Chef Jamal Petty prepares for Taste of the Islands competition.

Nassau, Bahamas - Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said that he is determined to attract the prestigious culinary regional competition ‘Taste of the Caribbean’ to The Bahamas.  The competition, which is in its 21st year, brought thousands of food lovers to Miami, Florida over the weekend.

The Bahamas National Culinary Team is competing in the event over the next several days.

The national culinary team consists of chefs Sheldon Tracey Sweeting, Charon McKenzie, Jamal Small, Richmond Fowler, Dwayne Sinclair, bartender Marv Cunningham and kitchen artist Indra Solihin.

Team Administrator Charlotte Knowles-Thompson also travelled with the team. The competition brings together the best in culinary from countries like Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, Curacao, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Suriname and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Each team is comprised of three select chefs, one pastry chef, one junior chef, a kitchen artists and one bartender.

While at the Taste of the Island event, Minister Wilchcombe said Bahamian food is an important marketing tool for The Bahamas.

“It just tells about the enormous potential we have. It’s a part of our culture and it shows that we have to do more in The Bahamas. As we seek to redefine tourism and make tourism more relevant for the 21st century, a part of it is that we make sure that our culture is featured and that is of course our food,” he said.

“Our food is important and we want people to go everywhere and talk about our food. We are very proud of the effort that the national culinary team has made. I think that we have so much to offer and I would like to see this conference come to The Bahamas because I’d like to show the world what we can do in the culinary aspect.”

Minister Poses With National Culinary Team members. (l to right) Gina Turner of MOT, Marv Cunningham, Mixologist; Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe; Team Administrator Charlotte Knowles-Thompson and Chef Sheldon Sweeting.

Organizer of the Event Bill Moore spoke about how beneficial Taste of the Caribbean is to the region.

“There’s a strong educational element but we also feel that it is very, very important from a tourism standpoint. We are trying to emphasize the fact that the tourism product needs to embrace the culinary product. So this is also a marketing window and what you see here tonight is a marketing opportunity for the countries that areinvolved,” he said. Mr. Moore, who previously lived in The Bahamas and was an executive chef at Nassau Beach Hotel, helped to establish the Bahamas Culinary Organization. He spoke about what he expects out of this year’s competition.

“The Bahamas has always been a consistently strong team and it’s great to see guys like Tracey Sweeting come back and invest over and over again. There are certain core teams that you look for every year like Bahamas, Trinidad and Jamaica because they are key teams within the organization,” Mr. Moore said.

“The Bahamas’ cuisine is unique and well understood. You have a strong presence in the United States that we need to reach out to. I think The Bahamas is very solid. You have a solid team again this year and I think they are going to do very well.”Last year, the Bahamian Culinary Team captured 13 medals.

Among those awards were gold for pastry, the silver medal in cheese, bronze in seafood, gold in use of beef, bronze in ice carving and silver and bronze in bartending.

Ministry of Tourism officials designed a booth for Taste of the Caribbean. (l to right) General Manager of US Communications Anita Patty Johnson; PR Coordinator Kendea Smith, National Culinary Team Captain Chef Sheldon Tracy Sweeting; Minister Obie Wilchcombe; General Manager of Events Jennifer Gardiner; Culinary Manager in Ministry of Tourism DeAnne Gibson and Gina Turner of Tourism Communications in Plantation, Florida.