New DVD features Belize’s top chefs
Belize is among the hottest of the region’s tourism destinations, and what that also means is that all things Belizean, including the food we eat, is considered trendy. Capturing the spirit of that culinary wave is a new DVD appropriately titled “Taste Belize”.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
The DVD, which was produced by Belize City based Oxa Productions, contains over a hundred minutes of carefully edited video material, offering a unique insight to Belizean cuisine. Project Manager Brent Toombs says the idea was to take Belizean staples and show people new ways of using the ingredients to create exotic recipes.
Brent Toombs, Producer, Taste Belize
“Taste Belize is an instructional cooking video that’s got ten of the best chefs in Belize showing you on camera how to prepare one of their uniquely Belizean recipes. As well, there is twenty other recipes that are in text form that you can read off the screen, or if you have a DVD drive in your computer you can put the disk in the computer, access the electronic cook book that’s attached to the disk and print off the recipes so you can keep them in your kitchen, keep them handy.”
And it’s clear that the producer has done his homework. Apart from the mouth-watering recipes, Toombs says the DVD also contains bonus material that will be attractive not only to the target audience, but anyone who wants to enjoy the taste of Belize long after they have departed our shores.
Brent Toombs
“Because we know that primarily tourists will buy this DVD and take it back with them to Europe, or Canada, the United States, wherever, we’ve put a lot of material on the DVD that will act as promotion for Belize. There is a thirteen-minute video that takes you all over Belize, from the north, the south, the cayes, the west. And the reason being that a lot of people who buy this will be cruise ship tourists who are only here for one day and will only see a very small part of Belize and we want them to come back and maybe spend two weeks or three weeks the next time and have their whole vacation in Belize.”
And even if they can’t come back right away, they can experience some special dishes with names like Chilli Seared Snapper Towers, Rolled Venison Steak and Cayo Lobster Salad. Each is prefaced with a short narrative about the featured resort.
Brent Toombs
“I’ve always had an interest in cooking and I have always thought about trying to do some kind of travel and cooking combination show of some sort. And I was just trying to work out the ideas of how that could possibly be done here in Belize and then this idea of an instructional cooking video just came to me. I started talking to a few hotel operators that I knew about the idea and they were quite enthusiastic about it and talked to a few people in the travel industry about it and everybody thought this is a pretty good idea and you should try it. I think it will sell.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Speaking of selling, Taste Belize is available at the ten resorts featured in the cooking segments, as well as gift shops in Belize City, or online at www.tastebelize.com. The DVD is being offered for an introductory price of fourteen ninety-five U.S. until Christmas Day. After that the price will be nineteen ninety-five.
