BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT would be interesting to see what the culinarians of the Federation would come up with for this year’s Restaurant Week challenge which would have pumpkin as the chief ingredient.
The Pumpkin Challenge was declared open yesterday (Apr. 13) at Ottley’s Plantation Inn at the media launch of Restaurant Week.
Director of the Agriculture Department Mervin James said not only is the Department pleased to announce the official opening of the competition, but it is also poised to provide participants with the local ingredients needed for them to create and present “magical” dishes.
Last year’s local produce of choice was breadfruit and the participants in that competition created a variety of delectable dishes including ice-cream, chowder and burgers.
Most individuals would admit that when they hear the word pumpkin, they instantly think of soup or pancakes. James however expressed his hope that the ingenuity and creativity of the participants is at its best during the Pumpkin Challenge.
“We are pleased to announce today that the Pumpkin Challenge is open for registration. It is a Federation-wide competition for the best pumpkin dish on St. Kitts and Nevis. And as we heard earlier, we are expecting that we don’t just rework what we are accustomed to but we are looking for ingenuity. We are looking for creativity. We are looking for us to dig deep and maybe even to look at the traditions to see what might have happened in the past and what we can bring back to life in our pumpkin…”
James indicated that contestants have already begun entering the competition and encouraged others to do so as quickly as possible, especially since the first round of elimination is expected to take place in early May.
The registration process for the competition will run from April 8-22 and the event will culminate on May 31 when the winner would be selected.
SKNVibes spoke with a number of individuals who have expressed their excitement about this particular competition and have indicated their anticipation over the forthcoming creativity.
The winning recipe would be supplied to each restaurant participating in Restaurant Week for inclusion on their menus.
Last year’s competition was won by Maueen Stapleton with her Breadfruit Chowder.
