – not just Jamaica, but any island – need to step outside of the
resorts and go into the local communities to see how people dine, because by discovering how
people eat, you discover a lot more about the place.” said Michelle Rousseau, who with her
sister, Suzanne, runs Summerhouse at Kingston’s stately Liguanea Club in addition to hosting
the popular web series “Island Potluck” and writing cookbooks like the recently released
Provisions: The Roots of Caribbean Cooking. 
Experiencing a culture through taste allows a visitor to develop a better understanding
of the place he or she is visiting, Rousseau added.

 We also bring a unique contribution by incorporating heritage, culture, history and art and
everything that we do for us dining is a lifestyle, and this is more about the Caribbean lifestyle
and the experience of growing up living in and coming from the islands,” she said. “We always
approach our food from the perspective of what you eat where you eat and how you eat,
because this informs the essence of how you get to the core of a culture. 

And the options for visitors to tap into the essence of Jamaican culture are vast, with
chefs paying homage to the roots of Jamaican cuisine while offering contemporary
reinterpretations.

Some other notable figures are bolstering the Jamaican food scene in a major way.
Christina Simonitsch, for instance, heads Simo’s Bread and Catering across the island
and Simo’s Pop-Up in Montego Bay. Oji Jaja, a chef who honed his craft at the Ritz
Carlton that used to be in Montego Bay and even cooked for First Lady Michelle Obama
at Eatonville in Washington, D.C., established Ashebre, a catering service he has used to
change Jamaica’s culinary landscape while still relying on Jamaican staples like gunga
peas and mannish water. In Ocho Rios, Anna-Kaye Tomlinson runs Miss T’s Kitchen, a
brightly painted eatery with stapbles like oxtail stew but also famous “nyammings”
(snacks) like “Jah Know,” curried ackee on bammy, a starchy cassava, topped with a
refreshing fruit chutney.

Pink Apron, launched in 2014 as the brain child of Chef Charissa Henry-Skyers, offers
pop-up farm-to-table experiences. Damion Stewart’s Broken Plate in Kingston offers
experimental takes on Jamaican cuisine such as a soft shell crab tika masala with potato
hash and beetroot. Also in Kingston, Alexa Von Strolley runs Tooksie Kay, where she’s
been experimenting with Jamaican cuisine since 2014.

 Our culture is diverse, and so is our food and the influences on traditional cuisine as well as new
trends continue to be impactful, said Madden-Greig of the Jamaican Gastronomical
Network.  Jamaica also offers some of the best vegetarian food, from the Ital offerings from the
Rastafari faith to a wealth of local cafes, restaurants and caterers offering a wide range of
traditional, fusion and newly created Jamaican dishes. While jerk cuisine may have propelled
Jamaican cuisine into the spotlight, there is so much more to savor – beyond jerk.
Tourism ministry gives $20m to local
gastronomy industry
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Tourism_minist
ry_gives_$20m_to_local_gastronomy_industry?profile=1
Friday, August 03, 2018

Former Prime Minister Edward Seaga (second left) joins Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and
Sport Olivia Grange (second right); Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett (right); and interim Executive
Director at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), Orville Hill (left) to cut the official
JCDC's 55th anniversary cake created by Chef Peter Young. The occasion was the JCDC Culinary Expo,
held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston on August 2, 2018.

 KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says his ministry is investing some $20 million
towards the further development of the gastronomy industry during this financial year, as studies have
shown that local cuisine is a significant reason tourists visit the island.

Bartlett, who was speaking at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Culinary Expo held
at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston on Thursday, has charged the Tourism Linkages Network,
within his ministry, with the responsibility to lead the development of the local gastronomy offerings as a
premiere product of Jamaica's tourism product.

In a release today, Bartlett disclosed that the Network has already spent approximately $11.9 million
during the last financial year on initiatives to improve and better market the island's culinary offerings.
Some of these initiatives include: The Blue Mountain Coffee Festival; the Culinary Ambassador
Programme; Taste Jamaica Mobile Application and the development of Devon House as a Gastronomy
Centre.  

Bartlett believes that the Gastronomy Network is already making positive strides, as Jamaica “has now
established itself as the premier gastronomy destination of the Caribbean” and can boast being named
“the only country in the region last year, to have an exposition which the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation calls the Gastronomy Prototype.”  

Special focus is also being placed by the Tourism Ministry on culinary training through their Jamaica
Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI).  This Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF)-driven programme,
recently saw over 150 graduates receiving accreditation as hospitality supervisors and in Hospitality
Industry Analytics; as well as American Culinary Federation certification and American Hotel & Lodging
Educational Institute designation, the release said.

 “We wanted to give our first cohort in the JCTI certification so that they can be more qualified
practitioners of their art. This programme will ensure that we won't have to be importing chefs from across
the world, because we will be producing our own, here in Jamaica,” said Bartlett.

In further explaining the increased focus being placed on gastronomy tourism by his ministry, Bartlett
also stated that, “industry leaders have identified food, or what the world defines as gastronomy, as the
number one point of differentiation in experiential tourism.

According to Bartlett, 88 per cent of the world travels for food experiences and last year 44 per cent of the
expenditure of the visitor was a food experience.

“So, if $1.3 trillion was spent by visitors across the world, then $600 billion of that was spent on food
experiences,” he said.

He also shared that studies done by the Jamaica Tourist Board revealed that “the number one word that
defined Jamaica across social media platforms by our visitors, was food. This was followed by music and
love.”