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St. Lucia's Creole core: language and culture play a key role in this Caribbean nation's struggle for a new path to economic development.

Article Excerpt
Many a memorable introduction to another culture comes by way of its favorite foods, and on the Windward Caribbean island of St. Lucia, there's no better time to become culinarily acquainted than at a festival known as Jounen Kweyol, or Creole Day. Held on the last Sunday of October, this annual party signals the end of Creole Heritage Month, a salute to the country's cultural identity, and indulging in traditional homemade delicacies is just one of its pleasures.

Every year, Heritage Month's Creole-inspired entertainment, educational fundraising activities, food fairs, athletic events, and popular culture queen competition are hosted by four villages (last year's venues included Arise La Raye and Laborie on the island's west coast), where by noon on Jounen Kweyol, dozens of canopied kiosks have geared up for the arrival of hungry tourists and island families, many fresh from special Creole-language Catholic masses. These itinerant kitchens are presided over by imposing female chefs dressed in traditional white blouses with crisp headdresses and flounced skirts of orange, yellow, and green madras fabric. Among the array of esteemed local favorites are stewed shrimp in coconut milk, smoked herring with roasted breadfruit and avocado, callaloo soup with crabmeat and dasheen greens, and the national dish--boiled unripened bananas and fish fritters, served with cucumbers--commonly known as green fig and saltfish.

And there are more tasty, slow-cooked concoctions on hand--red bean bullion with pig tails and dumplings, spicy chicken curry, and pepperpot stew--all served from oil-drum grills or from the small but sturdy earthenware coal-pot cookers that give island foods their distinctive taste and are a legacy of St. Lucia's early Amerindian inhabitants. Also on the menu are tamarind, golden apple, passionfruit and mango juices, plus spiced rum and locally brewed Piton beer. Later, groups of performers take the improvised stage to show off their stuff: Ives & Friends,...