Norma was in the kitchen one afternoon whipping up incredible dishes for a packed Terrace. The phone rang and it was in fact The Food Network calling. Mere mortals would have dropped everything and taken the call. Not our Norma. With a flick of the wrist she instructed that they call back because she was busy! They did. Not once, not twice, but three times. Arrangements were subsequently made for their arrival in Jamaica and Norma starred, making us all so proud to be Jamaican.

Norma the culinary genius

There were so many amazing treats — from her grape and strawberry trees that first debuted at Red Bones Blues Café to her simply amazing sea bass, which has never been equalled anywhere else in the world. Her lamb was legendary and her oxtail gave us all reason to believe in the extraordinary powers of comfort food.

Norma the queen of parsley

When Norma returned to Kingston to open Red Bones Blues Café she bought all the parsley in the city and complained bitterly that there was never enough.

Norma the stylist

Firstly, her staff, regal, elegant and outfitted in black with a pop of colour coming from their ties.

The table beautifully dressed! An abundance of flowers, candles, long tablecloths and overlays and, of course, the signature menus. Everything had to be perfect — this included the music.

Christmas

Norma loved Christmas. Her tree featured knives, forks, spoons and her menu… muah! Yummy, salads, pork loin marinated in Red Stripe beer, stuffed snapper, Xmas ham wrapped in sorrel buds or crowned with lychee, gungo peas and ripe plantains. Shrimp lightly sautéed and reduced in coconut milk. And, of course, Norma Shirley’s Christmas High Tea, which gave Norma the chance to catch up with all her ‘nieces’ home for the holidays. Oh, how Norma loved young people. They, like us, adored her too.

Norma’s Bark

Was worse than her bite but was nonetheless ferocious, especially when things weren’t going the right way. “She wanted us to do well,” explained one of her many protégés, Dwight. Indeed, she did. She wanted excellence and was convinced that Jamaica had the potential to do as well as, if not better than, Barbados. Norma Shirley raised the culinary bar, not only in Jamaica, but the Caribbean.

— NMW