Shaking out our umbrellas, we follow the barkeep’s nod toward a cayenne-walled room, where a dozen damp tourists mill around a man in a red felt fedora. A single long table set with white linen dominates the windowless space. Among the framed black-and-white photos that line the walls, a small plaque tags this “The Mystery Room”.
And the mystery? Why, it’s a former Prohibition-era speakeasy, says the behatted Naif Shahady. Of course! This is New Orleans – we’d expect no less…
READ MORE of my food tour column in the current issue of Taste & Travel International (tasteandtravelmagazine.com).
It’s a name that draws a blank from even the most well-travelled. Call it the former Dutch Guiana, and some can place it in the western hemisphere: a wedge pencilled off the northern reaches of the Amazon rainforest; a mangrove-armoured coastline, barely accessible but for the rivers that pierce their way to the Atlantic. It’s a country in South America, but not of it – peopled originally by the Caribs and Arawaks, mostly bypassed by the Spanish, and thus sharing little, culturally, with the majority of the continent. Instead, the vagaries of history brought Dutch plantation owners and West African slaves to its shores; after abolition, workers from India, China, and Java. Centuries of mingling and mixing have created a true cultural pastiche – and a unique cuisine to match…
READ MORE of my article in the Winter 2016 issue of Taste & Travel International magazine – on shelves now at Chapters/Indigo stores across Canada and online at zinio.com.
Consider the case of a 1990 prenatal class, where five couples took a break from their Lamaze breathing to muse about their future as first-time parents. Two months after the birth of their May babies, they got together to compare notes. And never looked back.
The Producers’ Original Five
Coffee time became brunch, which became hikes and camping trips, skating parties and ski days. The burgeoning clan developed rituals, as extended families do. Pumpkin carving in October. New Year’s in Whitefish, MT. Canada Day in BC’s Columbia River valley. And May barbecues to celebrate the births that brought them together.
In a Mel Brooks moment, they nicknamed themselves “The Producers” and proceeded to be just that. Time brought not only new babies, but overseas moves (and returns), career changes, high school graduations, and departures for university. And while the kindred bonds stretched a bit, they never broke.
Now twenty members strong, the tribe’s traditions continue and the young Products have established new rituals of their own. Think wing nights and club-hopping and community sports teams – with whoever happens to be in town.
It’s been 25 years as a “family by choice” for our gang. Worthy of an epic anniversary celebration. So in a mammoth effort that was more than a year in the planning, we pulled our family members from jobs and schools across the country to descend for one week on the unsuspecting Yucatan coast.
Photo credit: Amanda Brownlie
Fortunately, the NOW Sapphire was up to the task: yoga and tennis and water sports for the active set; a long white talc beach for our shore-seekers; and engaging and efficient bartenders for the cocktail crowd. Our family ebbed and flowed in groups of 2 to 20 according to energy and inclination – and the resort proved small enough to track each other down but large enough to steal away for a little alone time. We squabbled over tipping; debated dining choices and politics with equal vigour; shared cocktail discoveries; and caught up on matters of love and career.
But we’re not ones to stay put for long. The scuba divers among us made their way to shadowy cenotes and shrouded wrecks. The foodies chopped and charred to their hearts’ delight with Chef Salvador Fernandez at The Little Mexican Cooking School. And a large snorkeling armada bobbed among the reefs, discovering barracudas and eagle rays and a sea turtle swimming off with the current.
The whole gang assembled with the knowledgeable and ever-amiable Jonhy and Ismael from Alltournative EcoArcheological Expeditions for a classic Producers’ adventure: kayaking across marshes and swimming in caverns; rappeling into cenotes and ziplining through the canopy . We gorged on traditional village cooking and scrambled up and down the Coba temples. And when the Mayan elder wafted sweet-smelling smoke over our heads, he didn’t need to tell us that we were truly blessed.
Our 25th anniversary celebrations reached their ultimate crescendo at the Sapphire’s sparkling New Year’s Eve party – with winter wonderland decorations and Cirque-de-Soleil-like entertainment that took direct aim at our Canadian hearts. Dinner brought compelling wines, ambitious courses of beautifully-served food, and a DJ astute to our tendency to break into dance at the slightest excuse. As the midnight fireworks burst along the shore and torch-light glittered off the water, we made a hearty toast to our good fortune, hugged our adopted kin tight and close, and breathed a wish for 2016 into each other’s ear.
To you, too, I wish FELIZ AÑO NUEVO and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. May you all find family where you need them in 2016.
And to my Producers family – here’s to the next 25!
Photo credit: Phil & Sandra Fischer
(With thanks to Mark Brownlie for his remarkable memoir, Ill-Mannered and Misbehaved: The First 25 Years of the Baby Gang.)
Two intense weeks of indelible experiences: weaving through the holiday crowds of Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk bazaar; mingling with pilgrims at the Punjab’s incomparable Golden Temple; dodging motorbikes on a high-adrenalin tasting tour of Lucknow street-food. We met and mentored with chefs in Delhi, Amritsar, and Narenda Nagar – and took our palates on a roller-coaster ride from the heat of a masala poriyal through the creaminess of a chicken malai tikka to the delicate nuances of a palak soup. And under the gentle guidance of Jojo Brooks, we practiced an unforgettable yoga session on a sandbank of the Ganges River.
Chandni Chowk shopper
India has so many stories to tell. Over the coming months, I hope to sort out and share some of them.
But after one week home, the impression of India that remains strongest with me is the warm and engaging demeanor of her people. From the first winning smile of the HI Travel rep who greeted me at Indira Gandhi International airport, to my final bear-hug with Luv Jawad (tour guide extraordinaire) in a Himalayan palace, the people I encountered throughout Northern India were amiable and interested and keen to connect.
Perhaps the young Sikh man I met enroute to his grandfather’s Punjabi home and the genial grandmother who was my seatmate on an Air India flight to Delhi were simply infused with the good cheer of Diwali. The classical dance troupe at the Amrit Rao Peshwa haveli and the attentive staff at Ananda in the Himalayas might only have been demonstrating their dedication to service. And maybe the rickshaw wallahs of Delhi and Varanasi were just gunning for a tip.
Sumeet Nair
But there’s no denying the true generosity offered by Sumeet Nair, his wife, Gitanjali, and his daughter, Janaki, as they opened their home to us for a day of cooking and conversation beneath the huge ficus tree in their backyard. Nor the hospitality and inclusiveness of Prem Syal and his family and friends as they welcomed us to their spectacular Diwali celebrations. You invited us in to share your lives and your passions, and for that I will be ever grateful.
Kudos to Karen Anderson of Calgary Food Tours for the relationships she has nurtured over the years to offer these connections. Consider the stories to come a small tribute to you all.
Almost 12 years ago, I made my first trip to India, with a husband and two ‘tweens in tow. Together, we explored the princely palaces of Rajasthan, braved the bazaars of Mumbai, and breathed the mists rolling off the tea plantations of Darjeeling. We rode camels in the desert, spotted tigers in a nature preserve, watched the sunrise kiss Everest’s storied peak, and rocked-in the New Year in Delhi. Three weeks of sensory overload showed me only a sliver of all that is India, and I knew that I needed to return.
This month I’ll be back, sans children and husband (who are decidedly jealous). Under the guidance of Calgary Food Tours‘ Karen Anderson, I’ll be sampling Wazwan cuisine in Delhi, and Awadhi cuisine in Lucknow; learning the secrets of Chettiyar cooking in a chef’s kitchen and serving pilgrims in a community kitchen in Amritsar. We’ll explore Hinduism on the bank of the Ganges, Buddhism at Sarnath, Sikhism at the Punjab’s Golden Temple, and Islam in the architecture of the Mughals. We’ll practice yoga on the ghats of Varanasi and near the ashrams of Rishikesh. While we’re there, the whole country will explode with fireworks for Diwali – and we’re invited to the party.
If you missed my article Sifting Through the Camargue in the last issue of Taste & Travel International magazine, you can read it on my new website: catherinevanbrunschot.com. (Check out my other work while you’re there!)
Shaking out our umbrellas, we follow the barkeep’s nod toward a cayenne-walled room, where a dozen damp tourists mill around a man in a red felt fedora. A single long table set with white linen dominates the windowless space. Among the framed black-and-white photos that line the walls, a small plaque tags this “The Mystery Room”.
--- Catherine ---Van Brunschot 