ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA MANGO FESTIVAL

The Antigua and Barbuda Mango Festival 2014 Winners were all chefs from Carmichael’s Restaurant at Sugar Ridge (Photo Credits: Michael Anthony)

(St. John’s, Antigua)  – As the Antigua and Barbuda Mango Festival 10 year anniversary approaches, the anticipation is building for this year’s Mango Pineapple Culinary Competition, an exciting feature of the Mango Festival, where brave professional chefs showcase their skills.

Guest Judge, Chef Jeffery Rotz, from the USA will join Antigua and Barbuda’s nationally acclaimed judges and food reviewers to determine who will come out top chef in the Mango Pineapple competition which takes place this year on July 11th and July 12th at the Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute.

In Last year’s competition dubbed the ‘Mango Pineapple Cook-off’, chefs from the fine dining restaurant, Carmichael’s at Sugar Ridge Resort, emerged victorious with Chef Lemuel Duberry winning the competition, and Chefs Gregory Williams and Michael Anthony scooping up the second and third place spots respectively.

For the 2015 competition, professional chefs will be tested as they are asked to create savoury dishes and desserts using a variety of mangoes from Christian Valley and ‘Antigua Black’ Pineapples from Cades Bay.  Chefs who make it on to round 2 will then be challenged to create another dish, using mangoes and pineapples in addition to other mystery box ingredients.

Pastry Chefs will compete for the prestigious Madeleine Mc Comas Award for Best Pastry Chef, and the special Most Innovative Chef Award from students of ABHTI in this category. While Savoury Chefs compete for the prestigious Dame Gwendolyn Tonge Award for Best Chef, as well as a special Most Innovative Chef Award from students of ABHTI in this category. Awards are also offered for 2nd and 3rd place in each competition.

The culinary competition allows chefs in Antigua and Barbuda to show-off their cooking skills and impress the judges for the chance to claim the ‘Best Chef’ and ‘Most Innovative Chef’ awards.

There is still time to enter the competition, and professional chefs are invited to contact the Mango Festival Chairperson Mr. Caudley George in The Ministry of Tourism at telephone 462-0480 / 725-3254 or email mangopineappleculinary@gmail.com for registration forms.  The deadline for entry is June 15, 2015.

The competition precedes the Mango Festival which take place on July 18th and 19th in Christian Valley.  The Mango Festival launched by the Antigua and Barbuda Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture highlights the linkages between agriculture and tourism.

This year, organisers are making a concerted effort to attract visitors to the serene setting of Christian Valley for the two day festival, where they will enjoy a variety of mangoes to satisfy taste buds, and explore a range of stalls all offering products with a unique mango twist.