The nonprofit Caribbean Education Initiative’s fourth annual Soup du Cure competition brought hundreds out to Reminisce Restaurant Sunday to sample some of the territory’s best soup concoctions.
With 32 entrants vying for the $1,000 first prize, the event’s goal was to build name recognition for the sponsoring group and getting the word out that, while young, the Caribbean Education Initiative to continue giving back to the community.
“We feel like it’s a necessary thing. We need more opportunities for our young people,” said CEI Vice President Rashidi Clenance. “We’d rather be a funding source to those individuals who are out there working hard for those children.”
CEI is largely funded by NBA superstar and St. Croix native Tim Duncan. Clenance said the group hopes to achieve self sufficiency, in part by turning the Soup du Cure into a world class event.
“Through his (Duncan’s) financial support we’re able to help a lot of people in the community,” Clenance said. “It’s our hope that one day we can get to the level of one of the great food competitions in the world, which is Taste of St. Croix.”
CEI funds youth activities in the entire Virgin Islands. Recently those have included baseball and tennis clinics, support for some of the high school marching bands, and a woman’s conference, which the group plans to fund again in May. Clenance said the idea behind the soup competition was to create an inviting event accessible by all.
“We felt like this was an affordable thing for not just restaurants but also for individuals. Everyone can make a good pot of soup,” he said. “If you can cook, you can make a good pot of soup.”
And there were plenty of good cooks and good soup on hand at Soup du Cure, which had entries that included maufe’, bullfoot soup, goat water, seafood kalaloo and a chunky lobster bisque.
Chef Ashley Williams took home the People’s Choice award for his coconut curry, chicken and dumpling soup, which he only brings out for special occasions and has been doing for six years.
“I bring it out of my bag of tricks,” Williams joked of his recipe. “It’s something unusual that people don’t get and if I serve it once people can’t say they’re going to go to another restaurant and have it again.”
Williams had won awards in the past at Taste of St. Croix, but was competing at Soup du Cure for the first time, primarily because in the past as an executive chef he never had Sunday’s off. He had nothing but good things to say about the event and said he’d certainly compete again.
“It’s lovely. I love the people and atmosphere and everyone I’m competing with. Everyone’s friendly,” he said. “It feels like back in the days when this whole island was a team and everyone was helping one another.”
Merline Lang and her niece Xamara David took home the top prize for their Seafood Kalaloo, which is a big hit at port authority meetings at the airport, David said. But Lang seemed more proud of her maufe’, a seafood and cornmeal-based soup she learned how to cook from her mother and grandmother.
“They didn’t classify it as exotic but I think it’s exotic because no one makes it anymore,” Lang said. “You can’t just go in a restaurant and buy it.”
Other winners were runner-up Betsy’s HO Soup of St. Thomas for her seafood chowder and third place finisher Brenda Ferdinand for her corn soup. The Beachside Café won the prize for best table and presentation.
Clenance said the event would definitely return next year and that one day, he hoped it would turn into a huge fundraiser for CEI.
“We just want to get it bigger every year,” he said. “We could do more if we had more.”
