Rosemary Parkinson, Contributor
This chef got my attention.
I CANNOT write about Ferran Adria this week. This 'god of food' whose revolutionary sci-fi cuisine has changed the way we look at 'edibles', deserves the best of the best reviews. A show per se. My preparations to invite you to step out of the box require one more week. I promise, you will never have seen anything like this before - unless of course you have eaten, or know, or have read about Ferran Adria.
I now invite readers to view, through photography, some of the joys of South Beach last weekend. I really have to commend the organisers, a team of hard-working individuals that included Jamaicans.
Organiser Lee Schraeger's
assistant is Lori-Ann Cox. The hospitality suite at The Loews Hotel was kept humming by Melanie Miller and Kimberly Spence, and talking about 'humming' - 'Artie' of Jamaica's 'Chippies' took time off from studies to man the celebrity Hummer 'taxi'! I have to thank Lisa Palley for opening doors for me in such a wonderful way, and yes, thanks for the invitation! Next year is a definite date!
The South Beach Wine & Food Village was held on the beautiful, expansive, silvery sands of Miami's South Beach taking up three areas some 100 yards each. With two large tents on two areas and a series of smaller ones on the other, chefs like Emeril, Norman Van Aken - all the top names - had food demonstrations. There was a bookstore, a kitchen equipment store, a festival merchandising booth, as well as a Hummer display. (Hello! Every other car in South Beach is a Hummer, if you ask me. I brought home two - giveaway dinki-toy Hummers, that is!). There was a separate large tent for the Kidz Kitchen where Giada deLaurentis, Rachael Ray (even Emeril) gave children a lot to think about. Message to Jonathon Cummings make your father take you next year - the dates are March 23 to 25!
Now for things I noticed:
1. People paid for what they got - and that was the very best of food, wine, liquor and entertainment
2. Booths were up and running every day on time.
3. If you did not know much about food, you certainly did once you left there.
4. Although there were masses of humanity under the tents, hardly a paper napkin was seen on the ground. Attendants moved swiftly to remove rubbish-filled bags from drums placed in well-appointed spots.
5. There was dancing and much merriment - no bad behaviour or undue foul language and ...
6. The Cayman Islands had a booth showing off their island; Trinidad had 100 cane rum; Venezuela, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico too but, the only little taste of Jamaica came from the Ortanique booth! Personally, whether the festival was sponsored by one liquor importer or not, surely we could have got a little piece of Jamaica there. Oh! and have to mention - South Beach has its share of 'druggies' and 'homeless' but not one ever tried to grab, accost, dribble all over me or beg for a dime.
Note: My apologies to Chef Cindy Hutson and Delius Shirley for last week's headline - Carib food on the gourmet map. Carib is the name of a tribe of Amerindians said to be warriors who rowed around the islands purportedly eating the flesh of English and French men - they called them food. Carib descendants in the Commonwealth of Dominica deny these historic moments of fancy written by those intrepid European conquerors of our islands, confirming that the ancient Carib diet consisted mainly of cassava, wild meats and seafood cooked over open wood fires. I am sure that Chef Hutson must have read in dismay that she has put Carib food on the gourmet map. Our cuisine is a historical, cultural and traditional melting pot created by the diverse peoples who ventured here. Although the Amerindians were the first to set foot on our islands, Caribbean cuisine today can hardly be called Carib food.
Ferran Adria has driven Rosemary Parkinson totally mad - she was last seen running through the streets of Jamaica covered in scientific gear shouting out his name.
Contact information for the Ortanique restaurants reviewed in last week's Food:
Ortanique On The Mile
278 Miracle Mile,
Coral Gables, Miami, 33134 Florida
Reservations: 305-446-7710
Ortanique Las Vegas
Paris Las Vegas Hotel
3655 Las Vegas Boulevard South,
Las Vegas, Nevada 8909
Reservations: 702-946-4346
Copra
313 North Charles St.,
Baltimore 21201
Reservations: 410-727-6080
