Meet Denroy Bloomfield, the man with the sauce

PAN 2019, hosted by CB Foods, is all about tasty Jamaican jerked chicken, but a great-tasting, well-balanced sauce is not to be overlooked. Anyone who samples jerked chicken can attest to the difference a spicy, sweet, or in-between sauce can make to an already well-cooked and herbed piece of jerked chicken.

Denroy Bloomfield, the winner of the Miracle Lick Di Spot Sauce Competition segment of PAN 2019, Regional One, knows that more than most. He says the ingredients of his special concoction is what swooned the judges. The effort won him a cash prize of $25,000, courtesy of Miracle.

“It took me about 20 minutes to make it. I worked on it the night before the competition,” said Bloomfield. “I have more experience jerking chicken though; I usually jerk chicken near where I live, and the whole thing comes naturally to me.”

A friend of Bloomfield’s, who was the first to sample the sauce, told the chef that he was indeed ready for the competition. So impressed was his friend once they had sampled the future wining sauce, that Bloomfield dubbed it ‘Niceness’ then and there.

However, it was not until judges chose his sauce out of more than 30 other contestants that he realised he had something truly special.

“I will be making two different sauces for grand finals. This original one, and another that’s a completely different vibe. I can do even more, but I’m sticking to those two,” he said, noting that while he believes in the sauce that stood out at Folly Oval, he will be switching things up at grand finals.

Five years experience

Bloomfield, who hails from St Catherine, placed second in his parish at the PAN 2019 Regional One Competition held in Portland in August. He has been dabbling in jerk chicken for only five years and has been a head chef for two years. Bloomfield is already making waves for his culinary brilliance, which is evident in his accomplishments at Regional One.

“Honestly, it’s still early in the overall competition. I wouldn’t want to get into the actual ingredients before grand finals,” he said when asked what was the secret to his winning sauce.

Though he placed second in his parish, he is confident that he will emerge victorious at the grand finals. And, like many PAN contestants, he has dreams beyond winning the competition:

“If I win then I plan on expanding my business. And you know, putting myself out there some more. I would also want to give back to the community.”

The Miracle Lick Di Spot Sauce competition is a segment of the annual PAN competition. The 2019 segment not only saw Bloomfield coming away with prizes but also Ronald Peart out of St Thomas, who secured second place. Tying for third was Kerisa Wright, also from St Thomas, and Rashawn Robinson ,representing St Mary.