For Devon Samlalsingh, the idea began with a flower. Butterfly pea, known locally to some as blue bell, was becoming increasingly popular as an ingredient in drinks while becoming less common in the landscape around him. Samlalsingh wanted to grow it for his own use, but also for the bees in his garden.
That simple decision became the starting point for a bigger question: what happens when the things Trinidad and Tobago grows are connected more deliberately to what people eat, drink and experience? That question now sits at the centre of Samlalsingh’s Garden to Glass work, which he is taking to two international gatherings in Europe this month.
Samlalsingh, a bartender and agricultural practitioner known professionally as the Green Bartender, has been selected as a delegate to Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy, from tomorrow to September 27. He will then travel to Aarhus, Denmark, where his Garden to Glass work has been accepted for presentation at Gastronomy in Transition at Aarhus University.
