Twenty-two local restaurants, delis and food vendors competed for bragging rights to the “best soup in Cayman” during the Big Brothers Big Sisters Soup-er Bowl at the Marriott
Beach Resort.

Guests paid $25 for adults or $10 for kids for the privilege of sampling each of the soups, and then casting their vote into a cardboard ballot box. All the proceeds will be going towards Cayman’s Big Brothers Big Sisters programme

The soups were as delicious as their names. The first-place winner was XQ’s Pizza Bar & Grill, with a soup that tasted as delicious as its name: Wood Oven Roasted Yellow Squash Melange, served with sesame crostini

Commenting on exactly what makes the winning soup so special, XQ’s Head Chef Andreas Schoenbauer said: “We roasted the pumpkin in a wood oven, roasted the onions together with some cream, some herbs and some salt, and some secret ingredients.”

The second place was closely fought between the Western Casuarina Hotel’s Casa Havana restaurant, and their “Lightly Jerked Local Pumpkin Soup, Mango Brioche Coconut Foam” soup, and the Full of Beans restaurant’s “Tomato Mushroom Feta.”  Casa Havana just pipped Full of Beans.

Kirk Supermarket’s Deli were serving a mouth-wateringly-good Fire Roasted Corn Chowder Garnished with Crab Crème Fraiche, while the Ritz-Carlton were serving up a very tasty ‘Lemongrass Miso’

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a mentoring organisation whose stated mission is: “To help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-on-one relationships with mentors that have a measurable impact on their development.”

The children (known as ‘Littles’) are each paired with adult mentors (known as ‘Bigs’). Both Littles and Bigs come from very diverse backgrounds. Bigs do not have to have any special counselling degrees or training. All that is required is that they have the motivation to have a positive impact on a young person’s life, according to the organisation.

Since 1984, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cayman Islands, a not-for-profit organisation has been “developing positive relationships that have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of young people, according to its published Programme Outline. “Our vision is successful mentoring relationships for all children who need and want them, contributing to brighter futures, better schools and stronger communities,” the publication says.

BBBS presently offers two types of programmes: Community-based mentoring and School-based mentoring. Community-based mentoring consists of quality, one-on-one time spent between the volunteer and the child for a minimum of two hours per week, filled with shared interests and activities.

In the School-based programme, the ‘Bigs’ meet their ‘Littles’ at the school once per week during lunchtimes.