Category Archives: Cayman Correspondence

[VIDEO] Genuine Cayman with Chef Michael Schwartz Comes to Cayman 27, Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Beginning tomorrow, we’re on-air, on-island!  Genuine Cayman with Chef Michael Schwartz is Michael’s all-new TV Series airing exclusively on local station Cayman 27 sharing the stories of the islands’ farmers and enjoying their ingredients in the kitchen.

The six episode season premieres tomorrow, Wednesday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m., with the Slow Food Episode and explores the origin of island ingredients, the people behind them, and how they can come to life in the kitchen in fresh, simple, and pure recipes.  Look for Eggs, Lionfish, Pizza, Pork, and Snapper in the weeks to come.  Check your local listings for the program schedule.

The series is produced and directed by co-creator Emma Gladstone, of Switched On Productions, and was developed exclusively for Cayman 27 with the support of Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and Camana Bay.

Tomorrow's "Slow Food" episode features guest chef Sara Mair of Ortanique at Camana Bay, at February's Slow Food Day tasting at The Farmers Market at The Grounds in Lower Valley.

“I think as viewers, our diners will get a kick out of going out into the field with me in Genuine Cayman,” Michael explains.  “It’s a great complement to what Thomas and the staff can share with people inside the restaurant. I’m thrilled with how clearly and vividly we are bringing to life the process we go through day in and day out at the restaurant to put together seasonal menus that respect both the ingredients and small producers!”

If you aren’t living in Cayman or visiting the island, do not fear!  We’ll make behind-the-scenes photos and clips, as well as recipes and interviews with guest chefs from the episodes, available here on the blog so you can follow along each week.  Just search the Genuine Cayman category.  Here’s a sneak peak at the show to get things rolling!

Goodspeed’s Royal Rock, Plus Saturday’s Farm-to-Table Dinner Menu

A Pimm's Cup fit for the queen.

Beverage manager Ryan Goodspeed is on the rocks – I mean rock - for a week checking in on the bar at our Grand Cayman restaurant.  As such, it is flowing with new drinks like the Cuba Libre, a highball of housemade cola, Bacardi 8 year over ice and lime wheel garnish.  The Housemade Cola has also been well received by kids and moms!

Perhaps what I am most excited for is the Pimm’s Royal Cup, featuring Ryan’s own Pimms #1, a regal mix of equal parts Dubonnet, Canton, sweet Vermouth, dry Vermouth, Campari, Broker’s Gin, and simple syrup.  Add that to a highball glass and top with sparkling wine, and cucumber, orange and pear slices.  Golly gee Ryan, please bring this to Miami with my Slow Gin Fizz?

All that, and he’s got a batch of limoncello working.  Smart thinking. It’ll be ready next time Chef is down!

Ryan at home base in Miami, on my favorite - beer duty.

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[UPDATED] Slow Food Day 2012 in Pictures

Here Plantation House's Joel Walton and his fennel with chef Thomas.

Update:  As promised, here are all the chefs’ recipes from the market tasting event!  Also, the Super Porkwich became a Super Borkwich (that’s a ground beef and pork shoulder mix) on Sunday night in the @MGFD_GCM condo kitchen.  Highly recommend giving that recipe (courtesy chef de cuisine Bradley Herron) a whirl, too, if the occasion calls!  Think sausage patty in non-breakfast form…  Michael added shaved red onions to the salad mix, which I thought was a nice touch.

On Saturday, farmers and chefs gathered at The Farmers Market at The Grounds to celebrate local foods for Grand Cayman’s first of many more Slow Food Days.   From chef Niven Patel of The Brasserie cooking farmer Patrick Panton’s all-natural chicken to smokey, jerky perfection in their Caboose, to the largest crowd I’ve seen turn up at The Grounds of supportive locals eager to taste the freshest products the island has to offer, it was a great day for the island. “I’ve seen this market for years, but never like this,” a seventh generation Caymanian woman pulled me aside to share. “This is Cayman.”

Line cook Richard on the all-important stuffing duty!

if things weren’t delicious enough in the morning, the celebration concluded back at Camana Bay with chef Jonathan Waxman’s farm-to-table dinner at Michael’s Genuine.  The family-style menu of dishes from his new cookbook, Italian, My Way, featured locally-sourced ingredients like lionfish, Thai eggplant, fennel, green onion, green tomato, chicken, bacon, and more — the show-stopper being what may be the best fish he has ever tasted.  2-pound yellow eye snappers were stuffed with parsley, green olives, and thick slices of lemon, and after a generous shower of extra-virgin olive oil, some Cayman sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, roasted in the wood burning oven. The meat was as plump and juicy as I can remember a snapper being.

Secondi: whole roasted yellow eye snapper.

Click here for our photos of the entire day.  Huge thanks to Kerry Forbes from the Cayman Islands Agricultural Society and Alan Markoff of Slow Food South South for their partnership on the event, to his Excellency The Governor for championing local agriculture, and the generous support of our sponsors including Foster’s Food Fair, Camana Bay, Bon Vivant, Books & Books, Home Gas, BlackBeards, and Cayman Free Press.   And of course to the folks without whom this event would not have been possible, nor delicious: chefs Sara Mair (Ortanique,) Niven Patel (The Brasserie,) Paul Carroll (Hemingway’s,) Keith Griffin, and Thomas Tennant (MGFD,) and farmers Hamlin Stephenson (Hamlin’s Farm,) Joel Walton (Plantation House,) Donna Connolly (Healther Choice Eggs,) Paul Bodden (Old Brown Ranch,) and Patrick Panton (East End Garden.)  We will make all of their recipes available online later today in this post.

The Slow Food Day 2012 gang.