Chefs create culinary waves at The Cliff in Negril
Published:Thursday | June 15, 2023 | 11:11 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Award-winning Executive Chef Cindy Hutson’s prawns made a long swim from Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, landing on the cliffs of Negril’s West End in the Caribbean Sea and creating culinary waves on taste buds last Saturday night.
Hutson; her partner Delius Shirley, the late Jamaican food doyen Norma Shirley’s legacy; Florida’s Orno restaurant operator executive chef Niven Patel; the Cliff Hotel’s gastronomic master, Jonhoi Reid; and Rib Cage’s Gariel Ferguson, literally took the idea of a ‘Gourmet Getaway’ several notches up.
The offer of getting away from the hustle and bustle of big cities, for five days/four nights to savour the gastronomy of the land, was taken up by 16 women known to travel together to various destinations, playing dominoes, soaking up the culture, learning to cook the local dishes, and having their palates romanticised by renowned chefs.
The Cliff Hotel promised, “We will be tasting and exploring the Caribbean cultures of Jamaica, the Greater Caribbean, and the cuisine that makes the islands sing,” and they meant every word.
With the luxurious ocean front accommodation and rum tasting and mixology classes in celebration of the national dish ackee through the ‘ackee nog’ (similar to an egg nog’), last weekend will be etched in the stomach for years to come. Who can forget the hot Scotch bonnet daiquiri; live station cooking demonstration and the icing on the cake – an ‘eight’-course wine-pairing dinner with the stars of the kitchen.
Saturday night was the crème de la crème of the affair as Delius Shirley showed his prowess as a wine sommelier, enhancing the dining experience, and taking the evolution of this culinary tradition outside of the textbook.
To open the appetite and encourage enthusiasm, Hutson created a fresh catch ceviche, served in a crispy cassava cup, seasoned with sweet and Scotch bonnet granite, and finished with puffed quinoa. The food and beverage director paired a Minuty Rosé with this fresh catch, bringing a smooth, fresh, crisp and rounded taste to the pairing.
This wine comes from the best vineyards of the Côte de Provence in France, and Shirley says if you see it for US$60.00 or US$10.00, buy the latter because they are the same.
The aroma of red currants and orange peel were left on the table from this wine until the official first course by Chef Patel, whose conch salad, with green mango, sesame and Kashmiri peanuts had the food lovers in awe.
PERFECT COMBINATION
A Spanish wine, Mar de Frades Albarino, was paired with this delicacy of a meal. This wine had hints of eucalyptus and was the perfect combination. Even those not lovers of white wine agreed with this pairing.
It was the second course, again pulled from the incredible talented bag of Chef Patel, that proved this was no normal gourmet getaway. Patel introduced the taste buds to a tandoori paneer, enhanced by roasted tomato, fenugreek, and jackfruit bhatura. This was reminiscent of a traditional Indian dish, which tasted like a new comfort food.
Patel made a bread that pleased diners, but it was the jumbo prawn, and the sweet corn polenta, smoked tomato creole and charred okra that Chef Hutson delivered that will remain on the dining table at The Cliff for years to come.
Even if you weren’t at this dinner event, you would probably hear the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ that this dish generated. “Cindy was amazing. I have eaten at her restaurant in Miami before, but tonight was superior,” exclaimed one of the guests.
The prawn with the polenta was delicious, and paired with a Pinot Noir, opened the door for the reds. This wine, tagged Siduri, from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, found its way into a dining room in Negril offering savoury notes, which were tasty, rich, and lively.
Hutson did two entrées. Her other masterpiece was bavette steak, with baked breadfruit callaloo gratin. A chef with the type of awards on her epaulettes could not possibly spoil this dish. She did not disappoint. Neither did the Syrah blend chocolate block, South African wine.
When it came to time for dessert, probably the most anticipated event of the evening, Chef Reid outdid himself with the airiest, most succulent, most light, mango tiramisu ever made in any kitchen this side of the hemisphere.
This newspaper thinks this Jamaican chef should start pastry classes.
Lest we forget, Hutson’s oxtail wellington were a treat, so were the pani puri by Patel, who doused the mungbeans with mint water!
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story listed Delius Shirley's title as chef. Shirley is the food and beverage director of The Cliff Hotel.