The Silent "I"

Food, Glorious Food: What to Eat in St. Lucia

 

St. Lucia offers a variety of food options to suit just about any palate, from the gourmet to the gourmand or the mac-and-cheese-addicted child.  Freshly-caught fish and seafood abound, combined with locally-grown seasonings, vegetables and traditional Caribbean preparations, making for healthy, delicious, and unique culinary experiences.  Some popular dishes are found in different forms on other Caribbean islands, but St. Lucia puts its own twist on food. Even if you think you know what Callaloo or Shark & Bake tastes like, you haven't tried it until you've tasted it here. 

Green Figs & Salt Fish

The national dish of St. Lucia is the dynamic duo known as "green figs and salt fish".  The "figs" are actually unripe bananas, peeled and sauteed with garlic, onions, celery, and peppers.  If the combo of bananas and garlic don't sound appealing, never fear.  Unripened bananas are not sweet and taste more like potatoes than the yellow bananas we're used to putting in cereal and eating as an on-the-go snack.  Unripe, the bananas are much starchier and harder, with less banana flavor. Green Figs & Salt Fish also features salt fish, rinsed thoroughly to drain out most of the salt, then flaked and sauteed with the bananas and vegetables.  It is a hearty, filling meal for lunch or dinner, but I even ate it for breakfast while I was there.  Bananas, green and ripened, are abundant on St. Lucia and are the island's primary crop for export.

Floats & Bakes

"Bakes" are a popular form of bread in St. Lucia, made with a round of plain flour dough that is bake or fried.  When baked, it has a taste similar to English muffins, not sweet, but dense, chewy and hearty.  You can eat them on their own, or with a variety of fillings to form a handy sandwich-like snack. Add a little powdered sugar or jam, and you have a breakfast treat.  Much of the street food sold at markets and stands in St. Lucia has a bake filled with a meat or fish filling.

Shark & Bake

The same dough recipe can be deep-fried to create a "float", a popular base for St. Lucian street food like Shark and Bake.  Shark and Bake, as the name connotes, is a mixture of fish and stewed vegetables eaten as a sandwich.  I'm not sure if the fish meat was actually shark or something else, but it tasted good.  Other islands may have originated and popularize this version of the fish sandwich, but St. Lucians have adapted a version all their own.

Callaloo

Callaloo is a dark green leafy vegetable that comes from the leaves of the taro plant.  St. Lucians use it in place of spinach or kale, and when cooked up, it produces a smoky-flavored addition to fish or seafood dishes.  Combined with mashed dasheen (taro root), the leaves form a thick, green, flavorful soup base for crab or other seafood.  It reminded me of the Seaweed Soup my mom makes, both in taste and texture.  My travel companion, Julia, tried the Callaloo crab soup, which was a little hard to eat since the crab meat had to be extracted from the tiny crab legs.  She said it was worth the effort, even though some of it ended up on her lovely white dress.  I had Callaloo and Snapper at one meal, which was a mixture of snapper sauteed with callaloo leaves.  The leaves were similar in taste to cooked chard or kale, with none of the bitterness. 

Places to Dine

Street Food

Throughout St. Lucia, there are open-air stands selling a variety of ready-to-eat local delicacies, like shark and bake, roast pork, and bakes.  Grab a foil-wrapped Shark & Bake for an inexpensive, hearty meal on the go.  On Friday nights, Trios Restaurant at Bay Gardens Beach Resort offers up their parking lot to a food and music festival called "Calaloo Fridays" with food stands featuring typical street food, the ubiquitous Pitons Beer, music and Carnival bands showing off their elaborate costumes and dance moves. This is a fun and inexpensive way to try out a variety of St. Lucian delicacies. 

Caribbean Fusion

For a fine-dining experience with a pan-Caribbean flair, check out Trios Restaurant at the Bay Gardens Beach Resort in Rodney Bay.  Featuring locally grown fresh vegetables and fresh fish dishes from the sea, Trios offers excellent seafood, jerk-style chicken, and hearty vegetarian dishes in a romantic, tropical setting frequented by locals and visitors alike.  I enjoyed the Crab Chowder served in a coconut shell bowl, with large chunks of crab and vegetable in a coconut-based broth.  The Trios Snapper was served with three sauces that all complemented the fish and mashed sweet potatoes well.  For dessert, try the Fruitcake, which is more the color and consistency of gingerbread than the Christmas doorstop that we think of as fruitcake.

Pumpkin seem to be a favorite ingredient among St. Lucian chefs, who use it for a spicy soup, a base for vegetarian dishes, and for dessert treats like pumpkin pie. 

Indian Food

St. Lucians share a long history of trade with India, and nearly 40% of St. Lucians have some Indian ancestry.  It's only fitting that one of the top new restaurants in St. Lucia is the acclaimed Spice of India. Spice of India offers tradional Indian food served with a dramatic flair.  We had what seemed like a suptuous 90 course meal at Spice of India, and no one at the table could stop eating. From the luscious, creamy butter chicken to flavorful deconstructed samosas to perfectly-grilled tandoori chicken to the deep-fried chocolate cake at the end, every bite was a new twist on some familar Indian dishes.  This is not your mother's chicken tikka masala, and you might not ever want to go back to it after dining at Spice of India.  This restaurant was voted #1 by TripAdvisor, and for good reason: the food is simply out of this world.

If you just can't take all this exotic goodness, and have a hankering for some good old American fast food, there is a KFC, a Domino's and even a Subway in Rodney Bay.  McDonald's, however, has not made it into St. Lucia yet, so you'll have to wait to get to the airport in Miami or New York to get your Big Mac on.

 

 Creme Brulee, Fruitcake & Pumpkin Pie

 

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful.”

                                                                                                        -Anthony Bourdain

 Disclosure: Food and accommodations for my trip to St. Lucia were paid for by Bay Gardens Resorts. I did not receive any additional financial incentive or compensation for writing this post.  All opinions expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Bay Gardens Resorts.

Photos: Copyright Glennia Campbell/The Silent I. All Rights Reserved.

Bay Gardens Hotel & Bay Gardens Inn: Affordable Paradise

 Looking for a budget-friendly, charming place to relax in sunny St. Lucia? Check out Bay Gardens Hotel or Bay Gardens Inn.  Both locally-owned and operated properties are part of the same group as the ultra-fab Bay Gardens Resort, but a little farther from the beach and a little easier on the wallet. A great place for solo travelers, honeymooners, a friends' retreat or a family vacation, Bay Gardens Hotel offers a comfortable accommodations and two lovely pools in a lush, green garden setting.

I had the chance to tour Bay Gardens Hotel on my trip to St. Lucia and have a sumptuous lunch at the on-site Spices Restaurant.  Walking into the property, I immediately loved the fun, tropical atmosphere of the chartreuse-colored buildings named after tropical trees like "Pawpaw" and "Sugar Apple".  The courtyard surrounding the pool was bursting with tropical flowers in red and yellow hues.  It's a bright and cheerful place, to say the least. 

 

The lovely travelers: Jordanne Hunter, Donna Owens, and Julia Landry

It was hot and humid when we arrived, and we were all sweating within minutes. Even the calm and collected Miss Waltrude Patrick, the Hotel & Inn's General Manager, was starting to feel the heat after walking around the grounds.  My traveling companions, Jordanne, Donna, and Julia, couldn't resist dipping their toes into the cool and inviting pool at Bay Gardens Hotel.  Miss Patrick later treated us to a Frozen Lime Squash, a non-alcoholic drink made from freshly-squeezed limes and frothy crushed ice. I am not sure what else was in there, but it was a wonderful treat on a hot day.   I am normally not a fan of the sourness of lime, but this was as refreshing as a dip in the cool pool.

 Lunch at Spices was equally delightful, with fresh, locally-grown salads, fruits, and vegetables and a variety of entrees to please any palate.  I had a dorado fish prepared Wellington style, a perfectly cooked-through filet of hearty dorado wrapped in a light puffy pastry shell. The pastry sat atop fresh vegetables on a flavorful, light curry sauce.  My travel companions dined on Pumpkin Soup, a local specialty, and a Caribbean curried chicken that they declared to be "delicious." 

We were joined by the owner, Mrs. Joyce Destang, and other members of the management team.  The hotel is run mostly by women, and their commitment to customer service, quality, and hospitality is evident in everything they do.  I found that St. Lucians are reserved when you first meet them, but are warm and charming and go from strangers to friends quickly.  We started lunch with formal introductions and handshakes; by the end, there were hugs all around.

Bay Gardens Resort & Spa: St. Lucia Hospitality At Its Best

Walking into the Bay Gardens Resort & Spa, you immediately know one thing: You're on vacation.  One of St. Lucia's premiere luxury resorts, Bay Gardens Resort is situated on lovely Rodney Bay, not far from the capitol city of Castries, but in a world all of its own. If you're planning to visit St. Lucia, Bay Gardens Resort should be on the top of your list of accomodations for a fun family vacation, romantic getaway, or a honeymoon trip for memories that will last longer than most marriages.

Step inside, where you'll be greeted by the friendly desk staff, a huge tropical flower arrangement (more like a giant, colorful bush), photos of the flora and fauna of the island, comfy wicker furniture, a gift shop stuffed with island memorabilia and gear, and a delicious island breeze wafting through, and you will quickly realize that it's exactly the way a tropical vacation ought to be. In fact, it would be nice if life were like this all the time. Ever.

I was part of a trio of bloggers and journalists invited to visit Bay Gardens hotels last week as part of a press familiarization tour.  I am not sure how I got so lucky as to be invited, but I'm not one to look a gift horse or a trip to a luxury resort in the mouth, so there I was, a little dazed and confused from the flight, but excited nonetheless.  We were met at the airport by Richard, Activities Manager and Jack-of-All-Trades for the hotel.  Richard had us fill out cards in the van so we didn't need to check-in, gave us our keys so we could go directly to our rooms when we arrived.  He had icy cold bottles of water and fruit for the 1 hour drive to the hotel, located on the opposite end of the island from the airport.  Our friendly driver, Charles, stopped along the way to let us stretch our legs and enjoy the scenic views, and gave a running commentary of what we were seeing along the way.

Bay Gardens Resort  is a 4-star, all-suite luxury resort that is part of a trio of hotels owned and operated by the Destang Family, but this is no mom-and-pop operation.  The Destangs are local St. Lucian's with a long history of investment and involvement in St. Lucian business enterprise. Mrs. Destang was honored by Queen Elizabeth II and named as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her service to the tourism industry, an honor slightly below Knighthood.  St. Lucia is a British Commonwealth and very few people have this distinction.  After an hour or two at any of the Bay Gardens properties, you understand why these hotels would be fit for a queen.

St. Lucia: Island of Dreams

I spent last weekend as a guest of the Bay Gardens Resorts & Spa on the lovely island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean.  I had not really heard much about St. Lucia before the trip, but what I found there was a little slice of paradise.  I've taken many sunset photos over the years, but this one is one of my favorites.  The sky was not particularly dramatic, but the sun was a bright, golden orb over a tranquil bay.

While waters of the Caribbean were calm, the island teemed with color from the golden, delicate hibiscus to the hearty ginger stalks bursting with vibrant pinks and reds.  Brightly painted houses dot the lush, green tropical landscape, surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean on one side and the Atlantic on the other.  It's a place that lingers with you long after, a place to dream of when real-life stress and obligations become a little too much. I'm already planning a trip back.

I have a great deal more to say about the fabulous Bay Gardens hotels, the food, the people and more, but this little Photo Friday entry will have to do for now.

Wishing everyone a blissful, dreamy weekend and a little slice of heaven in your own backyard, or wherever you may roam on this big, beautiful planet of ours.

For more virtual travels, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday line-up.

Photos: Copyright Glennia Campbell/The Silent I. All Rights Reserved. Taken with a Nikon D90 DSLR.