Since the mid 1990s when Antoine and Lily Bavay anchored in English Harbour from Brittany on a compact catamaran, and decided to stay. While making a living by chartering their boat, the Bavays began to make yogurt and goat’s cheese for their own use. As word spread in English Harbour that a French couple where making excellent quality yogurt, they found they were making bigger and bigger batches every week to satisfy demand.

The chef at Blue Waters Hotel placed an order, and soon after Sandals Resort began to show an interest. Antoine realized that if they wanted to seize this opportunity they would have to find production space ashore. They found a small house in Piccadilly, not far from Falmouth, and considered selling the catamaran to finance the purchase of production equipment. But the boat belonged to their friend Philippe Dupuis, who was still in Brittany. So Philippe and his wife Marisse came to Antigua to see what all the fuss was about. When Philippe Dupuis was a young man he was travelling in North Africa when one day he strolled into a village and saw a sign on an old building that read “Yao Dupuis”. Enchanted by the strange name coupled with his own, he promised himself that he would name his boat “Yao”. So here were the four friends putting the “Yao” up for sale, and Philippe suggested that the name for the yogurt should be Yao too.

Yao Antigua Dairy 2015

By the year 2000 the company, Antigua Dairy Industries, was established and the new production equipment was installed in 450 sq. ft. of crowded but highly organized space in Piccadilly. Space was so limited that they sat on overturned buckets to scrub down their equipment each evening. In spite of this constraint, they soon added ice cream to their product line, using the same equipment and some of the same milk-based ingredients. They hired their first local employee, a driver to make deliveries,and he is still with the company. It now has 15 knowledgeable and productive employees, including well-trained supervisors Desiree Thomas for yogurt and Michael Joseph for ice cream. When their friends the Dupuis went back to France, Antoine found a local investor and their new partner is content to let them run the business as they see fit.Sales of Yao yogurt have grown approximately 20% each year since the early days, except for an almost universal downturn in 2007. The Bavays offer many flavours of yogurt as well as their very first product, plain yogurt, and they have recently introduced a rich, extra-creamy Greek yogurt, which is made by draining the whey from the regular product. They also make yogurt drinks, including a nutritious and healthy Kefir

Yao Antigua Dairy Production

Ice Cream sales are a growing market and the Bavays keep experimenting with new flavours, and have introduced wonderful combinations like Cream and Cookies, Coffee Beans, and Cavalier Rum and Raisin. Their newest offerings are Cherry Vanilla, Strawberry Cheesecake and Maple Walnut.They also produce zingy fruit sorbets made with tropical fruit such as mango, pineapple and passion fruit. And they will make up special orders for weddings and large parties, based on customers’ requests. They will even customize labels, which they print on-site, and do so for several of the international yachts that return every winter to English Harbour.

The Leander, for instance, orders its yogurt with its own Leander label. And for airline customers like British Airways, they order preprinted packaging designed for the airline. Good hygiene is an essential part of any food production facility, and Antigua Dairy is no exception. Samples of every product are sent to the Government laboratory at Dunbars each month for testing, and the site is inspected regularly. The production staff wear clean overalls and hairnets, and clean hands are an absolute requirement of the daily production routine. Antigua Dairy eventually outgrew their Piccadilly site, and in July 2014 they moved to a relatively spacious (4 times larger) building in an industrial park on Factory Road. Here the company has a compact business office, a large production room, a warm room for fermenting yogurt, cold rooms for storing both yogurt and ice cream, and warehouse space at the back for imported pre-packaged gourmet products such as cheese, cured meats and fish, and dried fruit and nuts that they have introduced to grow their product line. After years of experimentation with ingredients for their yogurt and ice cream products, they import a rich, high quality powdered milk from Ireland, fruit jams and preserves from Europe and India,and various sugars, gels and chocolate from the best sources they can find. They encourage walk-in sales, and offer friendly and very informal service to everyone who drops by.

Yao Antigua Dairy Staff

Yao products are sold to supermarkets in a variety of containers, to hotels and restaurants in individual and bulk containers, and to yachts and other catering establishments in containers of their choosing. Antoine and Lily Bavay are proud of their “Made in Antigua” products, and of their record as one of only a handful of local companies that can make this claim. They have begun to export their Yao products to other islands, beginning with the Grenadines in 2015, with planned shipments to Tortola in 2016. They cannot resist developing new products, and hope to introduce their locally brewed beer, which they have dubbed “Bone Idle Blond Ale”, by the end of 2015. The search for new, compatible products continues with no end in sight, because the Bavays have faith in their own abilities, and in their staff. View the complete product line on their website, www.yaoantigua.com.

Young boy enjoy a Yao Yougurt

A new opportunity to encourage culinary creativity amongst young culinary professionals was conceived by Sous Chef David Browne at Galley Bay Resort & Spa through his ‘Young Masters of Culinary’ competition. David set about organizing and arranging a two days competition that would not only challenge competitors’ cooking skills, but also test their working practices in a professional kitchen.

Young Masters of Culinary Chefs Competition Antigua

Day 1: The qualifying freestyle round. Six hotels each entered four in-house contestants. The winning six contestants, one from each hotel went through to the finals.

Young Masters of Culinary Chefs Competition Antigua

Day 2: The ‘Cook Off’ finals were a mystery basket contest and the finalists had to plan an imaginative entrée course using all the ingredients supplied. Each basket contained mangoes, cilantro, green tea bags, plantains, flank steak, shrimps, cassava and green onions.

Young Masters of Culinary Chefs Competition Antigua

The judging panel was made up of four local industry experts: Kitchen Judge – Colleen Simpson, Executive Chef National School Meals Programme and chef of 17 years. Tasting Judges: Chef Julian Waterer – owner of Chef’s World; Shirlene Nibbs, Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Consultant and Carla Gonsalves- Barreiro, Commercial Business Manager of Island Provision Group of Companies. After two tough days of judging the winner was declared as 29 year old Commis Chef, Brian Watkins from Carlisle Bay Resort, with 2nd place going to Kitchen Supervisor, Jason Richards, (24), of Sandals Grande and 3rd place to Head Cook, Tamyan Nedd, (26), from St. James’s Club. The competition was deemed a resounding success; David hopes to expand on it in 2016,

Young Masters of Culinary Chefs Competition Antigua

Fresh milk has become such a rarity in our pasteurized, slickly packaged world that most of us have forgotten the rich, sweet taste of milk sampled straight from the cow. At the Hall Valley Farm on Smith’s Estate, along Valley Road in Ebenezer, Saint Mary’s. Adrian Hall and his wife Vicky have developed a small dairy herd, and promote the sale of their fresh milk online through facebook, to the members of the Antigua Real Food Network, and by word of mouth to other people who hear about their product.

Adrian’s dairy herd is a suckling herd, and he milks his 15 cows by hand every other day, leaving the calves plenty of food between milkings. In the days when Adrian’s grandfather, Robert Hall, ran the farm, the dairy herd was Holstein crossed with Zebu. Now that the farm is producing milk again, they are planning improvements, perhaps by crossing with a milking breed like Jersey.

The Halls keep a scrupulously clean dairy, sterilizing bottles and caps, and the equipment used for milking. They sell raw milk, leaving the option to pasteurize up to the buyer. They have found that the demand for their milk is seasonal, and in the summer when they have more than they can sell, Vicky makes a tangy yoghurt cheese and creamy lemon ricotta cheese. Fresh farm eggs from genuine scratching chickens will soon be available, as their flock of 40 chickens will start laying soon.

Check out the Hall Valley Farm’s facebook page for updates

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

2lbs filleted Mahi Mahi or Grouper, cubed 1 celery stalk, thin sliced
1 small red onion,
sliced 1⁄2 red pepper,
julienne 1⁄2 yellow pepper, julienne
Sprig thyme 2 cloves garlic,
crushed Small bunch scallion,
diced 5 green bananas,pre-boiled & peeled
1⁄2 lb okras,blanched, ice-bathed,drained & sliced Sea salt & pepper to taste

Antiguan Fish Broth

METHOD

Season Mahi Mahi cubes with sea salt & pepper. Set aside. Bring a large soup pot of salted water to boil. Add celery, onions, peppers, garlic and thyme to pot and stir. Slice bananas into 1⁄2 inch rounds and add to the broth. Bring back to boil and reduce heat. Add the fish, cook on a low heat for a further 5 minutes.

Antiguan Fish Broth

I am so ecstatic that a gourmet gift store has finally arrived in Antigua. It is a dream come true not only for Michelle George, the founder of this retail haven, but also for the many local craftspeople who now have an elegant central outlet in which their incredible handcrafted products can be displayed and sold to zealous buyers from
home and abroad.

Michelle George, the owner of Island Gourmet Boutique

As a staunch advocate of “buying locally”, and finding that first-class ‘native’ retail therapy has been missing from the streets of St. John’s for some time, Michelle has brought this back with uncompromising style. Her store has been lovingly designed to excite and mesmerize shoppers, who admire the Guyanese greenheart wooden shelves, the vintage rum barrels, the antique Caribbean props, the traditional enamel buckets and tin baths, not to mention the charming presentation tables brimming with an amazing variety of aesthetically exhibited products.

Everything in this shop has a story. Most items are homegrown and crafted right here in Antigua, but there are also many items that Michelle has handpicked from neighbouring islands. I was so impressed with her offerings that I just had to find out the migratory chronicles behind some of these diverse products and how they made their way to Antigua.

Grenadian products came to Michelle by way of a travelling sloop that distributes artisanal goods between the islands. (A sloop is a handcrafted traditional wood sailing yacht built on the island of Carriacou.) Browsing through the goods on offer De La Grenade’s Spicy Nutmeg Ginger Barbecue Sauce first caught Michelle’s eye. It is produced by the De La Grenade Home Products Company, started in the 1960s by the late Sybil La Grenade, and now owned and operated by the Governor General of Grenada, Dr. Cecile La Grenade, who is Sybil’s daughter. The company now boasts “My of 14 products in its range, including their flagship product, La Grenade Liqueur”.

Nutmeg Syrup from Grenada

Island Gourmet Boutique carries several of the De La Grenade sauces and their Nutmeg Syrup, which is a great alternative to simple syrup in cocktails, and drizzled on pancakes, waffles, ice creams and desserts. Grenada, “The spice island”, is extremely creative with nutmeg products. Michelle says, “They could probably build houses with it. Nutmeg products are available for use at every meal – breakfast, lunch and dinner.” Island Gourmet also stocks a variety of the organic dark-chocolate items produced by the “Tree-to-Bar” award-winning chocolatemakers, the Grenada Chocolate Company.

Michelle explains that every shipment of goods from Grenada is a challenge. Business is entitled to be exempt from duty on imported goods from within the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) region, but in order to claim the exemption the exporting company must send a CARICOM certificate and invoice with their goods. This doesn’t always happen! Adding to this dilemma there are no direct commercial shipping routes between our islands and goods can take weeks to arrive, but the products are worth the challenge!”

Even before the opening of the Island Gourmet Boutique store, Michelle used to travel regionally to attend the Caribbean Gift & Craft Show to procure goods for another of her businesses. The Caribbean Gift & Craft Show has since been renamed and rebranded to Design Caribbean, which was staged for the first time in 2011. But through her attendance at the original Caribbean Gift & Craft Show in Jamaica, Michelle received a call from the Jamaica Exporters’ Association, in conjunction with Jamaica Promotions (JAMPRO) to attend “Opportunities” exhibition Jamaica in 2013, just as she was gearing up to open her boutique. JAMPRO matched her with over 30 suppliers who met her buying criteria and scheduled 20-minute meetings with each supplier, allowing them to pitch their product lines directly to her. She placed orders with 11 suppliers before leaving Expo Jamaica 2013.

Michelle carries a good selection of products from Jamaica including honey, Home Choice Enterprises Peppered Shrimp and Solomon Gundy – Red Herring Pâté, House of Nature pure essential Lemon Grass oil and herbal teas. But some of the store favourites are the Sorrel and Ackee wines produced by Journey’s End Wine Company – they are planning to produce a Pimento berry wine too and won a 2014 “Bold Ones” award to gain marketing, advertising and publicity assistance from the Continental Baking Company in Jamaica. Michelle also stocks chocolates from Chocolate Dreams, a young Jamaican Chocolatier company producing handmade gift chocolates.

Coffee Roasters Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend Coffee

No Jamaican culinary range would be complete without Blue Mountain Coffee and this product is represented by the reputable Country Traders growers and processors brand. Recently, some Blue Mountain coffee crops have been infected by a fungus, so commercial coffee for export now has to be tested and certified fungus free. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee growers have also been angered by imitation coffee growers both from other areas of Jamaica and from other islands branding their coffee products as Blue Mountain. So Michelle warns,“Buyers beware! Make sure you buy Blue Mountain coffee from a trustworthy source.”

Another high-quality product range from Jamaica is Sandra McLeish’s Spring Vale Enterprise brand of fruit-based products. Sandra creates a 100% Jamaican-inspired set of vinaigrettes and salad dressings that are free of artificial flavourings, colourings, MSG and gluten. Her Roselle Hibiscus Chutney is a delight that my fridge is never without. Sandra has produced a selection of recipes using her products, and the sweet tangy acidity of her Golden Apple vinaigrette is perfect for fish ceviche. A must try. Sandra is a recipient of a prestigious Jamaican “Bold Ones” marketing award for local raw materials manufacturing.

Before I leave you salivating over the enticing merchandise range you’ll find at Island Gourmet Boutique – I just want to touch on the private label goods that are branded for the store under the Tailor’s Daughter line of Caribbean products. These products have been hand selected by Michelle, your well-seasoned culinary procurement guru, as her own line of elegant, but affordable Caribbean gifts. Each product has been manufactured using raw ingredients from different Caribbean islands.

Locally made Antiguan Jam

In the Tailor’s Daughter range you will find local Barbudan Sea Salt, Homemade ‘double strength’ Vanilla Extract, Piña Colada Jam with Rum, Spiced Pepper Jelly, Guava Candy Liqueur made with real guava cubes, Caribbean Brown Sugar and the Tailors Daughter private blend medium/dark coffee – roasted by the Carib Bean Coffee Company in Antigua. You will also find a stunning range of West Indian Sea Island Cotton tableware gifts hand-woven in Antigua.

For the up-to-the-minute tidbits on inspiring foodie happenings and irresistible Caribbean artisanal gifts visit the Island Gourmet Boutique. No trip to Antigua will be complete until you have stepped into this Caribbean gourmand’s paradise.