From Gordon Ramsay's F Word to his mum's cooking: Discovery Bay's Barrington Douglas talks about how he got passionate about food

Feb 24 2010 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

What did Valda say?

“I said that you know you have to keep going and give it another try. He’s always had the ‘get up and go’ so I just encouraged him,’’ she said.

At the end of this month Barrington will find out if he has a place in a new Channel 4 cookery series called Iron Chef. The American-originated programme pits chefs skills against each other and would be another opportunity for him to raise the profile of Discovery Bay.

Who, I asked, looks after the business while he’s becoming a celebrity chef? “I have a very good chef, La Shaun Price, who takes care of things. I couldn’t do it without him,’’ says Barrington.

Although Discovery Bay is a Caribbean restaurant its owner says he wants to make a name for cooking authentic recipes with a contemporary twist. It’s this approach that got him on the F-Word and won praise from Mr Ramsay.

“Caribbean food is made up of cuisines and ingredients from around the world – the rice was Chinese, the curry from India and the yams from Africa. Salt fish is a European thing.

“Caribbean cuisine has evolved and I am continuing that by bringing different things in,’’ said Barrington.

The top selling dish at the 36-cover restaurant – which has been full every night since the F-Word – is the rum pork main course he cooked in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant. But a personal favourite for Barrington is the macaroni cheese pie, which, he says, is a staple throughout Barbados.

“I use the white flesh from a watermelon to make a chutney to serve with the pie, which has peppers, garlic and ketchup with cheese. It’s quite different,’’ he said.