Culinary Caribbean on the Cayman Islands

Wahoo prepared by Eric Ripert at Blue at the Ritz-Carlton. (Courtesy of Dan Riddle)

It’s easy to make the connection between the well-known books titled “Where’s Waldo” and the Cayman Islands, because once you are there, chances are you’ll be on the hunt for wahoo.

You’ll also be looking for schools of fancy-colored fish when you snorkel and scuba dive off the shores. But let’s get back to wahoo—the delicious local fish.

Wahoo What?

This fish, prized by gourmands for its white, delicate flesh, is similar to mackerel. Wahoo is one of the fastest fish in the sea, its elongated and iridescent body is capable of swimming up to 50 mph and weighs up to 180lbs.

What better way to taste wahoo, plus other culinary and epicurean treats, than at the recent Cayman Cookout, hosted by celebrity chef Eric Ripert of Manhattan’s Le Bernadin and featuring “Kitchen Confidential” chef and host Anthony Bourdain, plus a gaggle of other (mostly French) chefs, who set out to prove that this island is the culinary capital of the Caribbean.

Staged at the Ritz-Carlton Resort in tandem with Food and Wine magazine and the Cayman Islands, the three-day gourmet extravaganza offered seminars, cooking demos, and tastings with celebrity chefs, local chefs, vintners, and cocktail mixologists, along with special lunches and dinners.

At one of the cookout lunches served at the Resort’s own Periwinkle restaurant, wahoo was prepared by chef Laurent Gras and paired with a 2007 Riesling Limestone Rebholz wine.

But the excitement extended beyond the Cayman Cookout to the delicious menus prepared at the Ritz-Carlton’s various restaurants and at local restaurants located around the island.

Local Treats

Colorful cocktails at Restaurant Brasserie on the Cayman Islands. At the sight of neon-colored cocktails, you know that you’ve somehow landed somewhere sunny. (Courtesy of Brasserie)

A few minutes’ drive from the Ritz-Carlton is Blue Cilantro where Executive Chef Vidyadhara Shetty enthusiastically prepares a unique combination of local and Indian fare. Born in Mumbai, India, chef Shetty studied cooking there before signing up as a chef on Caribbean cruise ships and setting anchor on Cayman in 1994, winning “Chef of the Year” in 1999. Two of his standouts appear as appetizers: Tandoori soft shell crab served with green papaya salad, apple slaw, and potato chat, and (here we go) wahoo ceviche with fried jalapeño peppers, shiso leaves, and lime sorbet.

At the Brasserie, farther afield than Blue Cilantro, consulting chef Dean Max—who won the 2010 King of America Seafood award—joined Pascal Tingaud in a full-blown culinary menu with wahoo sashimi. Served with crispy cassava and kaffir lime vinaigrette, it was an exceptional appetizer. The restaurant maintains its own garden and deep-sea fishing boat to ensure the freshest local flavors.

Between culinary wahoo delights, there was time to take in the views of white sand beaches on the Cayman Islands. (Isabelle Kellogg)

Back at the resort, where turquoise waters and white beaches made it nearly impossible to concentrate on the chefs’ cooking demos taking place in white tents on the beach front, our taste buds were rewarded with two exceptional dinners that were not part of the official Cayman Cookout program.

At 7, the spacious steak-and-surf restaurant, we succumbed to Jonah Crab Cake, Cayman Style Cracked Conch, Heirloom Tomato Salad served with shaved fennel, avocado, and crispy pumpkin seeds (one of the best tomato salads I’ve ever tasted anywhere), and because wahoo was nowhere to be seen on the menu (maybe all the wahoo went on strike for the evening?), red snapper with coconut risotto.

The finale to this weekend’s epicurean getaway was a dinner at Blue by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton. Exquisitely prepared and plated to within an inch of perfection, each bite was an “ah-ha” moment. From the three-course tasting menu, a fitting finish to the wahoo adventure was the appetizer Seafood Trio with wahoo ceviche, soy-citrus marinated yellow fin tuna, and shrimp salad, followed by (no, not more wahoo) Poached Halibut in a sesame court bouillon. Desserts like cinnamon parfait with bavaroise, pistachio ice cream, and yogurt sponge and chocolate-lime with dark chocolate ganache, lime sorbet, and chili salt topped off this incredible culinary excursion.

Isabelle Kellogg is a writer and public relations consultant in the luxury sector, with a passion for diamonds, jewelry, watches, and other luxury products, including travel. Contact her at isabelle@ikellogg.com.