Long ago when a church announced that was having a bake sale, people flocked to the stalls because they knew they would be getting the best, all home made – breads, cakes, drinks and various snacks and other goodies. Food like your mother, aunt, and grandmother use to make.  I remember that some people would not cook because they would be buying food from the bake sale, it was that good. These days however, that is not so. The standard of cooking has dropped, drastically. It’s either that these crop of “church ladies” don’t know how to cook or they can’t be bothered; they figure that as long as they are selling it under the banner of the church, sales are guaranteed because the funds are always for a worthy cause.

 I would prefer they ask me for a monetary donation than subject me to what they call food. And please do not think that I am being a food snob because I am not. Let me tell you what I experienced last Saturday.

 It was announced that immediately following mass, the ladies of …. would be having a bake sale – fish cakes, sweet breads etc. I decided that for my evening meal, I would have whatever I bought from the sale. I ordered 6 fish cakes, the sweet bread, golden brown with dark raisins tempted me so I bought one. I enquired about the homemade drinks in the cooler. They had mauby – my favourite drink. I asked the man in charge of the drinks if the mauby was homemade, he said, “yes”. I asked if it was made from the bark or syrup, he insisted it was homemade. I bought 2 bottles.

The smell of the food in the car was driving me crazy, I was so hungry. I could not reach home fas enough. As soon as I got indoors I tore into the bag of fish cakes, taking a big bite, chewing and chewing – flour, all flour, not a hint of seasoning, no salt fish! I bit into two others, the same thing. I put the salt fish aside bristling with anger. I cut into the sweet bread. I tasted spiced, baked flour. No coconut, no butter, I am not even sure it had any eggs. The sweet bread was dry, dry, dry. Against my better judgement, I bit into it, so as not to choke, I quickly reached for the mauby. What entered my mouth was thick and sickly sweet. Ugghhhh. I quickly swallowed everything and reached for a large glass of ice cold water. What was that, I thought, my anger quickly turing to frustration. What is wrong with these people, how can they with good conscience sell this stuff?

I cannot believe how much money I end up spending every month on groceries. I’ve been tracking my grocery spending and I’m frustrated. The reason I am spending more money is because I cannot find a one-stop shopping evironment. The large supermarkets boast about their abundance and range – uh uh. Not so.

So, I end up sometimes going to 3 supermarkets to get what I want and you know what happens…? Invariably when you walk in, your eye catches something that you don’t need but think you should get and before you know it, you have many more things in your trolley on the way out than you need. Aaaaggghhh!

Barbados’ Agrofest (Agricultural Festival) opened today at Queen’s Park. Fabulous! Lots of goodies – vegetables, produce, herbs, craft etc. A foodie’s haven.

According to this story in the Nation Newspapers, a clearing house for farm produce could be a solution to farmers getting their produce sold.

It was a shame to read this story in the Nation Newspapers on Tuesday, February 13. A farmer with more than 4-thousand pounds of tomatoes and no buyers! No supermarkets, no hotels, no wholesalers. Farmers are being called on to produce more, plant more local foods so that we can cut down on the food importation bill and yet, there seems to be no system in place for their produce to get to the consumers.

Culinary Alliance of Barbados – can you all help?

I found this interesting article by Nalini Mohabir in which she writes about the last ship that left the Caribbean for India to return ex-indentured labourers. It looks at the question – where is home?

People talk all the time about missing home, especially when living abroad. I’ve often been asked if I miss home and my answer usually is: “not really”. I go on to explain that that is so because my family comes to visit me often and I get to enjoy some of the foods from home.

However, since I’ve started writing my column, Tastes Like Home, which focuses on food memories, I have an instense feeling of missing home. I guess it is only natural given the nature of what I write about – food memories that are connected to family, friends and good times.

Today as I sat writing my weekly TLH column I realized how much food, all our food is influenced by each other. Take for example, India, their food is also influenced by the Portuguese among others, our food here in the Caribbean is in itself a fusion of so many cultures – French, Spanish, British, Dutch, Chinese, Portuguese, African etc. Food is truly a universal language.

I’m now writing another food column for a different publication: Stabroek News, The Scene. Check it out weekly. The blog for that column is www.tastesofguyana.blogspot.com

The New York Times carried a story today about how cooking is fast becoming the new wave of team-building exercises practised in corporate America, with results! I think it’s a fantastic idea.
Unfortunately, in order for me to link to the article for you to read it, you will have to purchase it. Sorry about that.