TT Culinary Team serves up Taste of Gold

Charred corn and chicken confetti, beet root chutney, chadon beni cheese cake are just some of the interesting delights that will be available to patrons at the A Taste of Gold dinner prepared by the triumphant 2018 TT culinary team tomorrow.

The team won the Caribbean National Culinary Team of the Year title for a seventh time at the 25th installment of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s annual Taste of the Caribbean Competition in Miami, Florida from June 22 to 26.

In addition to the group win, Team TT earned one gold, one silver, and four bronze, and captured the titles of best non-alcoholic cocktail, Caribbean bartender of the year, and Caribbean chef of the year (beef category).

The team will reproduce the winning team menu in a three-course dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Wrightson Road from 7.30 pm, with cocktails by winning bartender, Shana Rajaram.

Brian Frontin, CEO, Trinidad Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Association said, “A Taste of Gold is something we look forward to every time we win gold. I think it’s good for people to be further acquainted with the team, especially if they did not know prior to success. We have lots of room on our bandwagon for people because it helps every future year that people could spread the word, follow the team, and be proud of the fact that Trinidad and Tobago has done so well.”

He said a new team is chosen every year through the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute’s (TTHTI) Making the Cut Competition between January and March, while other Caribbean teams kept the same teams for years trying to improve and get a better outcome.

This year’s team consisted of captain Jeremy Lovell; senior chefs Rondell Thompson and Tricia Gregoire; junior chef Zaria Sealey; pastry chef Anton Lee James; bartender Shana Rajahram; and alternate bartender Dale Sebro-Jospeh.

He believes the secret to TT’s success is the diversity of menu design, use of ingredients, and TTHTI training as every year, most of the members are current or past students of TTHTI. “It’s testament to the fact that the team plays a big part in how the country is represented when we go out. There is no real magic formula except that infusion of our blended backgrounds, cultural experiences and our flavours, and the members’ foundation training.”

He explained that last year, when the team won a silver medal, but not the overall team competition, they had tried using European and Syrian elements, straying from the path of traditional Trini flavours.

Frontin told Sunday Newsday people expect creative blends, a fusion of ingredients and flavours that are unusual, non-traditional, yet tasty from the TT team and the judges expressed that they missed it in 2017. “This year, I think that’s why we won. We said we were going to go right back to roots, to the authentic Trini flavours because that’s what the judges identify us with.

“You hear and see some of the combinations for the first time and think, ‘What the hell is this? These people are going way off the reservation and digging deep into local flavours and blending it together.’ One judge said that is what this whole taste of the Caribbean is about. Not taking imported taste profiles you can get anywhere around the world but something that tells a story about where you are from and is really representative of your homeland.”

This was Lovell’s first year as captain, but his fourth time on the team. “I always said if I ever got the opportunity to be captain I would grasp it. At some points it became a little overwhelming but obviously I didn’t show it. But it was exciting. It is an experience I will remember.”

When he was approached with the captain position he came up with the general concept, taking the judges’ critique from the previous year into consideration. When the team was assembled, they all worked on tweaking it by playing around with different flavours and plating.

He said Trinis are accustomed to Trini food so they are more difficult to impress than the judges.

The practice dinners they conducted during the training and the resulting feedback, gave them the extra push needed to impress. “If we know Trinis are satisfied with what we are going to Miami with, we know for sure the judges would be flabbergasted by it.”

He said the TT team usually begins training for the competition early in the year, while other teams start preparations the year before. He believes this is what allows the TT team to peak during the competition. “In my opinion the great output of the team is best shown in Miami. I think that is what always gets us the gold medal.”

Of course, every year, there are also individuals who stand out.

First-time team member Tricia Gregoire, won the beef category with a dish of plantain bara with geera coconut Angus certified beef; pimento and cheese stuffed meatloaf on a tamarind sauce; sorrel and clove rub beef steak on a sorrel au jus; and quick pickled vegetables.

“I got really good comments but the star of the plate was the bara. I took what people would consider to be street food and made it into a main course and the judges were excited about it.”

She said she was shocked when it was announced she had won. “They judged really hard this year. I was a bit disappointed when I got the silver medal. I was like, ‘Oh gosh. That’s it there.’ I thought someone after me was getting a gold and automatically they would have won. But on my way off the stage I realised no one else was coming and it was all over. I was very happy. ”

Rajahram, the only female bartender in the competition, won Best Non Alcoholic Drink and Caribbean Bartender of the Year, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Her competition had four categories including the Rum Drink, Vodka Drink, Mystery Bar Drink, and a non-alcoholic drink. Her winning drink was made with beetroot and called Beet D Iron. She told Sunday Newsday she finds it harder to make non-alcoholic cocktails because they have to look and taste good, and be worth the money spent on it.

Rajahram said when her name was called as the winner, she literally dropped to the ground. To her it was a dream come true as she was denied the opportunity to compete last year when, two weeks before the competition, she was denied a US Visa.