(upbeat music) - I am here in sunny Barbados to see how well I can handle a speargun underwater as we go to hunt for the invasive lionfish.

- This is why they usually keep me indoors eh?

(Kelly laughing) It's like, oh Rhea.

- So make her takin' a picture of a filmmaker takin' a picture.

(laughing) I love it, I love it, pow, pow, pow.

- [Kelly] I'm gonna get to work the gun right?

- Yeah absolutely, if you want to.

Now the thing about lionfish is, because they have no natural predator, they really don't have anything to be afraid of so often when divers approach them, they just sit still, so they're quite easy to shoot in that regard.

- Okay, everybody's like, well don't touch the lionfish, they're poisonous, what's the deal?

- So lionfish are venomous, not poisonous, which means that the toxin that they carry is only in the spine of the fish.

So once you remove that spine, the rest of the fish is perfectly safe to handle, perfectly safe to eat.

Once we spear them, they have about 45 spines all over their body and only about 18 of those spines actually have the venom, so it's less than half of their spines contain this neurotoxic venom.

Getting stung is not a lot of fun.

I've been stung.

- [Kelly] Oh, so you've been stung?

You've been there?

- Multiple times, unfortunately.

And it's always the diver's fault, it's never the lionfish.

Coral, sea fan, anything like that, we're just not gonna be looking to touch it, especially things like anemones, again you touch that, you'll be in a bit of pain, you'll have itching, a bit of swelling stuff like that.

So the general kind of thing is just to look out for anything that's kinda like, orange in color, anything that's sort of bright and vibrant.

But general rule, just don't touch the coral whatsoever.

Lionfish typically will be anywhere from 10 feet deep to as deep as you can possibly dive.

Now lionfish pretty much like any kind of structure.

So any rock that stands out a bit bigger than the rest, or has a mushroom kind of shape to it, basically something that's nice and big, especially something that has some space underneath it for them to hide out during the day, and kinda get their shelter.

- [Kelly] I try to get comfortable with the gun and give myself the motivation that the only predators these little buggers have is me.

And they release about two million eggs a year.

These babies continue to gobble up all the important critters biologically designed to keep our reefs healthy.

(light music) - [Alex] Kelly, Kelly, come give me the gun.

Give me the gun.

- [Kelly] Spearfishing is definitely my new favorite sport, but it's gonna take me about a few dozen more times to get as skilled as Alex.

Where'd you grow up?

- [Rhea] Here.

- [Kelly] Like, on the island?

- Like there.

- [Kelly] Like right here?

- Yeah, like around the corner.

- Did you go fish, and just eat fish all the time?

- If you stayed on the beach long enough, a friendly neighborhood fisherman would pull his boat up in the surf and then all the kids would try to help him push it up the sand.

And if you pushed it up the sand for him, he would give you some fish.

We'd all bring it back to the beach.

So 'cause we lived literally on the beach, you literally go across the street, grab some stuff and run back to go with this fish that you just got.

So breadfruit, seasonings from the garden, a little onion.

We'd have like a big roast on the beach.

- You have the fish from the water and then you're gathering whatever's in the garden?

- But there's a breadfruit tree right there within my line of sight.

- What?

- If you look back, you'll see it.

- [Kelly] This is Barbados.

- Yep, nothing like roast breadfruit.

So I'm gonna take off the top and go around.

- [Kelly] Oh, okay.

- [Rhea] That's the heart, so you wanna cut away 'til you see meat.

Now for the magic, I'm gonna pop that butter right on the inside.

Now, your Bajan.

- [Kelly] Bajan sauces.

- [Rhea] This hot sauce.

We're gonna put 'em in our breadfruit.

- Yes, thanks friend.

- [Rhea] We're gonna secure the top back on.

- Oh I love that it's going back on.

- [Rhea] Alright, I'm just gonna put that bad boy right in the fire.

- [Kelly] Beautiful.

- [Rhea] Where it's hot.

But lionfish, this is not a traditional Barbadian fish.

- [Kelly] No, 'cause you little buggers aren't supposed to be here.

- You're an invasive species.

And as such, I've taken liberties with its preparation.

- [Kelly] Oh ho.

- Yes.

So I'm gonna get me some fresh banana leaves.

- [Kelly] How long do your banana leaves stay fresh for?

Do you do it day of?

- [Rhea] You can freeze them actually.

- [Kelly] You can?

- [Rhea] You can freeze them if you like.

- [Kelly] Sure, I might be tryin' to take some home to freeze.

- This is broadleaf thyme.

So you know the little teeny.

- Oh my gosh, I just smelt it.

Wow, holy moly.

Scotch bonnets.

- This is a Scotch bonnet.

Note that I have not doing anything to it and the reason for that is because I just want the flavor, I don't want all the heat.

Gonna get some onion.

Gonna chop enough for all of the fish.

Go, go, go, go, go, go.

Gotta have the garlic, you put a little bit of that under.

So you can see it.

- [Kelly] I love all the color.

- And it has a very soft white flesh on the inside.

It's really flexible, like it takes flavor well, it cooks well, so I'm encouraging everybody to just, you know.

- Gosh, that's a big fish.

- Get in there.

Gonna wrap her up, nice and tight.

Now we're gonna steam this packet.

I'm gonna leave a little space at the top and then I'm gonna do what we would normally do.

(Kelly squealing) We're gonna steam it with salt water.

- [Kelly] This is brilliant.

- And we're golden.

Rest it right here.

- Awesome.

- Bingo, here's the good stuff.

This is why chefs have kitchens and stoves.

- That just makes them lazy.

(Rhea laughing) All your chefs with your convenient stoves.

- This is why they usually keep me indoors, hey?

(Kelly laughing) (fire crackling) (ocean waves crashing) What we should have here is-- - [Kelly] Wow.

- [Rhea] Some nicely steamed lionfish.

- [Kelly] Perfect.

You just go for it?

- [Rhea] Grab a piece.

And you get some salt water, and there you go.

- [Kelly] I'm so happy right now.

- [Rhea] It's all cooked, cheers.

- Cheers.

Mm hmm.

- See it didn't need anything.

No seasoning, nothing, just fish.

- Mackerel, lionfish, my two favorite, hands down.

So to catch both today was quite a nice result.

- Yeah, it's got all that flavor in it.

- [Alex] Lionfish is like buttery and juicy.

- Yum.

When you were little, did you eat the mackerel like this?

- Yes, roast, yes roast everything.

- He taught me.

- Roasting everything.

Your dad taught you?

- I know.

- Fire, breadfruit, sweet potato, we throw everything in the fire.

- Everything in the fire?

- Everything in the fire.

- [Rhea] So, let's take a peek inside of our breadfruit.

- [Kelly] That looks pretty tasty to me.

- [Rhea] Oh, butter, awesome.

- [Kelly] Look at that.

- [Rhea] We're gonna share some happiness and joy today.

- [Kelly] Woo.

- Some roasted breadfruit.

- Rhea, thank you so much.

- You're welcome.

- This is an honor to be able to do this.

Whoa it's hot.

Actually burns me, she's like-- (laughing) - [Rhea] No.

- Mmm, yeah, that's it.

Mmm, right there.

- [Rhea] Look daddy, taste that.

- [Kelly] There we go.

- It's spicy.

(Rhea and Kelly laughing) Eat lionfish, save the reef.

(upbeat music) - I've traveled now from the north west Caribbean coastline to the rugged east Atlantic.

Wanna sell me a coconut?

- Yeah, I'll grab one.

- [Kelly] Oh wow, there you go.

- Yeah.

- [Man] It's mac 'n' cheese.

- [Kelly] It's macaroni pie.

(relaxed music) They're cooking me up the very popular flying fish sandwich.

- Flying fish are not so fish, whereas everyone comes all over the world looking for it.

It's really nice, it's a very delicate fish.

So you have it here in egg wash batter.

- Ma'am, flying fish sandwich with french fries.

- Yum.

With a flying fish sandwich, oh yeah.

Cheers.

Mmm.

Oh my god.

There's something about fish sandwiches, they're just so homey and satisfying but you kind of trick your mind and you feel like you're doing something healthy.

It's fried as (beeping), it's not healthy.

The final stop on my Barbados tour ends on the southern tip.

(R and B music) With my new best friend, Mood.

- [Mood] Well, well, well, well.

- Oh to be able to drink that beer.

- [Mood] You ain't need no man.

(Rhea laughing) - She ain't need no man.

- And you have hot sauce too right?

- [Woman] Yes, I do.

- I'm okay with this.

(laughing) Pepper sauce on the macaroni pie under the bed of grilled marlin, boom.

Mood runs Ocean Spray Apartments and Rentals but his real passion is at his diversity driven jungle farm.

We make a quick stop at Holders Farmers Market to check out what else is growing in Barbados.

(people chattering) - [Man] 'Cause that's part of our lifestyle choices.

It's kind of linked back to very, very early Caribbean childhood experiences with coconut, and molasses and things like that.

(blender whirring) - Oh my gosh.

I'm so excited, thank you.

- Thank you too.

Perfect.

- Perfect.

(relaxed music) So I'm at Coco Hills Fruit Forest and Farm.

- [Mood] That's right.

- I did it right.

- So the idea is agro-forestry, so we gonna keep the forests and not do monoculture, but we gonna work with the forest and where we have some open spaces or we clear some evasive trees and we replace them with productive fruit trees.

- Do you think there's anything out there we can pull?

- Well this isn't actually, unfortunately not the fruit season now.

- I'm always the wrong place, wrong time.

- For sure we're gonna get ginger, turmeric.

- Oh fun.

I guess I've seen ginger, but I've never really seen it harvested.

- Yeah, there's a ginger flower, really pretty.

And turmeric flower is too.

- Oh I don't know what those are, yeah, perfect.

So I get to see stuff, play with stuff.

And we're gonna see how long it takes 'cause it's the first day ever in the five years I've done this show, that I've ever been out in the field without my boots, I have sandals on, and he's got a machete.

So we'll see at what point the toe comes off.

My money's on the right big toe.

Alright, let's go have fun.

(gentle music) - And here is our coconut repository.

I've been going around and finding different strains of coconut.

- [Kelly] So wait, different strains just from Barbados?

- [Mood] Just from Barbados initially.

- [Kelly] That's how you replant coconuts?

- Yeah, you get the seedlings, and pot them out.

- The actual coconut?

- So you got a coconut up there in the tree.

We don't pick them.

We let 'em stay in the tree, get really ripe, they drop down.

- Fall.

- We'll keep them and then they will germinate and then you will put them in a pot.

And you can see the banana flowers right?

- [Kelly] Look, it's opening up.

Oh gosh, I have to get a photo.

- You wanna do that?

- It's like a Jim Henson Muppet.

- [Mood] So what you do, you'll come here and pick these.

- That's like a lotus.

- [Mood] Eat this.

- [Kelly] You eat it.

And you cook it?

- Yeah, you cook it in coconut milk with some turmeric.

- [Kelly] I'm gonna try it even though it's bitter.

This is the part you want, no?

No, no, no, no, no, not that.

- [Kelly] Yeah, you get rid of these.

- Yeah.

- So I'll just take that part off.

(choking) (Mood laughing) Mmm, on the front, it almost has like a cucumber.

Yeah, it's a bit.

- [Mood] It's still bitter, yeah.

(both laughing) - Yeah, wow, you weren't kidding.

But on the front, it's like, like a cucumber.

- Yeah, what you would do in a commercial farm, you'd only allow seven hands to grow.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

You're gonna probably discard this, 'cause you want your banana to be a certain size and a certain shape.

In commercial banana production, we waste a lot of bananas, because of standardization.

- Because we want things to look the same, be the same, taste the same, and what we lose, is everything.

- Everything.

- Wow.

- There's a proper banana.

And we've moved from 200 varieties of bananas here 50 years ago to the commercialization of bananas, only Cavendish and now we're facing an extinction problem with bananas.

- In my country, in the US, we know one banana.

- [Mood] Yeah, Cavendish.

- That's all we know.

- And it's so commercialized.

- And yet, here I am seeing all of these different varieties.

- [Mood] Eight types of bananas in this farm.

- [Man] Kelly, if you want new job, you've got one here.

(Kelly laughing) Kelly can be the turmeric and the ginger picker.

- I can handle that, I'm happy with that.

Look at this beautiful mud.

It is like clay.

- Yeah it's a clay, yeah.

Actually it's a red clay and that's how barbados got its Amerindian name from, (speaking foreign language) means red soil with white teeth.

And the white teeth were the waves and the red soil is this red clay.

That's the original name of Barbados.

- Now we're dirty.

It was just like, an appetizer at the beginning.

I think this is pretty good.

I think we're ready to transport this, and then this flower is amazing.

Boom.

Boom and boom.

- [Mood] So all this is ginger here.

- Oh, holy moly ravioli.

- So I make a ginger chocolate, we make a ginger molasses biscuit and it's actually very good.

It's anti-inflammatory.

- It's very good for you, I should be eating a ton of it right now.

- [Mood] So we're gonna dig some ginger.

- [Kelly] Yay.

- [Mood] I love ginger though, it's one of my favorite ingredients.

- [Kelly] I don't have that for ginger, and I need to.

Whoa, my first ever ginger harvest.

- Whoa, oh my god.

- Can you believe that?

How long have you?

Since you were kids right?

Ginger, always?

- Yeah, always.

It's a big part of our cuisine.

It makes ginger beer.

We're gonna experiment with that eventually too.

Ferment the ginger to make ginger beer.

- [Kelly] That'd be a great thing to come out of Barbados.

- That's what we used to make all those things.

That's the sad part.

And what we are doing right now is reinventing history.

This is unfortunate right, because this should have been documented, recorded, so that we could just be doing it, rather than having to relearn all of this processes.

- We did it, thanks guys.

Look, and I got some dirt under my fingernails.

My feet are muddy, I stink a little.

My fingernails are dirty.

- [Mood] It's real.

- I'm happy.

This is happy.

- [Mood] This is real.

Yeah, this is real.

- [Kelly] I've been to church today.

- [Mood] Yes, thank you.

(Kelly laughing) - [Kelly] When I first thought of going to Barbados, I expected a lot of crowds, and a lot of resorts and I think that's there.

I never really went to those places.

I also found food I could gather, meals over fire, and people passionate about their culture.

Celebrating what gives their island a lot of heart.

(ocean waves gently crashing) On this season of the Original Fare, well, at this point, I can't predict what this adventurous path will lead me into next.

- We're actually a survival show.

- Right, is that so.

(Kelly laughs) - Can't harvest enough greens.

(group laughing)