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Kingston Creative Puts Us in the Mood for Food

It’s normal for downtown Kingston to be sleepy on a Sunday morning. However, on August 25 the streets were electrified as another Kingston Creative artwalk took place. Leave it to cultural curator and creative director of Kingston Creative Andrea Dempster-Chung to think of yet another way to keep the monthly event fresh and participants itching with excitement. Aided by Kingston Creative member Christopher Reckord and members of his tTech team who sponsored several downtown food vendors on Tower Street last Sunday’s iteration was dubbed Mood for Food and had attendees enjoying delicious eats while frolicking in the streets.

tTech also made arrangements with bars and vendors to accept “tTech vouchers” which were given to specially invited customers.

Around 200 people attended the artwalk event that started at 9:00 am in Saint William Grant Park. The crowd inched its way through downtown passing Harbour Street where local artists and artisans sold their wares on Market Street towards Jamdung Street Food Avenue (located at the United Way building). There cooks, chefs, bakers, and caterers tantalised taste buds with an array of fresh and refreshing beverages and moreish foods.

Whether it was the art installation, performances, augmented reality mural (another tTech initiatve) or the food on offer, the overarching theme of the day was creativity. One such uber-creative product was the ackee wine from Flavours of the Past. The line of “real Jamaican” tropical fruit wines that also includes sorrel, pimento berry, moringa, honey orange, ginger and noni wines had Kingston Creative attendees eager to leave their comfort zones and try something different. Flavours of the Past fulfilled that brief.

Besides wine, ackee found itself alongside salt fish in pasta enrobed in a coconut cream and Pepper Jack cheese béchamel. And salt fish sautéed with green bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes went solo (well, sort of) and completed a dish comprising mashed sweet potato, roast yellow yam, fried sprat, avocado (pear), and fried ripe plantain.

People could relive their youth and cool down with Snow cones, sip on a refreshing twist on lemonade, watch as a skilled pan woman flipped jerk chicken as quickly as she could wrap it in foil, and ignore prying eyes as they tucked into whole steamed fish stuffed with callaloo.

Another popular meal was courtesy of Walk Foods Restaurant. Easy-to-tear roti and perfectly shelly white rice were served alongside flavourful curry goat and some seriously good curry mango. Put it this way: one bite of the curry mango, and you’d fully come to appreciate the Jamaican folk song refrain “Me no drink cawfee tea, mango time!” Utterly delicious! The joy that came across the faces of those who partook could not be hidden from our lensman.