Every year during the first weekend of September, the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) invites a group of journalist from abroad, to report about one of their events on the island. That event is the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival (CNSJF), and was this year held on September 3rd till 5th.
The Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival is an initiative of Fundashon Bon Inteshon and produced by MOJO Concerts B.V. (Source: www.curacaonorthseajazz.com)
The first groups arrived on Wednesday, September, 2nd. The journalists are from different countries; Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, USA and of course Suriname!
The CTB had made a perfectly tight schedule for each and every group. I must say that I do not know all of the groups schedules.
I am reporting on behalf of Suriname, #SUREPORTERS, of course mostly about the food part of the trip… but also about the event for which we came to Curaçao for, CNSJF! The other #SUREPORTERS are Malti Nanan-Nidhansing, reporting for Times of Suriname and Carla Boetius reporting for ATV.
After a good flight, we landed in Curaçao at 13:30h. The coordinator from CTB, Ms. Camille, picked us up from the airport and brought us to our accommodations. ACOYA Hotel Suites & Villas, a beautiful, fairly new hotspot is our host until Sunday.
| The Lobby |
ACOYA Hotel Suites & Villas is an upscale vacation homes rental resort with hotel services near some of the most beautiful beaches and exciting tourist attractions in Curaçao. The spacious and comfortable villas and apartment-suites are tranquil, family-friendly retreats with a wide array of resort amenities and services, all in an atmosphere of gracious hospitality. (Source: www.acoyacuracao.com)
| View from the restaurant |
As soon as we arrived and checked in, we met up with the Colombian group. We were scheduled to have lunch together.
| waiting for our lunch. Colombia & Suriname |
We sat down and mingled a little. Every one of us was a bit tired of our flight to Curacao, so lunch was a super welcome for both groups.
- Pumpkin Soup with shaved almonds and fresh garlic OR
- Red bell pepper cream soup: Pan Roasted red paprika, garlic and onion blundered with cream served with cress and spring onion
– Main Course:
- Pasta Tartuffo: Pasta with sauteed mushrooms and a creamy truffle sauce
OR - Chicken Hawaii: Dices chicken fillet in pineapple curry cream sauce served with white rice
| Pumpkin Soup with shaved almonds and fresh garlic |
Pumpkin soup is one of my favorites! And of course I will try it almost everywhere I go, if it is on the menu. And yes you can guess it already, I ordered it!
This version of pumpkin soup was light and creamy. The pumpkin was well liquified and deliciously so. Adding the fresh garlic and shaved almonds made it a masterpiece on a plate. I do prefer meat in my soup though, but I don’t mind the vegetarian version. Love it actually.
| Red bell pepper cream soup: Pan Roasted red paprika, garlic and onion blundered with cream served with cress and spring onion |
I am not a fan of red bell peppers. I actually do cook with it, but I do not eat it. It does give lots of flavor to the dish so adding it is actually a must, depending on what you prepare of course. I did not order this dish, but Carla did. She liked it a lot. It was a bit different then she aspected, but overall she liked it. You could taste that the peppers were roasted and the garlic and onions did add an extra touch.
| Pasta Tartuffo: Pasta with sauteed mushrooms and a creamy truffle sauce |
Again a dish I did not order. Ms. Camille did and I had a spoonful just for taste. The pasta was magnificently well cooked, the sauce was deliciously creamy and the mushrooms well preserved! It was absolutely deliciousness in one bite…
| Chicken Hawaii: Dices chicken fillet in pineapple curry cream sauce served with white rice |
This last dish, the one I did order… Starting with the white rice. I love rice, but this was superb! It did not taste like ordinary white rice as we know it in Suriname. It was like they prepared it with herbs, but not really. The diced chicken fillet… now that was what you can call a recipe for perfection. It might have needed a bit more body but it had good taste. The dices were not too big, the curry sauce was a bit watery, but the chunks of pineapple were lovely in the mixture. All and all a good dish.
I can’t wait to see what ACOYA has to offer for dinner… Yum yum
EnJoy life, EnJoy FOOD!
