luxury locations issue 21

FEATURE

ARWE LUB NYAM: WE LOVE TO EAT I f you hear someone say they’re going to ‘nyam’, they mean eat! Antiguan and Barbudan food – like the local dialect – In May, a new annual event placed the floodlights on the twin island nation’s cuisine. Restaurant Week showcased Antigua and Barbuda’s unique culinary

is deliciously diverse and interspersed with African flavours in homage to its people’s roots. Must-try dishes include pepperpot and fungee – a hearty meat and veg stew with a side of cornmeal paste; ducana – a dumpling of sweet potato, coconut and spices; and saltfish and chop-up – salted cod sautéed with onions, garlic and tomato sauce and served with a mixture of mashed eggplant, spinach and okra. You won’t have to hunt far to sample the local fare – it’s widely available at roadside stalls, dubbed ‘cookshops’, nationwide which prepare it fresh each day.

offerings from informal off-the-beaten-track eateries to luxurious fine dining restaurants. A trio of celebrity chefs helped raise the profile of the activities, in the shape of ‘Top Chef ’ participant and host of Food Network’s ‘Melting Pot’Tanya Holland, Jamaican-American chef DeVonn Francis, founder of creative studio Yardy that specialises in immersive food experiences and reimagining Caribbean cuisine, and Antiguan-born Claude Lewis, winner of the Food Network’s ‘Chopped’ competition and owner and operator of the New Jersey-based Freetown Road Project, a restaurant named after the village in which he grew up.

Photos by Alex Rhodes

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