Left: Jamaican fruits make sweet punches - even the grapes are ours. Right: Barbados wild cashew.

Rosemary Parkinson, Contributor

One of the things that fascinates me about the Caribbean, and the primary reason that I have begun the lengthy but most rewarding documentation of them, is the never-ending bounty of beautiful stories that surround food of some kind or another. We often never realise that:

a) They should be written down, filmed, recorded for posterity, and that;

b) they are stories that are fascinating to the rest of the world, to whom even the smallest of limes on a tree with a few 'senseh' fowl underneath is a vision of amazement.

In the past, through my weekly column, I, for the most part, have been exercising my right to document the delights (and sometimes related problems) ofour cuisine, not only in Jamaica, but the Caribbean at large. I have, however, recently been focusing more on the positive side of this work - my heart, body and soul all having taken enough licks in both health and wealth! It is because I have received so many enquiries as to where my punitive critiques have disappeared to, and where am I, in terms of my physical body, that I feel it necessary to devote this week's column to explanations about my new lease in life as I put together further books on our wondrous islands.

The Work is Ongoing

Problems, unfortunately, must be addressed. Otherwise they go unnoticed. While I have been many times castigated for my directness, maybe even my twisted sense of humour, I know for the most part, I have made those who were at the other end of my disciplinary stick, stand up and take positive action. Others, unfortunately (now under the scrutiny of Food's new critic), seem not to have advanced too far. Oh, yes! I have been reading the new Food critic avidly and thanking him daily for taking the pressure off moi. He is a colleague who I have not yet met; who I intend not to meet until his job is complete - lest it be suggested that either I am one and the same person going out in male disguise or that I am influencing his findings. I wish him continued success. I do find it sad, however, that after all these years, the new human 'in-the-cholesterol-enhancing' job of policing our eateries can visit the exact restaurants I did so many moons ago, only to find the same pattern of bad service, tasteless food and, most of all, no reason to have doors open to the public.

Hopefully, these restaurateurs who do such a disservice to our great cuisine and our reputation at home and abroad, will wake up and smell the fried plantains having been publicly told a second time, by someone else to get it right or give up. Cuisine/service in the mediocre lane is one of the worst food viruses ever. Getting it under control, lest it infects our next generation, is imperative. Mr. Spencer Williams is doing a fine job.

Meanwhile, Positive Thoughts

For the next few months, as I travel the other islands to the north and south of us, continuing to scour my beloved Jamaica, in between, in search of lovely stories (thanks for the good words from those who find them interesting), I hope to teach and add a booster of positive immunisation to the mediocre cuisine/service cure. Encompassing our diverse ethnic cultures and traditions that I do not wish to see lost in our quest to keep up with foreigners. And, in the vein of the unity of Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME), this week's column brings a visual feast of our most precious and exotic spots that through the grace of our very own Caribbean God gave us fruits, vegetables, fish, meats and dairy. Of course, in my photography, I cannot forget our (or foreign) great chefs and cooks who make the delicious fare out of same.

One of the ways travellers discover a new culture is to get on the ground, walk the streets and talk to the people. Virginia Burke in Eat Caribbean. Rosemary Parkinson has taken note.

Left: We love fish around the islands. Right: Chef Stefan Spath a Jamaicaphile.

Left: The flying fish from Barbados. Right: Making Rural Agricultural Development Authority's (RADA) Jamaican cassava pancakes. - photos by Rosemary Parkinson/Gleaner Writer