The Island Gourmet

By Puja Chugani

With the sheer number of outstanding restaurants on the island, it's no wonder that St. Maarten/St. Martin has come to be known as the gourmet capital of the Caribbean. Whatever your dining preference, chances are good that you will find the perfect place to sample extraordinary cuisine in St. Maarten/St. Martin.

And don't worry about missing the local food when you leave. You can just take a little bit of the island back home with you thanks to many markets, shops and supermarkets that offer a wide variety of cheeses, wines, liqueurs, spices and seasonings. Recreating the tastes of St. Maarten/St. Martin couldn't be easier!

To get a complete overview of the culinary range available in St. Maarten/St. Martin, be sure to check out one of the many upscale restaurants offering fine gourmet cuisine. World-renowned chefs have made the island home and brought with them international cooking techniques and skills. For another meal, stop by one of the local shacks, or "lolos" as they are more commonly called, for island cuisine such as barbecue ribs and lobster, johnny cakes and plantains. And if you have time, create your own Caribbean picnic with a selection of fine cheeses, wines and chocolates that are available throughout St. Maarten/St. Martin.

Thanks to St. Maarten/St. Martin's unique position as a half-French and half-Dutch island that is located in the Caribbean, the island boasts a wide variety of foods, wines and spices that reflect its European, Caribbean and American influences. To experience this firsthand, all you have to do is stop by one of the supermarkets on the island such as Le Grand Marché, where you can find an extensive selection of fine French, Chilean and Californian wines, Champagnes such as Dom Pérignon and Caribbean rums like Guavaberry, Bakers and Antilles Spice Clipper. The supermarket carries Dutch, English and Belgian chocolates as well as European and American cheeses such as Dutch Edam and Gouda; French Camembert, Brie and Boursin; Italian Parmesan; and Wisconsin Cheddar. Le Grand Marché also takes into account the culinary needs of the more than 130 nationalities represented on the island. Here you can find spices and foods from India, as well as products from Indonesia, China and Thailand. In addition, Le Grand Marché also carries a wide variety of olive oils, mustards, vinegars, fresh seafood and USDA-approved beef.

If all of this gourmet cuisine shopping has inspired your interior decorating skills, you're in luck. St. Maarten/St. Martin is also the perfect place to add to your fine crystal glassware, linen and china collection. For Wedgwood crystal, Rosenthal china and Baccarat, be sure to check out Little Switzerland. For an extensive selection of handmade napkins and tablecloths, fabrics, household and table décor, look no further than Linens Galore.

For island gifts that your gourmet friends back home are sure to love, try some sweet and spicy souvenirs from Lord and Hunter or Shipwreck Shops. Antilles Spice Clipper hot sauces come in a range of flavors including passion fruit and mango. They are made and hand-decorated on the island and are available individually or in special gift packs. Add to your culinary gift basket with Caribbean spices, rum cakes and balls, tropical jams and souvenirs such as T-shirts, local maps and books.

For a behind-the-scenes look at one of the island's most popular local liqueurs, head to the Guavaberry Emporium, conveniently located in Philipsburg, the island's shopping haven. Here you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about the local guavaberry, including how it was first preserved with sugar and rum 300 years ago to create guavaberry liqueur. The same traditional methods are still used today and the rum is aged in fine oak barrels, which gives it a fruity and spicy yet slightly woody taste that is unique to this liqueur. Visit the Guavaberry Emporium to learn about this local rum's fascinating history, but also to sample the various products available in the entire line of guavaberry products, including liqueurs, cigars, colognes, apparel, hot and barbecue sauces. This is an excellent souvenir for any foodie friends back home.

Looking to take home some liquor and cigarettes at duty-free prices? Then make a stop at Caribbean Liquors and Tobacco, which has locations on both the French side at Le West Indies Mall in Marigot and the Dutch side in Philipsburg. The store stocks many popular brands such as Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, Grand Marnier, Hennessy, Hpnotiq, Ponche Rum Raisin, Ponche Caribe, Ponche Pistachio, Jim Beam, Cruzan Orange, Pineapple, Banana, Mango, Coconut, Vanilla, Raspberry Rum, Rum Cream and Pusser's Rum.

And don't forget to check out the outdoor Marigot Market on the French side of the island, where you can find a wide variety of seasonings, spices, exotic fruits, local seafood and island souvenirs. This is a great place to shop for fresh ingredients and rub elbows with islanders who come here to do their shopping.

Whatever your shopping plans entail, chances are you will be tempted to take advantage of the significantly lower prices of alcohol, cigarettes and cigars. The savings, coupled with the fact that St. Maarten/St. Martin boasts some of the best selections of liquor, Champagne and wine, is the reason most people cannot leave the island without taking at least a couple of bottles of alcohol. Visitors returning to the United States may bring $800 worth of items duty-free with them. These items may include two liters of alcoholic beverages, as long as one of the liters was produced locally, and one carton of (or 200) cigarettes. For the most updated information on U.S. Customs regulations, visit www.cbp.gov.

Wine
St. Maarten/St. Martin has something to offer both wine novices and experts. Thanks to the island's cosmopolitan population and various European, American and Latin American influences, St. Maarten/St. Martin boasts an impressive availability of wines and Champagnes. If you are overwhelmed by all of these choices, have no fear; there are a number of knowledgeable and helpful sommeliers on the island who can help guide you through the process.

A sommelier is a wine expert who is employed by the finer restaurants and wine shops in St. Maarten/St. Martin. He or she is trained in wine tasting, pairing wine with foods, wine purchasing, wine storage and creating wine lists. A sommelier's main goal is to help diners to pair wines with their dishes. Becoming a sommelier involves a great deal of studying and training. St. Maarten/St. Martin restaurants are known to send their sommeliers to France in the off-season to choose new wines and Champagnes for the new season's wine list, guaranteeing a continually renewed wine selection on the island. For expert advice on wines to take back home with you, be sure and visit the in-house sommelier at Vinissimo Boutique in Marigot on the French side. Vinissimo has an excellent selection of fine wines, Champagnes, Cognacs and Armagnacs from France. Stop by on Thursday evenings to enjoy lively and free wine tastings. Vinissimo also has a location in Anguilla.

Sommeliers have the following tips for selecting and enjoying the perfect wine for any occasion and budget:

Lift the glass:
Lift your glass by its stem so that you don't warm the wine in the glass bowl.

Examine the color:
Look at the color of the wine by holding your glass against a white background. It should be clear and not cloudy. White wines change from light straw with tinges of green to darker shades of yellow as they grow older. However, red wines change from darker to lighter when they age.

Swirl:
Swirling the wine allows it to breathe, which gives you a better bouquet and lets you examine its consistency in more detail.

Smell:
To smell, or "nose" the wine, put your nose into the fume chamber of your glass. Try to identify the wine's unique characteristics and qualities.

Taste:
Take a big sip of the wine, hold it in your mouth and swish it around to appreciate the taste. Take note of the wine's finish, or in other words, how long the flavor lasts after you swallow the wine.

Practice:
The great thing about understanding wine is that the best way to learn more about it is to practice. Attend wine tastings and always remember to ask sommeliers for help.

Exotic Fruits

Though you may not want to try and take any home, you should at least taste some of the tropical fruits common in St. Maarten/Martin while visiting our island. Many of these come from neighboring islands and nearby South America. Some of these you may have seen in supermarkets in your home countries, such as mangos and papayas, while others may be completely unfamiliar to you such as soursop, sea grapes, sugar apples, guavas and guineps. You can see and buy most of these at the island's roadside fruit stands, as well as in the supermarkets. The Marigot Market on the French side is another great place for finding them, in addition to a variety of island spices and souvenirs. Be sure and ask if they sell chilled coconut milk served right in the shell - there's nothing more refreshing on a hot day!

You can spend days shopping in St. Maarten/St. Martin and not visit the same store twice! So much to buy — so little time... visit our Shopping Guide and get full details about each merchant before you go. Print our shopping maps and take them with you.