A Taste Of Two Cities
A tall man dressed in shiny blue satin as Uncle Sam. A colorfully-dressed woman with an extremely exaggerated derrière shaking it at anyone and everyone within... shaking distance. A reticent George Washington, or man dressed in period costume meant to represent him. What does this have to do with Chefs Tim Love and Peter Edey? The 2010 Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival's brunch buffet, A Taste of Two Cities at the George Washington House.
The plantation house, also known as Bush Hill House, was home to a 19-year-old Washington and his ailing brother for two months in 1751. During this event, a buffet featured Caribbean and American food to celebrate American Thanksgiving and Barbados' Independence (November is independence month). There was stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, Cajun-spice rubbed roast pork, macaroni pie, flying fish, roasted poblanos, artichokes, and Conkies (banana leaf wrapped around shredded coconut and pound cake). If you've never had Scotch bonnet sauce on turkey, rest assured — it works well with everything.
Chefs Tim Love and Peter Edey did demos with Travel + Leisure Editor, Niloufar Motamed. Love did steak a la plancha and grilled campbread (with his son's help). Edey did flying fish on the plancha and wrapped it with barbeque sauce in a banana leaf. Flying fish with cou cou has been repeatedly noted as the dish you have to eat before leaving Barbados.
As for Uncle Sam and Mother Sally, they danced to a motley band dressed in period costumed much to some people's bafflement. Traditionally, Mother Sally is said to represent female fertility. But she is said to usually be played by a masked man dressed up like a woman. This was definitely a woman... perhaps that had something to do with all the excitement about the booty-shaking.