Food from the Kitchen at the Asa Wright Nature Center

Trinidad’s famous Asa Wright Nature Center recently reopened after major renovations, including the kitchen. During our five-night stay, we enjoyed the breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and afternoon teas on offer — when our busy birding schedule allowed us to eat at the center. I was interested in the process, and requested to see the kitchen. Jackie, the head chef, was wonderfully welcoming, and allowed me to come into the kitchen and see how she and her staff did things. Some photos of the kitchen:

Part of the prep area.

Torching the crème brûlée

Hands-on Demo: Head-Chef Jackie showing me a recipe for fruit-flavored salad dressing.
First she outfitted me with an apron and a hairnet.

Dinner

The menu for each meal was displayed on a chalk board.
I’m just showing a few examples of the buffet and the plated meal I chose.

One night’s salad bar.

Shrimp was often on the menu. These shrimp kebabs were really delicious.

Another night’s dinner with callaloo soup (a soup made with taro).

In the little serving jar behind my plate: some house-made scotch-bonnet hot sauce.

Afternoon Tea

Picnic Meals

Before night-birding: dinner outdoors, not from the center kitchen.

Food from a barbecue place, eaten at the beach.

The Ocean

Lunch

Salad, spring rolls, black beans and a dab of house-special
Scotch Bonnet hot sauce. Lunch was very similar to dinner.

Breakfast

I didn’t try the eggplant dish (melongene) but it sounded interesting.

The breakfast choices were different every day. Cereal was served just once.
Always choices of eggs, meats, and other foods. I didn’t try much as I
didn’t have an appetite in the morning.

So there you are: a very detailed summary of our food experiences during our time at the center. Obviously, most of our time was spent birding and walking in the forest — not eating, but I wanted to share what the food was like. All photos © 2024 mae sander.