SUPPER CLUB: Bajan Kadooment by Shem Barker

The first Monday of August marks the grand finale of Barbados’ Crop Over Festival, and the raucous Grand Kadooment (Bajan creole for ‘large party’). The day features parades of revellers in elaborate costumes, music, dancing, and a joyous celebration of Barbadian culture. The vibrant flavours, colours, sounds and traditions of the Barbadian Kadooment are Chef Shem Barker’s inspiration for this fabulous Bajan dinner.

In the late 18th century Barbados was one of the world’s biggest sugar cane producers, and informal carnivals existed throughout the Caribbean to celebrate the harvest of the sugar crop. Many were organized by plantation owners, who used food and liquor as a means of reenforcing the continued enslavement of their labour force, and a release valve for the inevitable resentments of servitude. Slaves would also often have their own unsanctioned fetes that featured singing, dancing, music and food; covert ways of keeping their ancestral culture alive…