Today I had the pleasure of meeting Jamaican chef Melvin Laidlaw. Don’t let his serious face fool you. As soon as you begin to talk with Melvin, you quickly realize that he humble and down to earth.
For Laidlaw, doing what you love is required to achieve success. In my brief conversation with Melvin,I could tell that he was passionate about Jamaican food and the Caribbean culture. I think for him success wasn’t being famous or wealthy.
His knowledge of how connected food is to our history and culture, is obvious.He made it clear that he wasn’t going to talk about his accomplishments but simply sharing his love for Jamaican food.
Although Laidlaw spent most of his life growing up in Canada but has kept a strong connection to Jamaica. He spoke about his many visits to small communities in Jamaica seeking out people who had knowledge of African history and how it influenced today’s Jamaican food.
Laidlaw firmly believe that there needs to be greater emphasis on teaching young Caribbean kids about their history and culture. He believes that food was one of the few areas of Jamaican culture that slavery was not able to take away.
For more about Melvin Laidlaw please visit his website at MrSpinners.com
