The second day of the 2024 Jamaica Food and Drink Festival (JFDF) took place Friday evening at the University of The West Indies, Mona with a fitting nod to 10 years of culinary offerings. At the range were past festival favourites, notably Chopstix, Picante, Pork Palooza and Crisp. It was without a doubt, the festival’s most-in-demand event.

Thursday Food’s culinary adventure began at Chopstix, where Asian-inspired delights were on offer. Among the selections were Chef Junior Lowe’s Crispy Pork Belly with Sesame Sweet Plum Drizzle and Asian Slaw; Chef Trevanne Donegal’s Tandoori Style Salmon with Mango Chutney and Garam Masala with Spiced Cornbread; Chef Jamie Allen’s Shrimp Shumai with Rich Prawn Sauce and Istry Chilli Crisp; and Chef Débè-Ann Lange Chen’s Korean Sticky Chicken with Coconut Jasmine Rice and a Purple Cabbage Mango Sesame Slaw. Lange Chen’s dish was a classic from past events which, according to her, went beyond her expectations.

“I thought maybe I would bring back a popular blast from the past! To tell you the honest truth, I thought the line would be a little shorter,” Lange Chen. It was wishful thinking on her part… For her, the reward was to see how her food has resonated with patrons over the years, especially as she was challenged by the event organisers to cook Korean food, something that she had not done before.

“I was excited thinking ‘oh great, I am going to cook Chinese food’ and they were like, no we want Korean fare… I was like what the hell is Korean food? So I had to go research and find out and it came out well. So now I cook Korean food, too,” Lange Chen quipped

Another highlight was Miami-based Chef Jose Mendin, chef/patron of Pubbelly Restaurant Group, Casa Isola Isteria La Pacita and Mar Y Rosae, who thrilled festival-goers with his Chicken Yakitori with Miso Ginger.

Venturing into the Picante section, patrons got their spicy fix with offerings such as Jerk Shrimp Pasta Alfredo, Rundown Shrimp Pasta and Spicy Tomato Salmon Pasta from Chef Jason Daley Mama’s Pasta and Grill; from Nanda Dukharan, chef/patron Chive Restaurant, Spicy Sichuan Pulled Pork; and, from Celebrity Guest Chef Wenford Patrick Simpson, Texas Style Fire Stick Chicken Sliders. Picante also featured Chef Evrol Ebanks, who tantalised palates with Tajin Spiced Trout Bites.

As an ode to the festival’s 10-year milestone, Ebanks wanted to create a dish honouring all four sections in which he has participated, using a type of fish not regularly used. “So what I did was Tajin with Mexican spice, dusted trout fillet. It is a fish that Jamaicans don’t really play with a lot so I decided why not,” Ebanks said. “With that, I served some spicy corn chips and roasted corn salsa. For the kick, I used a mango cream butter sauce. For the spice, I added a bit of cilantro with the sriracha Scotch bonnet chilli delivering the extra heat.”

It was that heat that received strong reviews at his booth. For Ebanks, the event further displays the vast talent of local chefs.

“The thing is, as Jamaican chefs, I think we are naturally talented in terms of using spices,” Ebanks said.

Pork fans meanwhile got their cravings satisfied at the Pork Palooza section, indulging in creations such as Citrus Grilled Pork from Chef Kerry Lyn; Guava Jerk Pork Belly Bites from Chef Theo Smith of Great House Caterers; Spicy Jackfruit Bourbon BBQ Crispy Pig Tail from Chef Johnoi Reid; and Chef Simon Levy’s Trio Open Faced Sandwich featuring house-cured ham and pork pastrami Buckboard Bacon, pork pastrami over French baguette with Nduja cream cheese, pepper relish and pistachios.

Levy, who has been a festival staple since the beginning, said that he wanted his dish, a “Trio of an Italian Sandwich,” to show the best of what his company, Roast Specialty Meats, has to offer.

“We have been here from day one and on top of bringing what we do best, I think over the years we cure and smoke meats as well as we can,” Levy said. “The amount of business that we do is 95 per cent pork; our main products are Italian like salami, Capicola which are pork products that you can’t get out here. So we really use the local pork in a way that is not really done out here, otherwise.”

Thursday Food’s final stop was CRISP, where the appetite for dishes with crunch was satisfied. Among the offerings were Chef Haleem Card’s Annatto Pepper Shrimp Cake with Scotch Bonnet Sauce; Fromage Restaurant’s Crispy Fried Chicken with Spicy Scotchie Soy Blaze; Chef Damion Stewart’s Oxtail and Feta Cheese Stuffed Arancini with Truffle Pumpkin Jam and his Beer Battered Crab and Shrimp Cake; and Jamaica Pegasus Executive Chef Mark Cole’s Crispy Doritos and Sweet Potato Firecracker Corvina.

The multi-award-winning Cole explained that the dish maintained the high standards that patrons expect from the Jamaica Pegasus.

“The inspiration is always about creating Jamaican food with a twist. I had to stand out at this event, so I had to make sure that we represented the Jamaica Pegasus as we always do. So the inspiration was not that hard to create… With this being year 10, we had to come even better,” Cole said.

“We had snapper, which we created three different ways. We did a Dorito Snapper Ball, a parsley Snapperball and a beetroot Snapperball… Cream cheese, Scotch bonnet pepper and coconut milk were incorporated… we had some sweet potato in there, too, so the flavour was just exploding.”

The trip down memory lane was a testament to how far the brand has come since its inception, something that stood out to Alison Moss-Solomon, marketing director at Unicomer Jamaica.

“What I was impressed about is how the brand has developed over the 10 years. I remember when it started. And to see how it has become a staple when it comes to our food calendar is beautiful,” Moss Solomon said.