St. Thomas cook off reaches for the roots

St. Thomas getting back to basics.

“Creaminess of the Ital soups and it’s all natural, straight again from Mother Earth,” Rasbassa from Speedy Redemption Vegetarian Restaurant said. 

Using a plant-based diet, the Ital movement aims to bring back the natural way of cooking and that’s just what vendors at Brewers Beach did Sunday. 

 “We had an alkaline soup where we had seven greens in there, you know rosemary and water Cress and you know thyme and cilantro,” he added.

Several vegetarian and vegan restaurant owners and avid ital eaters came out to share their recipes with the community and inspire others to eat the same way. 

“It is very beautiful to know that we can have a vegetarian cook off because it gives everyone the opportunity to see how delicious vegan and vegetarian food is and they’re not you know they’re not going to be eating bland food. You know, vegetarian food is fun it’s platable,” Carima Reid with Redemption Vegan Raw Food Team said. 

The event was also a way to show of the roots of some of Virgin Islands culture. Organizers hope it generates an interest in the beautiful place we call home. 

“Ital is Vital is going to become a brand that is a subsidiary of our non profit, our non profit is called ten youths and ten youths is an initiative to teach youths how to pursue media arts and merchandising. We feel like the Virgin Islands is one of the most beautiful places in the world and if we could teach kids how to capture that beauty, and tell a story we can get more people interested in the Virgin Islands and simulate our economy,” Roland Paebak added. 

 This was just the first cook off but organizers hope to have many more.