Javon Cummins dares you to taste Barbados differently as Barbados Food and Rum Festival

Would you recognise pudding and souse if it arrived without the familiar Saturday plate? Javon Cummins is willing to test you.

His version begins with braised pork belly and a steamed pudding of beetroot and sweet potato. Mango and Scotch bonnet become a jewel bright gel. That unmistakable pickle appears in new guises, including a delicate foam and jelly. The plate may look as though it belongs in a gallery, but the first mouthful should take a Barbadian straight to Saturday afternoon, to family, and to the person whose souse is declared better than everybody else’s.

That is the quiet dare at the heart of Cummins’ cooking. Look again. Taste closely. See whether memory can recognise itself in a new form.