Antigua's Hermitage Bay Introduces Organic Cooking Classes

  • April 18, 2010
Antigua's Hermitage Bay Introduces Organic Cooking Classes
Starting this month, Hermitage Bay's Executive Chef, and Jamaican native, Dezi Banham will offer culinary classes to demonstrate how Caribbean cooking techniques can be implemented back home for simple reminders of island living.

Following in the footsteps of the Italian "Slow Food Movement," where emphasis is placed on farm to table practices, Chef Dezi combines the island's local resources with his signature Caribbean flare to create memorable dishes for guests to enjoy together. "When cooking for our guests, I strive to capture the essence of family dinners prepared by my mother and grandmother," says Chef Dezi. "It is all about love for food and each other. I try to instill in my staff to always view the guests we serve as family."

Each week Chef Dezi, will educate guests on how to prepare a range of refined Caribbean classics found on Hermitage Bay's menus. The recipes chosen are prepared with ingredients mainly found on-island including fruits from the nearby fruit farm, mussels hand-picked just off-shore and herbs and vegetables from the resort's new organic garden.

Recently cultivated, Hermitage Bay's organic garden was developed to minimize the harmful effects of importation and maximize the many natural resources available on island. For further culinary education, tours of the garden—where native Caribbean vegetables like okra, calalloo and dasheen are grown in addition to essential ingredients like rosemary, thyme, mint and onions—are available to guests complimentary.

After a stay at Hermitage Bay, travelers will return home as masters in preparing bountiful breakfasts like Pumpkin Fritters to dinner delights such as Chef Dezi's award-winning recipe of Appleton Rum & Ginger Pork Sirloin.

Culinary classes are offered complimentary when booking an all-inclusive stay at Hermitage Bay. For reservations please call 268.562.8080 or visit www.hermitagebay.com.