From curried soup to duck delights: Kingston Curry Festival sizzles

When Jonathan Simpson from Jabba’s Peppa Swims went to the Kingston Curry Festival, he had the intention of making a pot of vegetable soup with his staff, but after he arrived on the grounds of Devon House for the event, he felt it had to be a curry soup instead.

Following his intuition and faith, the chef and entrepreneur at heart decided to stir up a pot of seasoned curried goat and chicken, creating a product that turned out to be a hit among patrons.

“Not only was the cup of curried goat and chicken soup affordable, but it was delicious. Around 11 a.m., I was looking for something that was original and met the theme. We already had curried goat prepared. It’s a curry festival ... we’re trying to think of the type of soup we wanted, and I said a curry soup, and my staff thought I was being ridiculous ... I said, ‘You know what, we’re going to do a curried goat and a curried chicken soup,’ because we couldn’t decide between the chicken and the goat. So I said, ‘We’re going to put the two of them in there,’” Simpson told Food.

“It went well. It finished very early. We just built on [it] [using] good seasoning [and] added some coconut milk,” the proud chef said.

Another hit at the event was Trinidadian Zanifa Khan’s curried duck served with plain rice and roti.

With a curried duck meal starting at a price of $1,800, Zanier, who is from Khazana Foods, located in Spanish Town, had a queue of people waiting patiently to have their first taste of the curried duck.

“Curried duck is a main dish in Trinidad when you invite your special guests, so we cherish curried duck. When I found a person [in Jamaica] who sells duck, I was very happy, and the first time I went to a pop-up [as an exhibitor], I decided I was going to carry duck, and everybody was like, ‘Curried duck? I’ve never tasted that. Let me try it’ ... . Now, I cook around two or three ducks every time we have a pop-up, and it sell off ... Jamaicans [are] always kind of sceptical about things, and I was able to convince them that it’s nice,” Zanifa, who moved to Jamaica in 1999 with her Jamaican husband, Naim Khan, told Food at the event.

“People might say, ‘Duck walla in water,’ but I don’t care what they say, I want my duck. Growing up, my father always had wild meat there, and we ate [it] when we were young growing up; and duck was like a wild meat, and I kind of liked that. And I’ve always liked cooking and trying new things,” she said.

Zanifa also noted that the type of duck she uses is the Muscovy duck, not the mallard duck.

Zanifa, who is a trained preschool teacher, says she loves catering, and events such as the Kingston Curry Festival help to harness her skills and creativity.

The fourth staging of the Kingston Curry Festival, held at Devon House in St Andrew on Sunday, was not a disappointment for patrons with a special love for curry, as more than 40 booths offered a variety of food that was all curry-based.

Leighton Davis, promoter of the event, was himself on a high, not only because his favourite sauce, seasoned with spices, was again on display for others to enjoy at a national level.

“I just love curry. I could eat curry every day, and I [found] there are so many other people who love curry, too. So because of that, when I did the first event, I planned it within two weeks, and 2,000 people showed up at Hope Zoo. When I saw that four years ago, I realised then that people really love curry,” Davis said.

“We doubled [for this year] in terms of the number of vendors. I guess the consistency in hosting the event and more vendors hearing about it and wanting to come on board, they approached us, and we moved from 20 vendors to 45,” she said.

He said the online sales for tickets were “astronomical”, with over 800 sold. Thus, he knew people would have braved the weather to enjoy the food festival, especially at the new venue.

“I’m a man of faith, so I did it in faith and moved forward, knowing that I believed that God would have held up the rain for me ... . So we got some showers of blessings, and I received it as that,” he said, before smiling happily.

Many of Jamaica’s popular curry manufacturers were present, such as Betapac, Spicy Hill Farms and GraceKennedy, with free samples for patrons, including curry corned beef spring rolls, curry corned beef tacos, and creamy cheesy potato.

Some of the other popular curry specials up for grabs at the event were Little Ochi’s jerk fish stuffed with curried goat, and Bickle/Waah Gwaan Cafe’s curry pork sub sandwich, curry mango chicken quesadilla, and curry ackee wrap.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com

Editor's Note: Zanifa Khan stated she uses the mallard duck instead of the Muscovy duck. We clarify that Khan uses the Muscovy duck, not the mallard duck.