Saturday, June 27, 2009

Tortola - Gingerwine Chicken

My fiance and I got back this week from Tortola, which is in the British Virgin Islands. It was an amazing week. Tortola is very laid back and has some great food. We stayed at the Sugar Mill hotel, which is a 30 room hotel with what is considered the best restaurant on the island. We were also able to visit Jost Van Dyke and Norman islands. This is the first of a couple posts about where we ate.

I'll start with one of the best meals of the trip. It occurred at Palm's Delight.
Palm's Delight is a small restaurant right on the water in Carrot Bay on Tortola. We had gone there for one thing...the gingerwine chicken. Every local told us this was a must. After walking up and over a small mountain to get there, we were starving. When we entered we found out just how much American influence there is as the waiter, cooks, and a couple others were gathered around the TV watching Deal or No Deal.

Now back to the food. To start we ordered conch fritters of which I forgot to take a picture. However, they were perfect morsels of fried goodness. They came with a house sauce that we creamy and spicy. Just a perfect compliment. And now on to the main event, the chicken heard round the island.

It is a breast of chicken floured and pan fried and topped with the gingerwine sauce. It is served with rice with pigeon peas, steamed vegetables, and coleslaw. The sauce is amazing. Sweet and buttery, the perfect compliment to the chicken.

On our way out, the chef was standing near the door and I asked what was in the sauce. She said gingerwine and heavy cream. Now this shocked me. I had no idea what gingerwine was, I thought it was ginger and wine. Of course after this revelation, I had to find some gingerwine to bring home. Which I did. So this week the goal is to try and replicate that chicken. I'll let you know the results.