A chef's journey home to the table

I was born and raised in Jamaica, and growing up, food was always a part of my life. I lived with my grandmother, who had spent many years living in England, so from a young age I was exposed to a lot of British food and culture. While I knew Jamaican cuisine because it was my home, I realized later in life that I actually knew more about foods from outside the Caribbean than I did about the cuisines of neighboring Caribbean islands.

That realization stayed with me.

When I later moved to Antigua, I began meeting people from different Caribbean backgrounds, especially Guyanese communities, and for the first time I experienced foods and flavors I had never been introduced to growing up in Jamaica. I fell in love with the richness of their cuisine, their traditions, and the stories connected to their food. It opened my eyes to how little many of us in the Caribbean truly know about one another despite living so close together.

In 2012, I moved to Montserrat with my daughter, and that experience changed my perspective even more. Montserrat is filled with people from all across the Caribbean — Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Dominican Republic, and many more. Because it is such a close-knit island, I had the opportunity to connect with people from many different cultures through food, conversation, and community.

As a chef, food has always been deeply important to me. I fell in love with cooking when I was only nine years old, and over the years, food became much more than a career — it became one of my greatest passions. I naturally became curious about the dishes people grew up eating, the ingredients they used, and the cultural meaning behind each meal. I started learning to cook foods from different Caribbean countries and gained a deep respect for how connected these dishes are to history, identity, family, and survival.

That passion eventually led me to create Taste of the Caribbean at The Children's Village in New York, where I prepared 19 different Caribbean dishes — many of which I had never prepared before. Even as an experienced chef, I found myself learning constantly. I researched the history of the dishes, asked questions, and listened carefully to the stories behind them because I genuinely wanted to understand the cultures they came from. Sharing those dishes with children showed me just how powerful food can be as a tool for education, connection, and cultural discovery.

That experience made me realize something important.

I only truly discovered the incredible diversity of Caribbean food when I traveled throughout the Caribbean. It made me think about the children growing up across our region and how many of them may never have the opportunity to travel to a neighboring island and experience its food and culture firsthand.

We live in the Caribbean, yet many of our children — and even adults — know very little about each other's food and cultures unless they travel. Many families may never have the financial opportunity to explore the region, and when people do travel, they often choose destinations outside of the Caribbean instead of discovering the richness that exists within our own backyard.

At the same time, I noticed something else that deeply bothered me: children in the Caribbean often know more about American fast food or European culture than they know about the traditional cuisines of neighboring Caribbean islands. In some cases, people outside the Caribbean appreciate and understand our food more than we do ourselves.

I believe that must change.