Rosemary Parkinson, Freelance Writer
Chef Mark Cole of Hedonism III shows off part of his daily buffet.
LAUNCHING LABOUR Day 2005 under the theme 'Prepare for Disaster, Recover Faster', Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced that the national project would be the Buena Vista District Community Centre in St. Elizabeth. This year the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture is spearheading Labour Day activities across the island with tree planting and trimming; drain cleaning; construction of proper emergency exits for schools and public buildings; and the renovation and upgrading of shelters all in one labour intensive weekend.
Wow! I am tired already. I cannot wait to peruse all of this as I travel to St. Elizabeth the weekend following Labour Day for the Calabash Literary Festival in Treasure Beach.
CLEAN IS NOT A DIRTY WORD
Let's talk 'clean'. The indiscriminate dumping of garbage always comes back to haunt us when it rains. Why must we wait for Labour Day to clean up and then look to the Government to do it? Have we lost all we fought for (freedom to think for ourselves)? Clean is not a dirty word. Maybe that should be the slogan for educational posters nationwide.
I am tired of seeing people throwing gargage out of car windows or dumping their garbage into gullies, drains, rivers, seas and on the beach. The rest of us who know better should not just turn a blind eye. Whenever I see anybody illegally dumping their trash, I stop and explain the impact and suggest how things could be done. Most of the time the people I talk to listen and promise to do better. Most is better than not at all.
Just a few more pointers on the word 'clean'. Went to the movies the other night (Kingdom of Heaven is must -- what a brilliant epic) and did not finish my usually 'gouged' down movie popcorn. The dash of butter placed in the bag tasted a bit strange and this morning that word denotes my stomach. How about a little supervised 'clean' for those containers, eh? In fact, all those in the food business, look around and see if you have lost the word 'clean'.
GET CLEAN
Last Labour Day speech now. Let us look over our yards and get 'clean'. Let us look over our minds and get 'clean'. Let us get out there with the family and spread some 'clean'. Go visit other parishes, bathe in the rivers, picnic at a botanical garden, eat some jerk, stop off at cookshops, purchase a carving, taste a little ital food, dip into mineral waters, swim in the sea and remember the many special places we have dotted around the country and keep dem 'clean'.
Places to enjoy: Cool Runnings eatery in Long Bay, Portland; pan-chicken, Yallahs, St. Thomas; Aunt May's fish, Hellshire, St. Catherine; Gloria's, Port Royal; Lime Cay for the day, and the Gap Cafe in the Blues (mountain).
Taste the honey in Clarendon; take a soak at Milk River; have a drink at Pelican Bar in the ocean out by St. Elizabeth; relax at Sunset Resort, or at Jakes -- all in St. Elizabeth. Have lunch at Pirate's Cove, Negril; lay your head down at Sunset At The Palms (divine atmosphere); enjoy Chef Stefan's nosh at Couples Swept Away; stop at Margaritaville, Montego Bay; have Sunday brunch at Coral Cliff. Also take in the new Blue Beat on the Hip Strip for cocktails; Miss Yvonne's curry and roti in Whitehouse, Westmore-land; Ital at Flankers a hut with 'clean' food; Hedonism III for joy, Chef Cole for ecstasy; Dolphin Cove for the family; Harmony Hall for art; Port Maria's Beach Bar Restaurant for steamed fish and Kingston I shall relegate to Miss Norma she has never let me down. And, don't forget, the National Art Gallery on Orange Street, Kingston, can give you a cultural mind 'clean' before you take off to all the parties around the island.
WORLD OF FOOD
In Montego Bay, I recently bumped into a gentleman called Yun Sung Kim at Burger King. Mr. Kim is a producer for a programme called World Food which is aired on MTV Asia.
Mr. Kim was on the island to film Norma Shirley (Norma on the Terrace, Devon House, Kingston), and food in general, for programmes to be aired across Asia with voice-overs. What a thing that will be, eh, Miss Norma speaking Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
Anyway, Mr. Kim seemed disturbed by the habit we have in the Caribbean islands of not allowing people to take photographs of us without 'ah money'. All over the world, a photographer can take pictures of anything he sees, but not here. No sah, not us, not without 'ah money'.
It is horrid when people like Mr. Kim come to give our island a huge boost worldwide, and instead of showing beautiful smiles filled with hospitality, we start screaming for "ah money".
I had a similar, very scary incident in the St. Ann's Bay Market. I will never go back there. Dem seh, if mi take my camera out, dem will 'stab' me. Hello? When I explained that my photographs would give the market worldwide exposure, one of the many and I mean many obnoxious higglers screamed, "Mi nuh fi exposure, mi nuh want 'yu people' come 'ere to buy we food."
Bwoy, nice to know that the St. Ann's Bay Market does so well that vendors do not desire to have any visitors at all.
Anyway, back to Mr. Kim. In his own words, "Miss Shirley velly special. Velly implessive. (Very special, very impressive). I know taste is important," he continued, "but style, ahh style is value. And Miss Shirley understand this. She understand food velly much.
"She understand colour, she love her food, she best, the velly best in Jamaica."
Rosemary Parkinson was last seen with pail, scrubbing brush, broom and mop, cleaning up the countryside. She looking fi ah Clean Award.
