Life brings new challenges at each stage. You're either ready to take them head on, or you're left wondering what happened. The S-CROSS makes it an easy choice. Bold, any road. So don't worry about what's coming. Be ready to cross the line.
A getaway to Curaçao is a getaway filled with vibrant color, unique European and Caribbean culture, and a history that still shines bright across the island today. this year, Curaçao celebrates that history with its 25th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
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A Message from our CEO Caribbean Airlines #REcalibrated
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There was also lots of activity in the region including the Tobago Heritage Festival, which returned live for the first time since 2019! Now as September begins, it’s all about cricket! Caribbean Airlines is happy to be the official airline of the Hero Carib bean Premier League 2022 (CPL), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. From 30 August to 30 September, the games will take place in Trinidad, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, and Guyana, where the finals will be Weplayed.areproud that, as the official airline partner, all teams and officials will travel on Caribbean Airlines to and from the events. CPL is the biggest party in sport, and it is our pleasure to connect fans across the Caribbean and the Amer icas to the excitement. We understand the value of sports in REuniting the region, and look forward to offering an authen tic Caribbean experience to all travellers.
Caribbean Airlines Cargo is experi enced in shipping general cargo, oilfield equipment, live animals, fresh produce, seafood, and other time sensitive commodities. By now, many of you also would have used our improved JETPAK courier service, which was upgraded from an airport-to-airport service to one that’s door-to-door. Now, when custom ers register for free (https://jetpak. caribbean-airlines.com/#/sign-up), they’ll receive a United States address, which can be used to shop online and to which items will be delivered. Carib bean Airlines then transports the items to Trinidad, clears them with customs, and delivers them to your door! We also use technology to enable our customers to track their items in real time. And speaking of technology, I am thrilled to introduce the newest member of the Caribbean Airlines team: R.E.a (pronounced Aria), our dynamic digital avatar. R.E.a will be used to interface with our customers for prod uct promotions, in corporate adverts, video content and other areas. We’re really excited about this development, as it represents another way that tech nology is adding value to the customer Nowexperience.wemove into the final quarter of 2022 with cautious optimism, mindful of some major risks that could grow over the next six to 18 months — one of which is record high fuel prices. Nonetheless, we continue to work diligently to deliver on our promise of Resetting Expecta tions and making bold moves to better connect our region to itself and the world.
Aaron “Voice” St Louis and Agent Sasco of Jamaica to create “WE ARE CARIB BEAN”. This masterful production is a powerful fusion of Caribbean music that reflects our energy and positive vibes. We know you will enjoy this masterpiece for a long time to come. Our teams have been busy, especially our cargo division! We’ve expanded our network and now provide REliable nonstop service twice weekly between Cuba and Trinidad. This service also provides cargo connectivity via Trinidad to the wider Caribbean including Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, Suriname, Curaçao, and other international destinations. This expansion of our cargo service offers increased opportunities for trade between Cuba and the Caribbean. Now, anyone interested in trading with Cuba can do so conveniently and affordably.
Amidst all this, we have some awesome news to add. We’ve once again collab orated with the “King of Soca”, Machel Montano. This time, he joined forces with
For the first time in three years, we enjoyed a July/August vacation period with no restrictions on movement. Families and friends were able to REconnect and relish each other’s company as is custom ary during the school holidays.
6 WWW.CARIBBEAN-BEAT.COM ContentsNo.172 • September/October 2022 22 14 12 Wish you Were here Mopion, St Vincent & the Grenadines 14 event buzz Essential info about what’s happening across the region 20 book & music buzz
“i Was designed for that moment beCause of Where i Came from” Trinidad-born Mishael Morgan on making Daytime Emmy history; living with purpose; and the power of storytelling — as told to Caroline Taylor 40 destination barbuda rising From flirtatious frigatebirds to captivating caves, Gemma Handy shares why Barbuda should be on everyone’s bucket list 46 plugin streaming the Caribbean Caribbean diaspora films and series often struggle to reach audiences further afield. A range of online streaming platforms seek to bridge the gap, writes Mark Lyndersay 50 live green Shelly-Ann Inniss talks to awardwinning Barbadian chef Damian Leach about his passion for Caribbean cuisine and zero-waste cooking 52 inspire a movement of maroons Descendants of Maroon peoples in the Caribbean diaspora have been working tirelessly to be recognised as Indigenous. Attillah Springer takes us inside this important work 56 on this day the voluntary CastaWay Seventy years ago, Alain Bombard journeyed from the Canaries to the Caribbean in a 15-foot dinghy to prove that man could survive on water, fish, and plankton alone. James Ferguson tells the tale 64 puzzles & brain-teasers 32
Reviews by Shivanee Ramlochan and Nigel A Campbell 22 round trip Wonders of the Caribbean Discover some of the region’s aweinspiring natural wonders, parks and reserves 32 cookup the Chef With the spiCe Niala Maharaj meets the awardwinning Soenil Bahadoer, whose fusion of European haute cuisine and Surinamese home cooking draws foodies to his Michelin-starred restaurant in the Netherlands 36 oWn Words
Business Development Manager, Tobago and International Evelyn Chung T: (868) 684–4409 E: evelyn@meppublishers.com
Beat BeatCaribbean Caribbean Media & Editorial Projects Ltd. 6 Prospect Avenue, Long Circular, Maraval 120111, Trinidad and Tobago T: (868) 622–3821/6138 E: caribbean-beat@meppublishers.com Websites: meppublishers.com • caribbean-beat.com by SCRIP-J, Trinidad and Tobago
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Editor Caroline Taylor Designer Kevon Webster General manager Halcyon Salazar Editorial assistant Shelly-Ann Inniss Production manager Jacqueline Smith Finance director Joanne Mendes
Caribbean Beat is published six times a year for Caribbean Airlines by Media & Editorial Projects Ltd. It is also available on subscription. Copyright © Caribbean Airlines 2022. All rights reserved. ISSN 1680–6158. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher. MEP accepts no responsibility for content supplied by our advertisers. The views of the advertisers are theirs and do not represent MEP in any way.
Business Development Representative, Trinidad Tracy Farrag T: (868) 318–1996 E: tracy@meppublishers.com
Publisher Jeremy Taylor An MEP publication
Cover Trinidad-born Mishael Morgan made history in June as the first woman of colour to win the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Photo Sipa USA/Alamy Stock Photo Read and save issues of Caribbean Beat on your smartphone, tablet, computer, and favourite digital devices! Printed
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A Messag from our CEO Caribbean Airlines #REcalibrated
Today, this spirit of resilience is expressed in many spheres, including sport. And when our athletes attend international events, it focusses the eyes of the world on us and showcases the excellence of our national brands.
T he freedom fighter and late President of South Africa Nelson Mandela said: Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than govern ments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination. Sport is like a universal language. We may not all be sport lovers or passionate fans, but as individuals we can all relate to and identify with it in some way. And in the Caribbean, we express that love for sport with all the vitality, energy and passion for which the region is well known.
The triumph and trials of these athletes belong to us all. The tenacity and determination they display is easily relatable to us.
Dionne Ligoure is the Head of Corporate Communications for Caribbean Airlines Limited. Contact: dionne.ligoure@ caribbean-airlines.com
Beyond cricket, our people strongly identify with our athletes in other sporting disciplines. The prowess of Jamaica’s track and field stars is known globally. And although the athletes represent Jamaica, the region identifies with and wholeheart edly supports them as Caribbean.
The cultural importance of sport to our people was reinforced decades ago by the first leaders of the Caribbean’s newly independent nations, who outlined three areas that should distinguish the region: the airline, the University of the West Indies, and the West Indies cricket team. These leaders recog nised the unifying power of sport and its significance to our post-colonial identity. Many of us recall the glory days of the West Indies cricket team, where the players had the appeal and status of demi gods for the pride they brought to the emerging nation states of the Caribbean. Our sense of self was closely intertwined with the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat, as experienced by our Classicteam.songs were born out of this movement — like David Rudder’s evergreen “Rally ‘round the West Indies”, or the more recent soca anthem “Champion” by DJ Bravo.
The upliftment continues with the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament, which takes place across the region until 30 September. Billed as the Caribbean’s biggest sports party, it’s another expression of the energy and vibrancy that distinguish us in the region.
Historically, it was this tenacity that saw some of our ancestors endure the most inhumane and gruesome conditions, coupled with displacement, to make their lives in a new region and in grossly different circumstances.
Sport is an integral part of culture and life, linking us to our social history, traditions, and values. It also promotes healthy living and a host of positive values like discipline, teamwork, and determination. It creates purpose and a sense of unity at individual, community, and regional levels. Yes, we are sover eign nation states, patriotic and proud in our own right, but sport is etched into our collective psyche and a hallmark of our Caribbean identity.
Sport & Caribbeantheidentity
The recently concluded Commonwealth Championships, the Pan Am Swimming Games, and the World Athletics Champi onships provided a much-needed boost to regional morale, as many Caribbean countries enjoyed good success.
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mopion At not even 100 feet long, depending on the tides and currents, Mopion is sometimes called the smallest island in the Caribbean. Accessible only by boat, its brilliant white coral sand barely emerges above the distinctive blue waters of the southern Grenadines. You’ll find only one thatched structure there, nicknamed the “Engagement Umbrella”. It provides just enough shade for two and, legend has it, is a popular spot for marriage proposals. The reef offshore is also great for snorkelling.
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Havana’s charm gives you every reason to explore the iconic city — and possibly never want to leave. The International Ballet Festival of Havana (27 October–3 November) delivers another captivating reason to love Cuba’s capital city. Founded by the late choreographer and prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso, the acclaimed biennial festival features performances by famous dance companies from around the globe, a few world premieres, and a diverse programme. The Grand Theatre of Havana Alicia Alonso and the Karl Marx Theatre are two of the main festival venues. event buzz
Don’t miss
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Essential info about what’s happening across the region in September and October!
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Celebration time
When we touch down, the whole place shell down! Hardcore carnivalists will have a packed couple of months — from chippin’ down Eastern Parkway at Brooklyn’s West Indian American Day Carnival & Parade (5 September), to mashin’ up at Miami Carnival (1–9 October), then heading down to Tobago Carnival (28–30 October), which ends the 2022 post-summer Carnival season with a bang. Meanwhile, the biggest party in sport returns as the CPL T20 tournament (1–30 September) celebrates its 10th anniversary. Six cricket teams — along with the inaugural women’s squads — vie for supremacy as boundless excitement envelops the cricket grounds in St Lucia, Trinidad, Guyana, and St Kitts. For literature lovers, all roads lead to the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (9–11 September) and Brooklyn Book Festival (25 September–3 October).
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In Guyana, Indigenous Heritage Month (September) celebrates the country’s nine Indigenous tribes through food, fashion, pageantry, arts and more. Neighbouring Suriname celebrates Maroon Day on 10 October, and you can learn more about the Maroon movement later in this issue.
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Curaçao Pride (28 September–2 October) sees the LGBTQIA community and its allies celebrate with signature events: the Pride Parade, Pride Happy Hours, the White Party and Boat Party. Capping things off, the World Creole Music Festival’s scintillating sounds return to Dominica (28–30 October) with a cavalcade of star power, thrilling the seasoned festival-goer and newbie alike.
For the film buffs
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Three, two, one — action! In Toronto, don’t miss the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (7–23 September) and the Toronto International Film Festival (8–18 September), before heading to the trinidad+tobago film festival (22–28 September), and Grenada’s 1261 Film Festival (26–30 October).
orizonsFilmhortsoleilsCourtesyaturdayxthirdh still from Fever Dream
Experience the beauty beneath St Lucia’s dazzling waters at Dive Fest (19–26 September) with coral planting, a treasure hunt, and the popular Lionfish Derby & Cookoff. What’s more, Creole Heritage Month (October) shows off the island’s cherished heritage. Divali (24 October) is the Hindu lunar festival of light, symbolising the triumph of light over darkness. Hindu communities in Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, and Suriname light deyas (tiny oil lamps) in and round temples, homes, roadways, and public parks. It’s a ritual that many citizens of all faiths and backgrounds join in, bringing delight to all. 17
Online, catch the next edition of Short Film Saturday (10 September) on the Soleil Space YouTube channel, in partnership with the Third Horizon Film Festival. They’ll stream Nile Saulter’s Fever Dream and Ian Harnarine’s Doubles With Slight Pepper, followed by Q&As with the filmmakers.
In Antigua, the thrill of reeling in prized catches and enjoying copious amounts of fresh seafood awaits at the Francis Nunes Memorial Fishing Tournament & Seafood Fest (24 September).
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CGsTouosBsyCouRTEARBADRIMMARkETInIn Phulourie made with dasheen flour, with mango amchar and pepper sauce for dip
Tobago Dasheen, sweet potato, cassava — these delicious and versatile root crops (called “blue food” locally) are cornerstones of Tobagonian cuisine. See for yourself at the Blue Food Festival (16 October), where communities and visitors alike head to Bloody Bay for the gastronomic delights and live entertainment. Music, drumming and folklore captivate patrons, while local delicacies like dasheen pone, dasheen wine, ice-cream, chips, and cakes — all made from root crops — showcase local ingenuity. There’s certainly no shortage of flour here either. Can you taste the blue? visittobago.gov.tt Jamaica Flavour. Vibes. Kingston! There’s something for everyone at the Jamaica Food & Drink Festival (JFDF) running 26–30 October. Winner of the Caribbean’s Best Culinary Festival prize at the 2021 World Culinary Awards, JFDF has superbly made its mark on the world stage. Get your culinary passport out as the festival’s chefs take you on a journey through a range of fine dining and casual experiences to satisfy every palate. jafoodanddrink.com
Festivals for foodies
You could argue that Bajans are the original rum connoisseurs. Over 1,500 rum shops are scattered across Barbados, this tiny island east of the Caribbean Sea that’s renowned for its award-winning rums. Explore the historical links between the island and its favourite spirit as you experience the Barbados Food & Rum Festival (27–30 October). Because rum is not just a drink here — it’s a culture. Each mouth-watering dish is made with real passion, real local ingredients, and real love — all infused with the island’s precious elixir. visitbarbados.org
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What stories might our oldest buildings tell, if they could speak? Co-writing team Alkins and Bhagwansingh answer this question for architectural enthusiasts in The Most Magnificent!, a whimsy-laced, pedagogical whirl through the histories and significances of the seven stately structures that flank Trinidad & Tobago’s Queen’s Park Savannah. Sayada Ramdial’s ingcanmeyer,Castlethesehistoryeither:date.jewelproductioneducationalbreath-takingersstorytellinginteractive.playfulnessstoryasillustrationsaccompanyingexclaimasmuchthetextdoes,infusingthisofbuiltheritagewithathatalmostfeelsAlkins’missioninforjuvenilereadhaslongbeentobalancedesignwithexcitement:thisisthecrowningofherpublicationstoIt’snomeanendeavour,anthropomorphisingcanbetricky,butinpages,Stollmeyer’smorphsintoSirStollwiseandjovial:whoarguewithacastleregalyouwithhisprovenance?
uncertain Kin by Janice Lynn Mather (Doubleday Canada, 304 pp, ISBN 9780385697156)
let the dead in by Saida Agostini (Alan Squire Publishing, 68 pp, ISBN 9781942892281)
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Don’t be surprised if more secrets than salvation greet you in grief’s waiting room: this reality awaits Cas sandra, Wild Fires’ central character, who journeys to her family home to attend a funeral. In life, her cousin Chevy was mute: in death, the space left by his pass ing resounds with echoes of the unanswered, the nebulous, and the unasked.
The Pomeroon River in Guyana is that vast coun try’s deepest: to witness it channelled in the poems of Saida Agostini is to glean an appreciation for this debut collection’s intense fath oms. Tracing lineages from the Essequibo’s forestfringed banks to the frigid ity of winter in Maryland, Agostini charts fraught emotional waters with the heart’s astrolabe. You won’t find flippant references to family trees herein: the approach of the poems is mycelial, a mushrooming network of ties that bind, snap, and resolder them selves across generations. What emerges is poetry as fierce, fundamental witness: repeatedly, the speakers of these verses ask, Where can pleasure and purpose be found for the fat Black queer wom an’s body in this world? The echoing answers are a spiral of reclamations, voices reaching backwards to the past, forward to the future, for outrageous hope. the most magnificent! by Jeunanne Alkins and Neala Bhagwansingh (Every thing Slight Pepper, 42 pp, ISBN 9789769535053)
Wild fires by Sophie Jai (The Bor ough Press, 320 pp, ISBN 9780008380342)
book buzz
Reviews by shivanee Ramlochan, Book Review Editor
this month’s reading picks from the Caribbean
Less a procedurally plotted investigation of domestic drama, Jai’s debut concerns itself with the underpin nings that both inhabit and haunt any clan of people bound by blood. In the per egrinations struck between Trinidad and Canada, vault ing between dusty decades and difficult decisions, this debut cuts through the undergrowth of lies we tell ourselves to preserve the peace. Cassandra, weaving her way through the mine field of visiting relatives’ acid-laced reminiscences, is a sensitively wrought fig urehead for this discovery: a redoubtable anti-heroine.
Is there a liminal state, a threshold when a Caribbean girl becomes a woman? If so, the 18 interwoven short stories of Uncertain Kin possess that space with passionate inquiry. Across the islands of The Bahamas, these protagonists seize life, or have it stripped from them: from so many perches, a fundamentallyintheenchantmentnarratives:ofimplicatedintheintoperception:thenight.pearanceofsouringtooubiquitousplumIneverythinggrandmotherhypervigilantsits,surveyingthatpasses.“MangoSummer”,hogmangoeslosetheirsweetnessallsoon,theirrichnessagainstthesorrowabelovedsister’sdisapinthedeadofMatheropenswidedoorsofsynaestheticcoloursblendsounds,andtastesofBahamianpalateburstthemind’seye.Allareinthesecomingage,orlossofinnocencestraddlingdisanddelirium,finalsurgeofmeaningtheseshortfictionsisfeminist.
Joy lapps Girl In the Yard (Joy Lapps Music) Steelpan music recordings are back. Toronto native of Antiguan descent Joy Lapps is providing a new engage ment with the steelpan that is welcome after the dearth of new material for the instrument in the last few years. On this new album, her fifth since her recording career began in 2006, one hears the development of a broader palette and range of musical environments in which the steelpan is placed. One hears rhythms and sounds on these originals that are part of the multicultural milieu of her Toronto situation: metropolitan motifs mim icking a Caribbean presence, latent Latin American vibes, searing electric guitars, and sterling musicianship.
braveboy Braveboy Meets World (Bravehouse Music Group) Trinidadian self-described vocal chameleon Braveboy (he does it all: Caribbean chanting over hip-hop and trap music, rapso aesthetics and soca lyricism) has com piled his global collaborations with artists near to and far from his Caribbean moorings.
Afrobeats, soca, reggaeton, and dancehall mix with shake ‘n bass, trap, and many more EDM beats. Caribbean fusion on steroids.
Reviews by nigel A. Campbell
this month’s listening picks from the Caribbean
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An avatar for a modern con nected music universe, (Mar cus) Braveboy has hit upon a formula that looks to position him and his music some where and anywhere island vernacular and accents can make for pleasant listening and, importantly, commercial connections that last. DJs and electronic musicians from Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa (more than a dozen in all) work with Brave boy to craft dance tunes that throb with perfectly sampled rhythmic intensity and delight in fiendishly cheeky exhortations to dance and sing along — all flavoured with that island cadence.
Haitian superstar Wesli, a longtime Canada resident, is preparing a new two-album series — Tradisyon — which is to be an exploration of authentic and modern approaches to Haitian roots music. This second preview single follows the new direc tion of the music, blending the electronic with the traditional. Dubstep meets a modern African pulse — pro vided by pioneering African DJ and producer AfrotroniX — and Haitian yanvalou rhythms, Voudou chants and rara drums to create a sound that has a global tag and an Afro-Caribbean heart. The song, sung both in English and Kreyòl, is described as a message of resilience and a song of courage for his countryfolk who cross the border to the Dominican Republic because of the insecure nature of Haiti. You have to know where you from / To know where you gwan / You got to do what you say / Keep your promise every day. This song is the cutting edge of new Carib bean music sound.
One hears Andy Narell’s melodic template on “Josie’s Smile”, including cuatro and bottle and spoon in a vintage Caribbean soundscape; as a bonus, he solos here. Lapps’ presence as a female leader on a steelpan recording is rare, trendsetting and wel comed. Her story. Our joy.
Wesli (ft afrotroniX)
Bontan Iyalélé (Cumban cha) • Single Keba Loco for Coco (Self released) • Single Trinidadian singer Keba, now Florida-based, has released an anthem for women of colour on this new single. With a title that hints in a calypso-like double enten dre way at carnal desire and awe, the song’s narrative differs. Musically described as “a cross-cultural fusion of island music with ele ments of R&B/hip-hop”, the song is paced just slow enough for the message of women’s sexual agency and marginalisation in America to get through. Her accom panying video utilises the folklore character of the La Diablesse, an anti-heroine temptress, as a visual meta phor to remind all men of the “look, don’t touch, or else” directive. She raps: So, miss me with the colourblind compliments / Act like you know a thing or two about immigrants / All this talk about my pretty little accent / I don’t need a man, I need a new President / Or was I in your wet dreams, in 2016 / When you voted to make America great again, huh? BOOM! Mic drop.
Our region is full of natural wonders and tremendous biodiversity. National parks and reserves help protect and preserve them. Here are just a few to add to your bucket list round trip
Wonders of the Caribbean
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The sudden eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano in 1995 left two-thirds of the island uninhabitable, and an exclusion zone is still carefully managed by state authorities. But over the last quarter century, the Caribbean’s Emerald Isle has become a favourite among visitors for the warmth and hospitality of its people, incredible dive sites and charming, unspoilt beaches. Eight of its nine beaches feature distinctive volcanic sand. The grains range in colour from shiny ebony to shades of grey and flecks of white. The coastline’s black sand, azure waters, and rich green vegetation form a magnificent study in contrasts.
Black sand beaches Montserrat
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Christoffel National Park
Curaçao Curaçao boasts a beautiful desertscape, and many visitors are familiar with its beautiful beaches, salt flats, flamingos, and aloe museum. But few know the diverse experiences that await in its 1,860-hectare national park. It’s home to Mount Christoffel (the island’s highest point at 1,200 feet), eight adventurefilled hike routes, and the Savonet Museum — where you can learn about local history and colonial-era plantation life. Friendly tour guides may talk you into a jeep safari or camping on the beach — truly fantas tic ways to experience the island’s natural wonders.
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The Bahamas Andros, the largest island of the Bahamian archi pelago, has the greatest concentration of blue holes in the world — over 175 inland, and at least 50 offshore. It’s also home to the Blue Holes National Park, a 40,000-acre reserve established in 2002 to protect 22 inland blue holes and the unique biodiversity of the area. There are also blue holes on Great Abaco Island, New Providence, and on Long Island — home to Dean’s Blue Hole (pictured). At 663 feet, it is the second deepest recorded on the planet.
Blue holes
As you may have guessed from the name, there are bubbles — and the reef can look gold! Located in the Soufrière-Scotts Head Marine Reserve in southwest Dominica, the reef’s bubbles come from the volcanic thermal springs on the seafloor of this volcanic crater. Divers come from around the world to enjoy one of the most pristine, vibrant, and varied underwater environments in the Caribbean. The unique rock formations along the deepest parts of the reef are another draw, as is the 17th century Spanish shipwreck, and the myriad marine species — delicate sponges, waterlilies, and schools of fish — that create a kaleidoscope of colour.
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Champagne Reef Dominica
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Kaieteur Falls Guyana It’s one of the tallest single drop waterfalls in the world. Here, the Potaro River plunges 741 feet over a sandstone plateau — at a flow rate of some 23,400 cubic feet per second — with a never-ending roar and clouds of spray. The falls are part of the nearly 272 square miles Kaieteur National Park, located in a section of the Amazon rainforest. They’re a must-see for adven ture travellers and accessible by air on a day-trip, or by trekking upriver.
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“Classic French cuisine is and always will be exquisite,” he says. “But at a certain point in my career I got tired of the inevi table duck a l’orange. I don’t feel at home in rigidly measured recipes, with rules and instructions. Feeling! That’s what my kitchen is all about. What I do is to search for the flavours. I want them to be more intense. They must touch you.” This devotion to emotion runs through all his conversation. “Cooking is about making contact,” he says.
niala Maharaj meets the dynamic, award-winning “spicy chef” Soenil Bahadoer, whose fusion of traditional European haute cuisine and Surinamese home cooking draws faithful foodies to his Michelinstarred restaurant in the Netherlands Photography courtesy Lindehof Restaurant/ Chef soenil Bahadoer
“The key to cooking is to find balance and harmony,” he says. “Balance” seems to be his favourite word. He is constantly negotiating tradition and innovation, experiences and tenden cies, spontaneity, and the striving for perfection.
SPICEWITHCHEFTHE cookup
“The Soenil Revolution” was how Food Inspiration Magazine, an online publication for professional chefs, put it. Soenil Bahadoer’s unique gastronomic creations have been causing gourmands from all over Europe — and beyond — to beat a path to his two-Michelinstarred Restaurant De Lindehof, in the far-flung Dutch village of Nuenen.Trained in classic French cuisine under legendary chefs in Belgium, France and Holland, Soenil has become awash in culinary awards since he began incorporating elements from his Surinamese background into his dishes. Reviewers rave about the delicate spiciness he has injected into European haute cuisine. In the Netherlands, he was named an SVH Meesterkok (or Masterchef) in 2015. In 2021, he placed 58th in the international Best Chef Awards. And the Gault & Mil lau guide rates De Lindehof a score of 17 out of 20, also naming Soenil Chef of the Year in 2020.
T HE
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In contrast to the celebrated TV “masterchefs” swearing and sweating in testosterone-fuelled cooking contests, Soenil sees food in terms of warmth and comfort, family and community. Diners praise the atmosphere of hospitality he creates at De Lindehof, receiving guests at the door himself and helping to bring dishes to their table. This seems part of the Caribbean persona he has clung to with his mop of tousled curls, grey jeans and sneakers under his chef’s jacket. Like his menu, he is a medley: intense but relaxed, boisterous as well as business-like, spontaneous yet reflective.
Left chef Soenil carefully prepares a dish in his kitchen
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“We have seven cultures in Suriname, and 13 Indigenous groups…” His eyes widen in wonder. “And all these flavours mix…” A t De Lindehof, he uses this vast range of tradition and technique to weave an epicurean tapestry threaded through with hints of ancient tropical flavours. Amusebouche follows amuse-bouche between courses, each one a delicate combination of shapes, colours and flavours — starters like king crab with caviar and phulauri (phulourie); and main courses like lobster with okra chutney and bitter melon.
But when asked what his own favourite food is, he opts for the simplest and most traditional. “My mother’s roti,” he says. “Home food is the best.” He learned to cook from her, he says. And she still drops by the restaurant regularly to check up on him.“As a child, when I was naughty, my mother used to put me under house arrest. She used to plonk me in the kitchen while all other children were outside playing. So I began watching how she ground different spices to make masala, and developed a knowledge of the different scents and effects.”
“We lived in my grandmother’s house,” he says. “The women used clay from the river behind the house to make an oven, and cooked fish from the river with spices in a big cast-iron pan. You never forget the fragrance of that cooking.” Till today, he has ingredients and spices flown in from Suri name on a weekly basis. “When I spot a mango,” he wrote in his book Spicy Chef, “good manners go out of the window. You just eat it with your hands, tear off the skin with your teeth and knock yourself out.”
He speaks often about his years as a child in rural Suriname, his hard work and beloved family. His family migrated to the Netherlands when he was eight. Until then, he and his four siblings walked 10 miles to and from school and had to help on their parents’ farm when they got home. But his reminiscences about those days contain a kind of joy at the richness of his experiences. He speaks about his father going hunting in the forest and fishing in the rivers of South America. You sense that this is what gave him a kind of pure appreciation of different food items, of what is fresh and natural and straight from the source.
opposite page king crab with remoulade sauce, buttermilk vinaigrette, phulourie and samphire
D uring the Coronavirus restrictions, when restaurants couldn’t open, Soenil couldn’t just sit on his hands. He designed an up-market food truck and sold snacks on the street. People came all the way from Germany and lined up for two hours for his baras (“buns” made Surinamese-style with lentilbased flour) filled with Wagyu beef and black truffles.
Feeling! That’s what my kitchen is all about. What I do is to search for the flavours. I want them to be more intense. They must touch you.
“They cost 65 euros each,” says Soenil. “But at least people who couldn’t afford to come to the restaurant could enjoy what we had to offer.” A six-course meal at his restaurant runs nearly 275 euros per person. The food truck was featured on the Dutch television evening news, with Soenil and his party of chefs doing “the bara dance” they had invented out of absurd Bollywood moves. Whatever Soenil does, he always comes back home. “I want to be true to myself,” he says. “You must never betray your own culture. That makes you unique. That can’t be copied.” This attitude has cost him. It took many years to gain accep tance in the upper echelons of haute cuisine. The high priests of European culinary guides didn’t understand what he was doing or how to evaluate his dishes. “I couldn’t be judged by traditional standards of French cooking,” he explains. “They couldn’t check my work against the Escoffier, the bible of haute cuisine. But what mattered to me was that I made pakoras with lobster. That was pioneering.” At the beginning of his career, even getting a job in a kitchen was difficult for someone from his background. It took 60 appli cations for him to get one. This is why he now encourages people of all backgrounds and from anywhere in the world to apply for jobs in his own kitchen. “I don’t care that you don’t know everything,” he says. “What matters is that you have the drive to want to know everything. I would like to give everyone the opportunity that I had to fight so hard to get.” Some of the people he trained went on to get Michelin stars in restaurants of their own. And they, too, have incorporated ele ments of their own cultural backgrounds in their menus. Perhaps the phrase “Soenil revolution” isn’t so far-fetched after all. n chef Soenil playfully wraps his arms around his mother, his biggest inspirationinfluenceand
I don’t feel at home in rigidly measured recipes, with rules and instructions.
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35WWW.CARIBBEAN-AIRLINES.COM Angostura Chill is the official refreshment partner to the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament. Follow us on social media @AngosturaChill Stay refreshed. Angostura PLAY.LIME.LIME.PLAY.CHILL.ChillAngosturaChill
Everybody in the Caribbean is so proud: flags on our windshields, on our Instagram accounts — everywhere. My husband is half Guyanese, half Pakistani, but pretty much grew up fully Guyanese. We’ve been together 19 years. My son already knows that he’s Trinidadian and doesn’t talk about being Guyanese yet, but he knows. We brainwash them from a very young age.
Ihave so much pride in the countries that contributed to my life. In Trinidad and Canada, the diversity and multiculturalism feel so seamless. We can’t say that racism doesn’t exist, but I see a real dedication to trying to overcome our differences, embrace each other, celebrate each other’s cultures and create our own new culture, in a way. I think that’s truly connected to my soul, and possibly my soul purpose.
My dad would not stop talking about the most beautiful woman that came from Trinidad — Janelle “Penny” Commissiong, the first Black woman to win Miss Universe. And 45 years later, I broke a glass ceiling myself. I think that that’s what’s beautiful — celebrating all of the glass ceilings that women of all different ethnicities are breaking in different industries. That’s the one thing I didn’t get to say but wanted to say in my acceptance speech. I am lucky to be from Trinidad because I am filled with all these own words
“I DESIGNEDWAS FoR THAT FRWHEREBECAUSEMoMENToFICAMEoM”
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I moved to Canada at five. Until I was 13 or 14, my parents only cooked Trinidadian food — roti, curry, stewed chicken and rice and peas. My mum also used to make provision, dumplings, caraille — oh my gosh, my mum with the caraille (bitter melon). I was the only one who could eat it. My parents always played calypso and soca music in the house, and we would go to Caribana in Toronto. My dad always pushed us to really understand other people’s cultures. But I think no matter what, you can’t get away from your roots.
Trinidad-born, Canadaraised Mishael Morgan on becoming the first woman of colour to win the best actress Daytime Emmy Award for her work on The Young & the Restless; the magic of living a purpose-driven life; and the universal power of storytelling — as told to Caroline Taylor
Trinidad has a way, especially in the food, of just connecting cultures. And I feel like that’s part of my purpose and who I am. Because standing on that Emmys stage and having that opportunity to give that acceptance speech, I feel I was designed for that moment because of where I came from.
Mishael Morgan on the red carpet at the Daytime Emmy Awards in June opposite page Mishael after winning the Daytime Emmy Award for Out standing Lead Actress in a Drama Series
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I knew what they were talking about because things just didn’t feel aligned. I always loved acting. Every time there was a school play, I was in it. I’d have tiny parts and people always made me feel they’d noticed me when I was on stage. A teacher asked me if I was going to apply to an arts high school. My drama and English teacher was mad that I wasn’t at least going to double major in drama at university. When we did the yearbook, they said I was “most likely to be a movie star”. But my instinct was to wonder if they were bullying me. That’s all the stuff that came to my head. And I said to God, if you give me this oppor tunity to walk again, I guess I’ll try.
When I came back to Canada, I kind of got scammed for a bit. So I said another prayer for somebody to guide and help me. I bartended my whole way through university, including at this nightclub where a man randomly came up to me and said he’d left a big agency, was breaking off on his own, and thought I’d be great for commercials. I just remembered feeling that was pretty fast. He’s been my agent ever since.
in 2013, Morgan was cast as Hilary curtis on The Young & the Restless. The character died in the arms of her husband Devon Hamilton (Bryton James) in 2018. A year later, Morgan rejoined the cast as Hilary’s twin sister, Amanda Sinclair opposite page Mishael with her son, daughter and husband different cultures. My grandmother was half Chinese, half Venezuelan. My grandfather was French Creole. My dad’s side was Indian and Black. I have all of these cultures in my blood. I celebrate being the first Black woman to win — and I am also a multi-racial woman. It means a Chinese girl and an Indian girl can come after me. I wanted my speech to be about unity — reminding everybody that we are all connected and making these changes together. M y mum is one of 18 kids. My grandmother had 18 children all with the same husband. When I went back to Trinidad for the first time when I was 14, I remember stepping off the plane and this overwhelming feeling of, I’m home. With my family, it was like we never left. We just picked up where we left off. A lot of my family came down from all over the world for my grandmother’s 80th. I was 19. Granny “Shooney”. That’s when I broke my neck in a car accident down on Barrackpore Road. My whole life had been dedicated to becoming an attorney. I felt I needed to maintain this perfect academic record so that I could get into York University for Political Science and then law school. In Canada, you can apply for law school after your second year of undergrad. School was always pretty easy for me. I was always a really dedicated student. I was pretty active in my faith. But it always felt like something was pushing against me. So I had this kind of breakup with God for two or three years. And the accident was like me coming back home. I was just lying there for five days while they tried to figure out the surgery. I remember being content with everything that I did in my life. I was thinking even if I got paralysed from the neck down, I could push against it — maybe even be a lawyer. Then I remembered hearing a voice: “But you never tried.”
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So I said a prayer saying I needed to hear — very clearly — that I was not going to law school. Two weeks before I was to go, my agent called and says, “You’re not going to law school.”
All this time, I had deferred law school, but I was still doing year three at York. I got a call saying that I’d booked a second series regular role. But law school would be four hours away in o ttawa, so I wouldn’t be able to keep acting in Toronto.
I booked the first thing I ever auditioned for, which was a music video I ended up getting cut out of. I auditioned for com mercials, but told my agent I really wanted to act in film and television. He said I didn’t have any experience, but if I could audition for him, he could send me out on one or two things. I booked a guest star spot seven months later (The Best Years), and then 10 months into it, I booked a series regular role on Family Biz. My agent said it was unheard of.
T he reason I talk about purpose a lot is because after I took this huge leap of faith, both my shows got cancelled and I did not book another project for a year and a half. I’ve always had this weirdly optimistic outlook on life. I’ve never felt like a bitter or angry person or somebody who has a short fuse… except for that year and a half. I nearly went into a deep, dark depression. Something felt really off. o ne day, I went into the bookstore and remember feeling so heavy. Not knowing I was in the self-help section, I started perusing and saw A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. It literally had a line saying, if this is connecting to you, this book is for you. And I took it home and it completely transformed my life. I got rid of a lot of resentment for things not working out the way I wanted them to. And it put me in this place of alignment and flow. It made me really start to re-evaluate why I wanted to be an actor. For a long time, I thought it was because I wanted to help my parents, and not worry about money. In my early twenties, I thought I was going to be a star, and that’s why I was going to do it. But I’ve never been a showy person. I love acting for how it makes me feel and how free I am on stage since I was a kid. So it’s not about the money. I started thinking about why I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to change the world. I literally said that to myself, laughing. I wanted to fight for women’s rights and the rights of people. And it just hit me. I could spend 10 years lobby ing for something, or I could put together a two-hour movie and change somebody’s heart, help them see and feel the world dif ferently just through pictures and the artform of drama. That’s why I wanted to be an actor. As soon as I discovered that, probably two weeks later, I started booking like crazy — including The Young & the Restless in 2013. Everything aligned. And that’s the reason I’m so big about knowing what you’re doing, because we have one life to live and we all have a piece of this puzzle to play. So you either become a purpose-driven person and your piece is bigger and more enjoyable, or you become a different tool that God’s going to use in a different way. Everybody has their own purpose and their own journey. o ther people see your life from the outside — see the moments of success and notoriety. But it’s the journey that’s most impor tant. Because those moments of success and even fame are so few and far between. n
I could spend 10 years lobbying for something, or I could put together a two-hour movie and change somebody's heart, help them see and feel the world differently just through pictures and the artform of drama
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You can read the full interview with Mishael — with more on her Y&R work and other projects — on the website of our sister publication, Discover Trinidad & Tobago (discovertnt.com)
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If you’re planning a trip to Barbuda over the next few weeks, prepare for some serious flirting.
risingBarbuda
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From flirtatious frigatebirds to captivating caves, Gemma Handy shares why Barbuda should be on everyone’s bucket list destination
Mating season for the tiny isle’s famously amorous frigatebirds starts around September and the groups of posturing males puffing out their throats into a bright red balloon, quivering their vast wings and drumming their beaks to draw passing females’ attention, make for a spectacular display.Antigua’s lesser-visited sister is home to the second largest nesting area outside the Galapagos. The aptly named magnifi cent frigatebirds are locally dubbed “man o’ war” for their habit of mugging other birds mid-flight for their freshly caught fish. September marks five years since the 62-square-mile island was devastated by Hurricane Irma, thrusting this unassuming place onto the front pages of newspapers worldwide. Today, the birds, like Barbudans themselves, have largely recovered and visitors are heartened to discover a slew of intriguing attractions that go way beyond the legendary pink sand beach.
This low-lying coral isle is 30 miles northeast of Antigua and accessible by ferry, plane or helicopter charter. Loved for its laidback whimsical charm, it offers an ambience of stepping back in time amid an unspoilt landscape where fallow deer, wild boars and donkeys still roam free.
A word of warning though. While wildlife is aplenty, accom modation is rather more sparse. There’s a reason why tourism bosses, in launching an official promo for Barbuda earlier this year, invited vacationers to come — just not all at once. Those wishing to spend longer than a day here are advised to book well in advance, bearing in mind some places close entirely
Photography courtesy Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority
Pink sand at cedar Tree Point Below A frigatebird
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The luxurious Barbuda Belle boutique hotel comprises eight suites and a penthouse set across a deserted 15-mile beach. There are also the Barbuda Cottages, an eco-friendly hideaway of rustic wooden properties on stilts, the recently built Historic Dulcina Apartments aimed at travellers on a budget, plus a smat tering of small guesthouses. Many people who flock here to enjoy a unique brush with nature opt for camping. If sleeping under sweat-inducing polyes ter is not for you, step it up a notch at the Frangipani glamping site, a remote getaway where you can sleep in a queen-size bed in a wooden cabana complete with outdoor kitchen and shower.
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o ne of the most interesting projects is headed by Holly wood actor Robert De Niro and Australian billionaire James Packer. The duo is set to transform the derelict K Club — where Princess Diana holidayed months before her death — into a Nobu resort. As food aficionados know, the Goodfellas star co-founded the successful Nobu chain, which now boasts 50 restaurants across the globe — including in Barbuda.
Anchoring off a beach in Barbuda
Some of the developments have not been without contro versy. Many Barbudans feel they pose a threat not just to the environment but to their long tradition of practising communal land ownership. o thers welcome the arrival of an economic injection and new employment opportunities.
The location is worth a sojourn for the beach alone. Named after its most revered visitor, the crescent-shaped Princess Diana Beach at several miles long offers ultra-seclusion and seasonal pink sands. To experience true local culture, eating at any one of Bar buda’s small diners is an experi ence not to be missed. At Wa’omoni in Codrington, Jackie Beazer cooks up an array of traditional dishes including venison and conch burgers, plus belt-busting cakes and puddings.Claudette Beazer, whose cookshop is conveniently located near the fisheries com plex on the outskirts of the town, is known for her delicious home cooking. Some residents also open their homes to diners wanting a real taste of Barbuda. While choices for breakfast and lunch are abundant, dinner options — save for informal grills and bar snacks — can be elusiveUncleoff-season.Roddy’son
A cross the island, some houses still bear the scars of Mother Nature’s wrath and cellphone signal remains spotty in certain parts, but homes and infrastructure have predominantly been restored.
Don’t expect the glitz of its US counterparts here, however; this Nobu is toes-in-the-sand Barbuda style. The eatery, which opened in 2021, is a delightful blend of organic tones, latticework and understated elegance, complemented by a broad range of Japanese dishes, sake, wine and cocktails.
o n top of that, Barbuda has also been undergoing something of a construction boom with a number of heavyweight foreign investors currently ploughing dollars into high-end resorts aimed at attracting well-heeled visitors and part-time residents.
Coral Group Bay is one of the most popular restaurants on account of its pretty venue, splendid beachfront spot and variety of Caribbean and international fare. September marks five years since the 62-square-mile island was devastated by Hurricane Irma, thrusting this unassuming place onto the front pages of newspapers worldwide
Residents will testify to balmy days spent picking sea grapes, fishing and exploring caves — and it’s easy to find someone
Locals have a deep reverence for the natural world; many Barbudans can identify dozens of plants suited for bush tea alone.
Guests are always warmly welcomed and quickly become like family. one more reason perhaps why Princess Diana famously said Barbuda was the only place on earth she could find peace. n
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While Barbuda may lack the highenergy activities and nightlife of its regional neighbours, it’s an ecotourism haven — a draw for surfers, hikers, birdwatchers and boaters alike
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Above Two Foot Bay Left Darby cave willing to show you the latter. Those closest to Codrington are found at Two Foot Bay. In addition to bats, crabs, iguanas and tropicbirds that frequent the caves, one — Indian Cave — even boasts petroglyphs left behind by the island’s First Peoples. other well recommended sights include snorkelling at the marine reserve of Palaster Reef, where you won’t be rewarded just with vibrant fish and the odd sea turtle but old shipwrecks too.
Whatever the future holds for this tranquil outpost that time once forgot and appears to be catching up on, there is no accounting for the indomitable spirit of the Barbudan people, displayed so valiantly in Irma’s aftermath.
hile Barbuda may lack the high-energy activities and nightlife of its regional neighbours, it’s an eco-tourism haven — a draw for surfers, hikers, birdwatchers and boatersLagoons,alike.creeks, mangrove swamps and mud flats make for a variety of habitats for waterfowl, and dozens of species of birds have been recorded here.
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THESTREAMINGCARIBBEAN limited runs at festivals, in cinemas, and on local broadcast television, Caribbean diaspora films and series often struggle to reach audiences further afield. As Mark Lyndersay writes, a range of online streaming platforms seek to bridge
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First, he secured a deal with the Roku channel and became the largest supplier of regional content to them — but soon began fielding complaints that view ers outside the US, UK, and Canada were geofenced fromPavilion+viewing.was his response.
For regional filmmakers, the challenge has been going on lon ger than that, as access to cinemas — with their limited time avail able for small and independent films made outside of major studios and distribution channels — has been shrinking, even as screens abounded in multiplexes to be viewed by smaller audiences.
Kim Johnson’s PAN: Our Music Odyssey enjoyed some success on French television, on PBS, and in cinemas in Japan. But when it screened in Trinidad, just four people turned up, Johnson recalled. The film was not picked up for streaming during its initialFordistribution.filmsinproduction, Netflix asks for 4K capture (a resolu tion of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels), while Amazon requires a quarter of that at According1080p.to Gian Franco Wilson, CEo of Pavilion+ — a new streaming service targeting the diaspora — those requirements are forward-looking and there might be flexibility about earlier films. Wilson, born in Trinidad but living in the UK for most of his life, fondly recalls visits to the country where, for him, the most exciting thing was watching local programming.
Gian Franco wilson, cEO of Pavilion+
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Trinidadian Maya Cozier’s first major outing as a director, She Paradise, was picked up for streaming on Amazon after a short run in T&T cinemas. The sales representative placed the film through Samuel Goldwyn Films, who secured distribution on Amazon, YouTube’s paid viewing channels, and Vudu. The extensive distributor requirements meant the handover took several weeks. T he financial return from cinema screenings can be a difficult proposition for filmmakers pushing the boundaries for local audiences.
For Bahamian filmmaker Maria Govan, director of Play the Devil, going through a large distribution agency proved a hard learning experience. The distributor had exclusive rights over major territories, which limited the filmmakers’ ability to distribute on their own.
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Streaming films and television brought a further splintering of audiences as screens became even smaller, compressed right down to the size of a smartphone for some viewers.
ith nearly two years under varying lockdown conditions globally, the cinema industry experienced a major change, as first-run films moved to streaming to capture audiences that were trapped at home.
Fifteen years ago in business school, he decided that he wanted to create the Warner Brothers of the Caribbean. After years spent at Microsoft and Amazon in mobile, gaming and TV, he had what he described as his “ah-ha” moment.
As a result, the film was limited to the regions in which it could be licensed for streaming.
He noted the fracturing of the audience, first from a single television channel then to multiple cable chan nels. “Now with the internet,” he said, “you aren’t just dealing with hundreds of channels; you are competing with other forms of entertainment.”
The limited licensing arrangement to stream the films was paid for by the National Gas Company, but the streams were severely geofenced (blocked by geographic location) for viewing.
“It’s not just the quality of the format — it’s the storytelling,” Wilson said. “We can’t expect o scarwinning films right out of the gate, but content has a role in reflecting ourselves back to us.”
Play the Devil was a selection for the Watch a Movie o n Us (WAMoU) initiative, a pandemic-inspired project by FILMCo, a Trinidad & Tobago coalition of filmmakers and producers.
“o ur sales agent won’t take the conventional [distribution] route in the future,” Govan said. “We would rather go to stream ing platforms rather than large distributors, especially with a niche film like Play the Devil.” Govan and her team found it difficult to get access to financial specifics on their film. Distribution took a hefty percentage of the profits along with additional fees that were billed as expenses.
A fter the pandemic inspiration of WAMoU, the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival crafted its own streaming platform — ttff+ — to build on the momentum of online viewing.
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The platform was launched in mid-June and within a few weeks had tripled the catalogue it offers for viewers. That count for regional films today is less than 100 discrete titles, which only scrapes the surface of content created and being created across theViewersCaribbean.are interested in a wealth of content in a diversity of styles, but every streaming service has started without enough, and worked quickly to build the kind of catalogues that attract subscribers. But the pool of available regional material is still relatively shallow, and building sustainable streaming services depends on subscription revenue. Without investors to create more films, the region faces a chicken and egg conundrum that is still sorting itself out.
The first WAMoU in March 2020 clocked 36,000 views for fewer than a dozen films made available weekly. That’s slowed down considerably since countries have reopened, but the project is a long-term undertaking.
Maya cozier, director of She Paradise
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“For too long,” she says, “local filmmakers have had to work within a hostile broadcast environment in which filmmakers [often] were asked to pay for air time, or to hand over their content for free or otherwise participate in some nebulous revenue-share agreement.”
Wilson hopes to change things for filmmakers, not least because he is ramping up to do his own productions to generate titles for “WithPavilion+.streaming, you have to keep feeding the beast,” he said, “and there are shows that we will produce to meet the interests of our subscribers. “I would love to see some fun stories. We are such a witty community of people that I’m surprised that so many of the films are so grim and full of drama. The more we get into general entertainment, the broader our audience will be.” n recommended options for viewing Caribbean Tales Tv caribbeantales-tv.com
US$9.99 monthly, $99.99 annually Seven-day free trial Digital films can be purchased or rented ttff+ plus.ttfilmfestival.com Catalogue of 27 films available at US$6 each Users have 30 days to begin watching a rental and 30 days after starting to view it Pavilion+ pavilionplus.co Individual (1 screen): US$4.99 monthly Duo (2 screens): US$5.99 monthly Family (4 screens): US$6.99 monthly studio Anansi studioanansitv.vhx.tv US$5.99 monthly, $60 annually Seven-day free trial Films can be purchased individually (ranging from US$3.99 to $61) kweliTv kweli.tv US$5.99 monthly, $49.99 annually Seven-day free trial storyplayTv storyplay.tv Family-oriented animation channel; some shorts available for free, with a catalogue of films available for rent, most at US$2.99 Patreon contribution of US$5 monthly Patronagerequested for the development of The Caddy Club begins at US$25 monthly yardvibes caribbeancreativity.nl Catalogue of 50 films, all available for rent, some for purchase Pricing averages €2.99
o f Roku’s 55 million viewers, the Caribbean regional section managed to attract 500,000, and that’s the first audience target for Pavilion.
“o nline distribution is unavoidable — not only is it the future, it’s also the present,” said FILMCo’s interim executive director Mariel Brown. “Going online puts the power in our hands, in terms of deciding what gets shown and when.
“o nline distribution is not the miracle panacea that many people think it is, unless you’re Netflix or YouTube,” Brown said.
49WWW.CARIBBEAN-AIRLINES.COM Lowlands Mall, Tobago #15 Ariapita Ave, Trinidad Lowlands Mall, Tobago #15 Ariapita Ave, Trinidad 63-TOOLS (86657)63-TOOLS (86657) 63-TOOLS (86657) EXT 7065 SHOWING ALL SPORTS LIVE OPEN 8AM–8PMOPEN8AM–8PMMON–SUNMON–SUNOPENFROM8AMMON–SUNOPENFROM8AMMON–SUN INCLUDING PUBLICINCLUDINGHOLIDAYS PUBLIC HOLIDAYS Lowlands Mall,LowlandsTobago Mall, Tobago ALL DAY BREAKFASTALL DAY BREAKFAST BATTERIES FOR CARS, TRUCKS, AND BOATS TT$488FROMTT$488FROM • HOUSEHOLD • HARDWARE • AUTO PARTS • PET SUPPLIES • PERSONAL CARE AND MORE!HARDWARE MORE! TT$488 Now serving Sushi, Sashimi, Ceviche
In a waterfront restaurant, with fishing boats moored just offshore, foodies are enjoying well-seasoned roast fish with local veggies plated on banana leaves. Not far away, on the roadside, a visiting family savours a richlyflavoured pineapple chow exquisitely presented in a pineapple bowl. These are typical Caribbean experiences: from using the seeds from produce to grow crops and the peels for serving and composting — nothing is wasted.
About 55% of fruits and vegetables in the Caribbean actually go to waste, thanks to deterioration, high temperatures, and physical damage. shelly-Ann Inniss talks to multiple award-winning Barbadian chef Damian Leach, who shares his passion for Caribbean cuisine and for making the most of our meals
Starting a home garden is the perfect thing to do with kids to keep them busy. Plus, they are so proud of themselves when they taste something that they helped grow from a tiny seed. I spent a lot of time as a little boy in the garden with my grand dad, and to this day I have never tasted a cauliflower like the one that we grew together. n
Caribbean cuisine has to start with Caribbean produce. It’s not just fruits and vegetables but local meat — black belly lamb is a favourite. I have a simple herb garden too, but my breadfruit tree is the thing I’m most proud of. It is still small, but one day I will pick one and roast it with my kids.
What does a sustainable food system look like for you?
waste, it’s also about getting the most out of the food I paid for! I paid for the whole broccoli. I didn’t just pay for the pretty florets. I paid for the stem as well, so why wouldn’t I want to find a use for them?
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What are your best tips for people who’d like to give this a try?
The Caribbean has the same temperature all year, so a lot of vegetables will be available. My favourites this time of year are breadfruit and mango. If you get the chance, try roasting a breadfruit on the beach with fresh red snapper, also in season. No need for plates as the roast breadfruit skin is a perfect ecofriendly bowl. Honestly, although you can’t go wrong with fresh mango salsa, my favourite way to eat mango is dipped in the sea and eaten with the skin and all.
What does zero-waste look like in a Caribbean Icontext?believethe Caribbean has been doing some form of zerowaste cooking for many years. Barbados’ famous pudding and souse is the perfect example. Everything gets used! Some people use the pig’s ears, tongue, feet (trotters), tails — even the blood is used for the pudding. Chicken is another animal that we minimise wastage with. There is more than just breast and legs. We do chicken step per (foot) soup, pickled steppers, and fried chicken necks. In Barbados, the legendary Granny’s in o istins has the best fried chicken necks.
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As a chef and restaurateur, minimising food waste is always a priority. It’s not just about being responsible and reducing
What’s a good way to get children involved?
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Why is the movement important to you?
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Cocktail Kitchen’s executive chef Damian Leach is a culinary ambassador for Barbados and has promoted Barbadian cuisine around the globe.
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There are other Maroon communities across the Caribbean — in Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, St Vincent, Suriname, Trini dad & Tobago — and further afield in Sierra Leone, and the Gullah/Geechee Nation (United States).
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A MoVEMENT
Descendants of Maroon peoples in the Caribbean diaspora have been working tirelessly to be recognised as Indigenous. Attillah springer shares what this means, and why this work is so important
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prodding that we are there at all. This is a journey that started for her as a teenager — running from home and into the hills, answering the call of Rastafari, and eventually becoming the Paramount Chief of the Merikin Maroons of Trinidad. Their ancestors in the United States had escaped enslavement by fighting for the British in the war of 1812–14, for which they received grants of land in Trinidad — and their freedom.
All, at one time or another, were involved in armed conflict, calculated uprisings, or serious bloodshed in opposi tion to enslavement. Some — as in Jamaica and Suriname — eventually received land rights through treaties signed with colonial authorities (some of which fell into grey areas after independence). But Marronage is more than a rejec tion of or escape from oppression — it is about intentionally creating something to run to. And this goes far beyond concrete landInrights.theAmericas, the accepted under standing of Indigenous refers to the Taino, Kalinago, Warao, and peoples our history In April 2022, I joined a group of descendants and allies of Maroon peoples at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where the 21st Session of its Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) was being held. As a conch shell blows to bring the meeting to order, I look around the General Assembly chamber and catch the eye of the Trinidadian activist Akilah Jar amogi. It is largely through her persistent
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It is to understand the complications of these relationships, and how they become further complicated by colourism, reli gious assimilation, centuries of violence, the rage of a people intercepted and inter rupted, and by the grief of not knowing when the repair work will be at an end.
A s the UN meetings progress, we encounter both interest and suspicion among delegates. It is suggested that we might more rightfully belong at the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent, scheduled to have its first meeting in December 2022. o ur legal representative Andy Reid reminds us that we’re not there to ask for recognition, but simply to affirm who we are. In a meeting with Francisco Cali Tzay, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, he asks, “How do you define yourself?” Self-identification is what matters most. Can groups of people of African descent self-identify as Indigenous?
It is to imagine your ancestor trying to make sense of the bottom of a slave ship. It is to feel the midday sun and to understand the risk in plotting your escape — or worse, plotting to overthrow your captors.
Left Dr Fidelia Graand-Galon of the Maroon women’s network and Ambassador in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Suriname opposite page Akilah Jaramogi, Paramount chief of the Merikin Maroons of Trinidad books erroneously teach us have been wiped out. But if erasure is the struggle of the colonised, Marronage is the weapon. What this “Indigenous” identifier affords is recognition and respect for spiritual and farming practices; the right to education on the history and culture of these groups; the right to learn languages lost to colonial erasure; and reparations in the fullest sense — repairing 500 years of violent loss through real justice and equity.
It’s why in 2014 Akilah Jaramogi, Gaaman Gloria “Mama G” Simms (of the Maroon Indigenous Women’s Circle in Jamaica), and Fidelia Graand-Galon (of the N’djuka Nation and Maroon Women’s Network in Suriname) founded the Maroon Women Chamber of Cooperation. What followed through 2018 was a flurry of meetings, visits, and conversa tions with elders — from Jamaica to the Gullah islands, Switzerland to Suriname. In 2019, the three women made their first visit to the UNPFII to begin press ing for Maroons in the Americas to be recognised as tribal/Indigenous peoples as legally defined by the UN. Not everyone is comfortable with this.
There is legal precedent for this in two rulings by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, both involving Maroon communities in Suriname. In 2007, the court found that the Saramaka were a “tribal peoples” with a collective human right to the communal title, use, and protection of their traditionally owned territory and natural resources. It cited the 2005 case that acknowledged the cultural and spiritual rights of N’djuka Maroons in response to a massacre in Moiwana village. Both rulings recognised that Maroon peoples have a spiritual relationship and ancestral ties to the lands they occupy — and that their roots in the Indigenous peoples of Africa were the source of their “distinct” social, cultural, and economic character. They established that Maroon peoples of the Americas have retained and evolved their African indigeneity into the peoples they are today. Understanding what it means to be Maroon is to look long and deep into Caribbean history. It is to think of the first sighting of the first boat of conquistadors that reached the Caribbean. It is to imag ine what words the Taino and Kalinago people had to create in their languages to help make sense of these newly arrived visitors, who quickly turned to foes.
It is to contemplate the complexity of survival.
Gaaman Gloria Simms played the lead role in Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess
The film received its world premiere at the Un Headquarters in 2015
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Maroon peoples of the Americas have retained and evolved their African indigeneity into the peoples they are today Valley in St Vincent. It is what draws me to this UN meeting, and this movement to reclaim lost ties, not just to one island but to the entire region. It is his name that I call on the day that we visit the monument to the victims of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the grounds of the UN headquarters. There are tears on our cold faces as Kenrich Cairo of the okanisi people of Suriname sings for those lost. With us, pouring libations to the ancestors, is Mireille Fanon MendesFrance — human rights lawyer and daughter of the late Martiniquan psychia trist and philosopher Frantz Fanon. We leave the UN to go on another journey, to another meeting. We share food and coffee and stories. We share solutions for healing and organising and recovery when harm is done by a com munityHistorymember.alsobegs that we look to the future. To the certain uncertainty of climate change; disappearing islands; the forcible separation from original homelands; the urgency of preserving distinct cultures; and what role — if any — Maroons and Indigenous peoples play in collectively challenging the social and environmental scars of imperialism. This journey — like many stories involving Caribbean people — is long, complicated, and full of plot twists, with multiple points of starting, stopping, turn ing in on itself, and walking without fear. And what does a United Maroon Indig enous Peoples mean for the Caribbean? That answer can’t be found at the United Nations. n A t the UN, part of the uncomfortable work that we identify during the course of our side-meetings is confronting all the times we did not act as allies to each other. Mama G went on record this year as apologising for the role some Maroons played in the brutal crushing of multiple uprisings of enslaved peoples, including the famous Takyi’s Rebellion in 1760s Jamaica — which also catalysed the introduction of the Caribbean’s first laws against obeah. one of our contingent, the Garifuna Ambassador-at-Large Cynthia Ellis, addresses the Forum with an appeal for unity, for our islands to be borderless. Bor derlessness in the face of oppression is what it means to be Garifuna. A united force of people coming together: Africans rescued from a wrecked slave ship by St Vincent’s Kalinago people, and over generations of miscegenation creating a new nation to wage war against British enslavement. This is part of my own story. My Gari funa great-grandfather Papa Gimpie was born after Emancipation in Mesopotamia
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Dr Bombard’s theory was relatively simple: morale among castaways could be maintained by the prospect of survival, and the chance of survival could be improved by hydration and nutrition. The sea, he thought, could provide both. Nutrition could be obtained by eating fish, easily caught with rudimentary equipment, and by consuming nutrient-rich plankton, scooped up in fine nets and swallowed by the spoon ful. As for water, rain could be captured and stored, and — more interestingly — semi-filleted fish could be squeezed in a press to produce a liquid significantly less salty than the sea in which they live. He even thought that small amounts of sea water, if diluted with non-salty rainwater, would not cause serious dam age to humans. By 1952, Bombard was ready to test his hypothesis. A trial run from Monaco to Tangiers and then to Casablanca was successful — though a planned companion perhaps sensibly dropped out at this stage. Then in october, after a brief visit to Paris to view his new-born daughter, he set sail from Las Palmas, equipped with a sextant, a tarpaulin, some fishing equipment and — importantly — a sealed box of food and water. If the seal was found to be broken, the mission would be deemed a failure.
Bombard kept a diary of what happened next, later turning it into a successful early example of extreme travel writing. It was a “starving thirsty hell”, he wrote, detailing the nauseating diet of plankton and raw fish that sustained him. There was no rain for three weeks, he had little idea of where he was, and storms buffeted the tiny craft, snapping the mast and soaking the solitary mariner. The “voluntary castaway”, as he styled himself, suffered multiple health issues — nausea, skin complaints, mild paranoia — and confronted alarming incidents as he was pushed along by irregular trade winds and erratic currents. Perhaps most
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It is widely understood that sea water, even consumed in small quantities, leads quickly to an overdose of salt, to dehydra tion and kidney failure. Popular fiction and films contain many examples of marooned mariners and shipwreck survivors in life boats driven mad by a raging thirst in the midst of a vast ocean. But some people are simply unwilling to accept mainstream thinking. o ne such maverick was a French doctor who rejoiced in the name of Alain Bombard. His determination to prove that humans can survive extended periods afloat in small vessels — without supplies of food and, most importantly, fresh water — led him on an extraordinary journey across the Atlantic 70 years ago, a journey that ended on a remote beach on the northwest coast of BombardBarbados.wasnot a daredevil adventurer in search of public ity, but a scientist with a theory to test. In a 15-foot rubber dinghy with a small triangular sail, equipped with the basic supplies that might be found on a lifeboat, he set off from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on 19 october 1952, starting a 65-day crossing towards landfall in the Caribbean. This was no idle experiment, but a research mission carried out because Bombard had an idea that he thought could save many lives. Born (1924) and educated in Paris, he had worked as a doctor in a hospital in the northern French port town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, and it was there that he saw first-hand the catastrophic nature of disasters at sea and the critical struggle for survival in their aftermath.Ashipwrecked trawler caused 43 deaths among Boulogne’s fishing community in early 1951, and it was reckoned that about 150 fishermen died in northern France each year — and perhaps 200,000 seafarers world wide. o f these, it was estimated that at least a quarter perished in lifeboats from thirst, hunger and despair. The huge loss of life during the Second World War among sailors and civilians had brought the challenges and mortal dangers of the sea into sharp focus.
Exactly 70 years ago, a French doctor — Alain Bombard — set off on a journey from the Canaries to the Caribbean in a 15-foot dinghy, determined to prove that man could survive on rain (and sea) water, fish, and plankton alone. James Ferguson tells the tale “ W ater, water everywhere / Nor any drop to drink.” The famous lines from Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1834) have entered into common parlance. They evoke the horror experienced by those becalmed or shipwrecked, surrounded by an infinity of salt water that, if drunk, will cause certain and rapid death.
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disconcerting was the arrival of curious swordfish whose sharp bills might easily have punctured his rubber vessel, the aptly named L’Hérétique Bombard admits that he was close to despair when, on day 53, a ship appeared on the horizon. The Arakaka — a cargo ship en route to British Guiana from Liverpool — spotted him, came close, and from a loudhailer the captain informed him that he was still 600 miles from his projected destination. Demoralised, Bombard accepted an invitation to come aboard, have a shower, send a telegram to his wife and, unwisely, eat a small lunch of fried egg, liver and cabbage.
The officer in charge was clearly at a loss to decide whether I was a pirate or an exceptionally foolhardy yachtsman, but with the splendid correctitude of the British policeman, who is at the same time father-confessor to those confided to his charge, he sat me down in front of a cup of tea and a piece of bread and butter. It was Christmas Eve, and the next day — as promised — the BBC broadcast Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, dedicated to the voluntary castaway. He had lost 55 pounds in weight and was anaemic but, as he wrote, “I proved conclusively that I could quench my thirst from fish and that the sea itself provides the liquid necessary to health.”
Left Dr Alain Bombard with L’Hérétique at the navy Museum in Paris, France Above L’Hérétique after making landfall at Stroude Bay, Barbados
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Bombard insists in his record that the seal on his emergency supplies remained unbroken and that he distributed the tinned food to excited locals. Exhausted, he was led to the nearest police station where, with a French appreciation of colonial-era Britishness, he recalls:
The Bombard Story, he describes his elation at spotting a lighthouse beam flashing on clouds in the dark sky. Negotiating Barba dos’ rocky northern coastline, he finally saw a beach and a group of fishermen who helped the emaciated mariner ashore and dragged the dinghy onto the beach.
Bombard’s journey was widely reported, caused controversy (he was accused of using his supplies) and was, above all, highly successful because it encouraged unprecedented discussion of survival techniques at sea. The idea of squeezing fish for fresh water was considered eccentric, but some of his ideas — bet ter equipment in lifeboats in particular — led to action that undoubtedly saved lives. He enjoyed his celebrity status, was involved in further adventures, and in 1981 was appointed an environment minister in the French government — opposing what he saw as the cruel business of foie gras production. Whether he continued to consume teaspoons of plankton is not recorded, but he died aged 80 in 2005. n
The effect on his fragile digestive system was to prove disas trous. Yet despite the dispiriting revelation of his position, Bom bard resolved to continue and set sail once more. The Arakaka ’s captain, impressed by the Frenchman’s courage, promised that he would have Bombard’s favourite piece by Bach played on the BBC o verseas Service on Christmas Day. Re-energised by this fortuitous encounter, Dr Bombard sailed on, plagued by diarrhoea and still hoping to make landfall on the French territory of Martinique. The presence of seabirds and then the appearance of a Dutch cargo ship bound for Trinidad confirmed that the dinghy was nearing land. But now the objec tive changed to Barbados — still 70 miles away, but much closer thanInMartinique.hisbook
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I think he has two signature songs, Too Young to Soca, which shook the world in seeing a young child being so expressive, and "Big Truck", which redefined the music for a new generation. Machel decided to rest just when the Pandemic struck and returned in 2022. How has he reset? He went to India in 2021 and embarked on a spiritual journey. When he returned was much more mature and more settled in his thinking. He developed a greater understanding of his purpose. Before this, his objective was to take Soca to the world. With this reset, I see something more in him. He feels the time has come when he must give more to the world, and it's not just about him; it is a bigger picture. What is so special about 2022 as Machel returns to the scene? Machel marks 40 years in music this year with a concert series, album and the book among other things. Beyond that, he's prepared to contribute to the Caribbean in new ways. He started the year on high, performing at the Maha Shivrati festival for nearly 120 million worldwide. He has joined spiritualist Sadghguru to inspire Caribbean leaders to endorse the Conscious Planet mission to save soil. And he's now embracing life beyond touring. He is living that principle of less is more, with a focus on what he can do to serve mankind.
#REcalibrated
What was it like raising Machel? It wasn't very hard at all. I raised Machel and his brother Marcus as normal kids, except at an early age, Machel entered the entertainment world. Still, it was a very structured life, as his Dad and I were teachers.
In King of Soca, the poignantly intimate yet sweeping biography of her son, Elizabeth Montano, has delivered an extraordinary view of the tour de force that is Machel Montano. Here she shares his reaction to the book and his mission beyond music.
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What wisdom of yours does Machel carry forward? We taught Machel and Marcus the values of being well-read, being honest, having integrity, having a good work ethic, and loving your own. We are very proud of how they manifested these lessons.
What was his reaction when you told Machel you were writing a book on his life and impact? Machel believes that Caribbean stories should be told. So, he was very excited. I think he was confident that I would represent his life fully, especially since I am the ultimate insider. He was very proud of me and the book; he loved it.
In many ways, Machel and Caribbean Airlines are standard bearers for the region. So what do you think we have in common?
I would say longevity and sustainability! You both provide outstanding service to customers, or I should say fans. You both care about the people you serve. When Machel performs, he ensures he is top-level and always gives us his best. And I think Caribbean Airlines is like that, always providing the best service. I also believe that Caribbean Airlines and Machel share a common desire to evolve and to remain relevant in the lives of Caribbean people. Here is the thing I often boast about: if Machel is touring, he’s flying Caribbean Airlines, and his brother Marcus, a senior pilot, has worked all his life at Caribbean Airlines, so we are indeed family.
Which song of Machel's defines his impact as a Soca artist?
Caribbean Airlines Jetpak - Theresa Evelyn “ “
(Also available by downloading the Caribbean View app)
GRAND CAYMAN Dominica Curacao Ogle Ft. Lauderdale #REcalibrated
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64 WWW.CARIBBEAN-BEAT.COM There are 11 differences between these two pictures. How many can you spot? Word search spot the Difference by Gregory St Bernard solutions Wordearchs
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