a more joyful occasion. So they created one: the annual Fête des Cuisinières. They chose as their patron, Saint Laurent because he was, in their words, “grillé at the stake.”

In 1917 ten cooks first dressed in sumptuous costumes, attended a private mass for Saint Laurent, then paraded through the streets of the capital, Point-à-Pitre, carrying their best dishes, which they served at a great public feast. The tradition continues today. Cuistot Mutuel members' ages range from 14 to 104; newly, ten men have joined.

Guadeloupeans eat more fish than the Japanese. From dish to dish, many ingredients are the same, but the spices and preparation provide variety. The cuisine of St. Barts and St. Martins is more French but Guadeloupean Creole recipes are indigenous, transmitted by oral tradition.

Six hundred people can enjoy the five-hour festival feast for $20 (tickets sell out almost immediately). Islands Magazines decreed that Guadeloupe’s women cooks serve “what is widely regarded as the best Creole cuisine in the Caribbean.”