Sweetness and spice in the Virgin Islands
Lucia Henley's delectable creations
virginvoices.com staff
Forget store-bought candy and cakes. Lucia Henley’s hand-made West Indian candies, cakes, tarts, stews and liqueurs possess native sweetness and spice.
Henley, who lives in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, has been making treats for years, painstakingly from scratch.
She may just be the only one in St. Thomas who still takes the time - and energy- to hand pull “jawbones” the West Indian version of candy canes, made simply with oil of peppermint, sugar and food coloring. She also whips up batches of tangy tamarind balls from the fruit of the tamarind tree, black cake, sweet breads, guava, coconut and pineapple tarts and local seasonings.
On holidays you can often find her set up on the side of the road in Estate Frydenhol in St. Thomas, her table brimming with even more indulgences in bottles and jars such as gooseberry and, tamarind stew, passion fruit and hibiscus liqueur, tropical fruit preserves. It’s the stuff of fantasy, better than any ole sugarplums!
Call her for special orders at 340-779-1513.
Photos: Lucia Henley, display table of stews and preserves, peppermint and jawbones.
virginvoices.com photos by Maura Curley
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