Cayman might be a melting pot of cultures, but for many, what goes into the Cayman cooking pot remains a mystery. So why not put away those French or Italian cookery books, push aside your mother’s family recipes for a while, and learn how to cook a Caymanian classic.
 
The National Trust for the Cayman Islands offers monthly cooking classes, with each month featuring a uniquely Caymanian dish. From lobster dinners to heavy cake, Christmas beef to conch stew, the classes span the breadth of Caymanian cooking.
 
Presented by Denise Bodden of the National Trust, the classes are quite different from your standard cooking classes, presenting a strong sense of where the dish comes from as well as of the culture and people who made it what it is.
 
Denise goes into the variations in ingredients found from one district to the next, while gleefully relating her own past failures in the kitchen.
 
Denise’s regular day job is the historical programmes director at the National Trust, so any attendees at the cooking classes are likely to hear a lot about Cayman’s history from a veritable fount of knowledge.
 
Up until recently the classes were conducted in the National Trust house on South Church Street in an intimate environment. So intimate, in fact that attendees often ended up becoming participants. “Just hold this for a moment” or “Could you check on that for me quickly” had become almost an expected part of the class for anyone sitting in the front row, as people were drawn into the preparation process.
 
The future for the cooking classes look even bigger and brighter, as the event will from now on take place at Bon Vivant in Governors Square. The much more spacious venue is certain to suit both Denise’s personality and her expansive style of cooking!
 
Cooking classes take place on the third Wednesday of the month, with National Trust members paying $20 and non members $30.   WH

For more information on upcoming classes or to book your place,
contact Denise at 749-1123.