As a group of five residents learned to prepare vegan trifle during a recent cooking class at Maria’s by the Sea, some spectators were sceptical.
“What else could I use if I didn’t want to use the tofu?” one of them asked trainer Marriet Smith, who was helping the group put finishing touches to the dessert as about 25 people looked on from chairs spread around the room.
In response, Ms. Smith gestured at the products laid out on a table.
“You’d be surprised, though, but if you didn’t want to use the tofu, you can make your own pudding: You can use coconut milk, soymilk, and some cornstarch,” she said.
The trifle was one of five vegetarian dishes that participants learned to make during the first class of the eighth annual Adult Enrichment Hospitality Host and Hostess Seminar. And by the end of the night, many attendees were excited to try out Ms. Smith’s healthy cooking methods at home.
The training, which was hosted by the Premier’s Office and the National Council of the BVI Girls’ Brigade, continued each weekday evening last week with other hospitality-related topics, and it will resume Monday.
Janice Blyden, one of the organisers, was pleased with the classes so far.
The sessions are open to all adults, she said, and most attendees were there for personal reasons.
“Most of them like to cook and entertain,” she explained. “It’s for their personal improvement and to be able to do it better at home.”
Ms. Smith, who taught the Sept. 8 cooking class with her husband Alvin, began the session by sharing her own experience with vegetarianism.
“I remembered my first vegetarian meal, and I remembered it because I just didn’t like it,” she said. “That experience launched me on a quest for my own delicious vegetarian foods, coupled with my husband’s developing allergies.”
After her brief introduction, Ms. Smith divided the participants into groups, which took turns creating the vegetarian dishes as she supervised and the others looked on.
Each group got a chance to blend, stir, cut, whip and even taste as they prepared vegan trifle, lentil loaf, pumpkin nog, breadfruit au gratin, and scrambled tofu.
“We want it nice and creamy, and we’re going to blend all that stuff up together,” Ms. Smith told participants as they added ingredients into the blender while making the breadfruit dish. “We’re going to season it up now.”
Participants Nathalie Hodge and Kishma Martin said the lesson inspired them to try out more vegetarian meals at home.
“I used to be vegetarian, but it was not home-cooked like this,” said Ms. Hodge, who works in the Premier’s Office. “It was more store-bought, so I didn’t do a lot of tofu or any of this type of stuff.”
Ms. Martin, a corporate manager at the law firm Patton, Moreno and Asvat BVI, saw the classes as a step toward a healthier lifestyle.
“I need to go this route because I was recently diagnosed with diabetes, so I have to cut out a lot of things, and I think this is very helpful for me,” she said.
The classes continued through the week with sessions on breakfast, dessert and wine serving.
Next week, participants will learn about brunches, cocktails and tea parties before closing with an awards ceremony.
Premier Dr. Orlando Smith, the territory’s tourism minister, said that such classes have many benefits.
“I encourage members of the community to take advantage of the hospitality training sessions,” Dr. Smith said in a press release. “Even if persons do not directly interact with tourists daily, the hosting skills learned will enrich and expand their life experiences.”
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