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Heavenly salads
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JULY 2006
Heavenly salads
You can't find fresher produce
Freshness and flavour go hand in hand, especially in salads. At fine restaurants in Nassau and Paradise Island, ingredients in the salad you enjoy for dinner tonight were probably harvested earlier that very day by local producers.
Succulent Boston and red-leaf lettuce, tender baby spinach, arugula, yellow, red and orange peppers, green jalape~nos, red chillies, vine-sweetened cherry tomatoes - you'll be able to see and taste the freshness.
Frederick Lightbourn, co-owner of The Poop Deck at Sandyport on West Bay St, speaks for all of the island's top restaurateurs when he says he relies on trusted local farmers for top quality ingredients. "Local producers are delivering fresh produce to us every day," Lightbourn says.
With nearly constant sunshine, farmers are able to grow vegetables throughout the year. Only rarely is any variety of ingredient out of production, say producers.
Super chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten insists on the highest quality produce for his two Bahamian restaurants, Dune and Cafe Martinique, both on Paradise Island. He relies on Theresa Kemp, who provides all locally-grown produce for him. "I won't serve it unless I get it from Theresa," says Michael Lewis, Vongerichten's executive chef at Cafe Martinique.
"Her produce tastes infinitely better than anything else available, and I would never serve anything unless it tastes great."
Vongerichten goes so far as to import seeds so Kemp can grow specific varieties for his menu. Her cherry tomatoes, arugula, Swiss chard and radishes are all personally selected by the New York master chef.
Along with tropical fruit and avocado trees, Kemp grows more than 50 different vegetables and herbs on her 24 acres of rocky soil. Her farm, Holey Farms, recalls the traditional Bahamian technique of growing vegetables in soil-filled holes in the limestone. Holey Farms is 100 per cent organic.
"I want a better product, and I try to keep everything natural," Kemp says. Goats roam her property eating weeds. They have lifetime contracts; she never sends them to the stew pot.
Ian Goodfellow of Goodfellow Farms also subscribes to organic production. In addition to his organic field greens and vegetables, Goodfellow also uses hydroponic techniques to grow his vegetables. While he uses some of his produce in the farm's on-site restaurant, he sells microgreens to nearly 40 Bahamian restaurants, including 10 in Harbour Island and 28 in Nassau and Paradise Island.
Lucayan Tropical Produce, The Bahamas' largest commercial food growing operation, is entirely hydroponic. With nearly six and a half acres under management, the company specializes in tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuces, greens and herbs. Many of Nassau's best known restaurants welcome their deliveries.
Owner and manager Manny Tsakkos of Capriccio on West Bay St says, "I get my produce from Lucayan. My customers deserve the best. It's not just for the salad. We make every one of our sauces from scratch using traditional Italian home style recipes. Lucayan tomatoes and herbs give them the flavour our customers expect."
Lucayan's tomatoes and other products are also available at grocery stores throughout the island.
On their hydroponic operation, Art Hale and Mila David grow a dozen varieties of lettuces and herbs and are one of New Providence island?s top lettuce producers. Every year they deliver hundreds of cases to local hotels and restaurants including The Poop Deck at Sandyport, where the salad menu features Mila's mix. David personally prepares a special blend of greens to meet Frederick Lightbourn's insistence on quality and taste.
"I buy from Mila because I know it is absolutely fresh," says Lightbourn. "We named the salad after her because I know she won't sell her product if isn't absolutely perfect."
The Poop Deck buys only locally-produced fruits and vegetables when possible. Its tomatoes and peppers are grown by Lucayan. "We serve the freshest fish of any restaurant on the island, so why serve it along with a salad made from three-week-old lettuce?" Lightbourn asks rhetorically.
Although local producers grow more than 20 kinds of greens and lettuces, all are leaf varieties. So if you see long-lasting iceberg lettuce in your salad, you can be sure it came from "away."
As for those highly perishable but delicious and nutritious leaf varieties, they undoubtedly came from an expert grower right here in The Bahamas, and they'll be as fresh as fresh can be.
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