Ten students from St Dominic Preparatory School were treated like princesses and princes on Thursday, November 15 by Trade Winds Citrus Limited. The Tru-Juice manufacturer hosted a special five-course luncheon prepared by chef Jacqui Tyson for the fifth Applaud It! event on the 2018 roster. Applaud It! is an “initiative that provides a unique opportunity for industry leaders to meet the next generation exactly where they are at and guide them through an awesome experience that exposes them to social and dining skills”.

Trade Winds Citrus Limited Managing Director Peter McConnell, his orchid horticulturalist wife Stephanie and members of his team — head of marketing and corporate communications Marsha Lumley and head of international commerce Richard Groves — were joined by Applaud It! conceptualiser and senior associate editor, lifestyle and social content, Jamaica Observer Limited Novia McDonald-Whyte to break bread with the youngsters.

The menu was an ode to the orchard and Thursday Food is confident that the students got their daily dose of vitamins. Lunch began with the Tru Salad comprised of a number of flavours of the orchard. Apples, plums, Blue Mountain blackberries, strawberries, grapes and roasted pineapple were tossed with local lettuces, caramelised cherry tomatoes and dried cranberries before being finished with a drizzle of passion fruit-infused yoghurt. As Chef Tyson noted, “This salad is a reflection of the numerous flavours of Tru-Juice and the number of items that are grown in Linstead including the coconuts used to make the oil.” This gives a whole new meaning to the 100-mile menu!

The second course, Bog Walk Delight, saw handmade cheese tortellini tossed in a coconut oil pesto combined with a few slices of Bog Walk pan chicken-style chicken breast and topped with shards of asiago and parmesan cheeses. The plating of this dish intimidated a number of the young diners but once it was described as fancy mac and cheese they gobbled it up. After the pasta course, the palates were cleansed with an intermezzo called It’s A Cherry Lyme. The granita made from Tru-Juice cherry juice, fresh lime and orange and served in a lime shell really won the kids over.

The main course, By the River on the Bank, saw jumbo shrimp sautéed in a Linstead janga broth served atop potato duchess and alongside orange-glazed carrots, snow peas, sweet pepper and roasted jackfruit. These students may have future careers as food writers as they tackled the fourth course with as much zeal as the first. It was the first time having shrimp for a few, and have shrimp they did!

To complete the meal there was a dessert that had the kids literally shaking in their seats — sponge cake topped with caramelised orange supremes and whipped cream alongside an entire chocolate-coated candy apple. And if for a second you thought their exuberance had reached fever pitch there was a Pastry Passions cake that, when brought out, had them shouting “Yay!”

The Trade Winds Citrus Limited team went above and beyond. Not only in creating a memorable Applaud It! event but exposing a handful of future leaders to dining in fine style. Thursday Food has highlights.