THINK Barbados and your thoughts will naturally turn to palm-fringed white sand beaches lapped by an azure sea. You would, of course, be right - but there is so much more to this most easterly of the Caribbean islands than sun, sea, and sand and exclusive, upmarket resorts.

And that's food.

Barbados might not be the first place that comes to mind with regard to culinary excellence, but all that is changing.

I visited the island for Taste of Barbados, a 10-day festival featuring major events, tours, celebrity chefs, seminars and community events.

And returned about a stone heavier.

Here's a quick rundown of some of the culinary events

Day One...

The eight-hour flight from Gatwick, allied to a minus five-hour time difference, means an afternoon arrival in the constant 33-degree heat, a drive through the congested, cosmopolitan capital Bridgetown before arriving at the comfortable, beachside Tamarind Cove.

The low-rise, Mediterranean-style 110-room hotel has extensive landscaped gardens opening up on to a 750ft crescent of white sand beach on Barbados' famed Platinum (west) Coast.

Each room has a view of this paradise - and with three freshwater swimming pools, two restaurants, an covered open air bar, complimentary water sports, free water taxi, beauty salon, fitness suite and free internet access, there is no need to leave the resort.

But there is more to life than swimming and sunbathing (especially when the rain is chucking down). I had work to do - eating and drinking.

A hotel welcome drink was followed by a Taste of Barbados reception at the swish Hilton Hotel and an excellent meal in the hotel's Careenage bar and grille, before the realisation that an 11pm finish there was really 4am British time curtailed the evening's activities.

Food highlight: Pan seared red snapper with roasted sweet potatoes, baby vegetables, exotic salsa, sweet pepper and ginger coulis.

Day Two...

Breakfast of flying fish (just because it was there) at the hotel, then off to the recently-restored George Washington House in Bridgetown. This is the plantation house where the future first American president stayed as a young man in 1751 with his dying half-brother and formulated many of his ideas and principles.

But I wasn't there for history; there was food to be had. Bajan celebrity TV chef Peter Edey presented a chaotic celebration of "Caribbean Cuizine", showing how it really was world class food. He created a few dishes using the likes of breadfruit, eddoes and pigeon peas. My American colleagues jotted down every word as if they were to sit an exam later, and camera crews from California, Trinidad and Canada got in everyone's way in what was to be a regular pattern.

Lunch at the Waterfront Café on Bridgetown's, er, waterfront, where Bajan time kicked in and service went on for ever. The dolphin steak was nice though. "Dolphin" here is otherwise known by its proper title of the small food fish mahi-mahi, but I sure they keep the old name for the sense of outrage it generates.

Dinner that night was something special - the Gourmet Taste at Holders event being one of the jewels of the festival. Held around the swimming pool at the famous Holder House (home to the Jodie/Jemima Kidd family), it was a fabulous evening of sampling menus from the island's most celebrated restaurants, along with selected wines and the ubiquitous rum.

Food highlight: Tartare of yellow-fin tuna, pepper coulis, edamame beans and pistachio praline (created by Sandy Lane chefs)

Day Three...

A substantial breakfast, then a short trip to Orchid World that was not necessarily to see the wonderful exotic blooms, splendid though they were. No, I was here to see the Village Doctor; not because of any ailments, but because herbalist Chantel Selman was lecturing and demonstrating on the fact that Barbados is resplendent with natural herbal remedies.

She took simple, everyday foods, added the gifts of nature that surround us and came up with some excellent dishes - the theme being that nothing was cooked (the only heat coming from food processing).

Thus she made pumpkin soup, bul jol, plantain and goji berries and a variety of natural juices. It was hard not to eat too much knowing that lunch was just around the corner.

Lunch was at Daphne's Restaurant, which was particularly handy as it's part of the Tamarind Cove. The sister restaurant to the London establishment of the same name, Daphne's serves modern Italian cuisine in a beautiful setting right on the beach.

The food is fantastic, the service relaxed and it's a place where you could simply "be" all the afternoon, but since the sun was shining the beach beckoned (it was two yards away) and it was time to do battle with the persistent jewellery and aloe vera vendors.

Night arrived and it was time for the Aphrodisiac evening at Casa De Pablo, part of the Sandy Lane complex, for which the dress code was "enticing". The evening was dedicated to an exploration of the truths, myths and legends of some of the world's most sensual foods, plus a cocktail lounge and massage room too.

In reality it was a little disappointing - apart from a few people painted gold as statues and the odd Moulin Rouge costume, the atmosphere was fairly subdued with the highlight being a mile-long queue for food. Still, the rum was flowing and it was fairly easy to scrape the mud off my boots.

Food highlight: Seafood linguine with mussels, clams and white fish.

Day Four...

A substantial breakfast, naturally, followed by a rum safari. Now, many people may think 9.30am is a little early to be drinking rum, but, hey, the sun was shining and we were touring the island by bumpy Jeep. Anyone in the company of Mount Gay Rum's irrepressible "ambassador" Chesterfield Brown would find it impossible not to get swept up in the event.

So here I was enjoying the sites of quaint Speightstown, the northern island, the rugged "Scottish" area and the dramatic eastern coast, taking in plantations, gardens, farms, churches, windmills and, of course, rum shops along the way.

There were three stops, one by an exquisite beach and two up in the hills, at these rum shops, of which there are 1,200 on Barbados. They are pubs-cum-shops, meeting places and are often simply part of someone's home.

At each stop the rum came out, along with ice, cola, ginger and the like and everyone dipped in.

Sadly, I seemed to have become the only person ever to have caught a cold while in 33-degree heat (blame the air conditioning), but somehow, the more stops we made the less it seemed to affect me.

An afternoon at the hotel bar drinking beer and meeting old pal Emerson Murray, who moved back to Barbados with his family five years ago, was simply a precursor to the evening's entertainment.

A short drive to the Bagatelle Great House restaurant for a celebrity chef dinner with Miami-based Cindy Hutson. It's a nice old plantation house, acquiring its name in 1877 when the owner traded his home to pay a gambling debt, declaring the house "a mere bagatelle" to maintain his dignity.

The food was good, the setting less so, as the night had been overbooked and diners found themselves in various out-of-the-way places.

Food highlight: Shrimp and avocado ceviche with citrus juices, grated ginger, onion, red and yellow peppers and fresh fried plantain chips.

Day Five...

Substantial breakfast (it would be rude not to), then into Bridgetown to the Mount Gay Rum visitors centre for a tour, film show and lecture on making rum at 304 years, the oldest continuous production of rum in the world.

Then came the tasting (morning rum by now being de rigeur), including Mount Gay's excellent "brandy". The cold prevented me smelling the rum, so I had to rely on taste and, sadly, no spittoons were provided.

Celebrity "rum chef" Paul Yellin - all his recipes include rum - gave a particularly interesting seminar. I tasted three wonderful dishes, each accompanied by a cocktail created by the aforementioned Mr Brown.

From there it was but a short hop at the Sugar Hill Club to sample the opulent Barbados world of Cliff Richard and the Blairs.

Atlanta chef Marvin Woods was on hand with a tasty three-course menu served in the Sassafras restaurant next to the infinity pool with views across the green island.

Unfortunately, it was all-too-soon time to depart, but it was but a short afternoon until one of the main events of the festival, the grand gala dinner at the Sandy Lane Country Club.

The great and good of Barbados society turned out for the glittering six-course occasion hosted by Los Angeles chef Govind Armstrong.

There could be just one place to round off the night - the St Lawrence Gap entertainment area for, what else, a couple of rums.

Food highlight: Seared maui maui on spiny lobster succotash and wilted local spinach.

Day Six...

Substantial breakfast (it was there, OK?), followed by a quick swim, lunch in Chefette, the Bajan version of McDonald's (to attempt to get back to some sort of normality) and there was just time to be called back through immigration and security at the airport to find my suitcase split asunder. Luckily, a giant plastic bag made it easy enough to see on the carousel at Gatwick...

Food highlight: Veggie burger, no chips.

Factfile

  • BA Holidays offer a seven-night stay at the four-star Tamarind Cove, Barbados, from £1,255 per person. Price includes return BA flights from Gatwick, in-resort transfers and accommodation on a full board basis for the duration. It is subject to availability, based on two sharing, on a departure date of May 2008, and includes all UK taxes.
  • For reservations, call BA Holidays on 0870 2433406 or visit ba.com/holidays for further information.