Norma Shirley Death

On a visit to Jamaica a few years ago a dear family friend took my mother, aunt and I to Norma’s on the Terrace for dinner at Devon House, a national heritage

Courtesy of repeatingislands.com

site in Kingston. I don’t remember the exact dishes we ate but I know all four of us were transfixed. The meal was a five-star experience; equal to any meal in Paris or New York, and we were silent with our joyous stomachs. 

So it is with real shock to hear of the passing of the chef/co-owner of the restaurant, Norma Shirley, on Monday.  Shirley is the culinary Louise Bennet, Bob Marley or Rex Nettleford. Although Jamaica is known for its jerk and ackee & saltfish dishes, perhaps no person has revolutionized food on the island more than Shirley. She enhanced the local cuisine as well as mixed them with international flavors.  

I have eaten at The Grog Shoppe also at Devon House, which she recently reopened and was the chef; and at Ortanique in Coral Gables, FL, partnered by her son Delius Shirley and Cindy Huston.  At both restaurants the food was delicious and the people were warm and welcoming. 

Fortunately Shirley's gifts and legacies were passed on but she will truly be missed.  

Obituary

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Norma-Shirley-passes


-- Connie Aitcheson

Sports Development in Treasure Beach and University of the West Indies (Mona)

Kingston--Jamaica welcomed the launch of two new sport development facilities last week.  The first happened in an open field in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth and the second took place at the University of West Indies (UWI) in Kingston, St. Andrew.

Although Usain Bolt is bringing world attention to Jamaica's sporting abilities, both developments have been planned for years. 

With the international success of their soccer, netball, cricket, bobsled and track and field teams, there’s a movement in Jamaica to help nurture the raw talent on the island by improving and creating new sports infrastructures.

Common Mango

It was a shame before God but I think he'll forgive me.  Yesterday I had to go to the national office of the Catholic church in Kingston.  A simple errand to pick up a few birth certificates for family members so the visit wasn't going to take long.  But as soon as I drove onto the grounds I saw a mango tree filled with ripe mangoes.  Without hesitating, I parked the car and asked the security guard if I could pick them when I finished with the office call.  I returned in five minutes only to see him with a stick under the tree picking mangoes for me.  I got 23 mangoes by the time we picked up every ripe fruit in sight.

Unfortunately, a lot of mangoes and fruits go to waste in Jamaica.  I have passed countless trees filled with cherries and mangoes ready to be eaten but they’re not. People sometimes give the fruits to others but mostly they just ignore them. They fall on the ground and waste away.  A popular saying here in reference to people who need something but can’t get it or those who don't need anything but waste what they have is:  “waant it waant it cyan geh ee and geh ee geh ee no waant it.”

But perhaps the biggest reason these mangoes were still on the tree was that they’re “common mangoes.”  Just as the name says they’re all over the place.  Most folks don’t treasure them because they don’t have much flesh and have a lot of hair so it’s a hassle to eat them.  But having lived abroad without mangoes for so many years I’m hardly picky.   I’ll eat any variety of the fruit.

Fortunately, the mangoes I ate last night were surprisingly sweet.  The perks of taking fruits off holy grounds.

-- Connie Aitcheson

Backyard Vegetables

Kingston-- This morning I cut some callaloo and picked pak choi from our backyard. Pretty cool. Living in New York City most of my life I was beginning to think squeezing up the best vegetables at the farmer’s market was the same as actually growing the thing.

I gotta give it to Jamaicans but they take real pride in growing fruits and vegetables in their backyard.  Jamaica is an agrarian society and while the country still imports a lot of vegetables and fruits (American apples) most everyone has a couple of fruit trees or a vegetable patch somewhere on their land. People are quick to tell you which variety of mangoes is in their yard (Julie, East Indian or Bombay) and who gave them the seed to plant their ackee or breadfruit tree.  You can see trees everywhere on the island.