FROM JAMAICA WITH LOVE

Chocolate has always had connotations of being delightfully sinful -
but illegal?

Errol Beckford recalls how he was arrested and charged for possession
of drugs, after flying from Jamaica to Canada to meet a friend (now
his wife) in Vancouver.

"I told them it was Jamaican chocolate but they didn't believe me," he
says.

Asked to leave the country in 30 days, Beckford returned to Jamaica
until an investigation, which lasted one year and eight months,
finally concluded and the charges were dropped.

"There was no apology, no nothing," he says. "They gave me back (my
chocolate) and that was the end of it."

With that file closed, Beckford also filed away his ambition to run a
chocolate import business in Canada. The minimal chocolate he gets now
is only given as Christmas gifts to the friends he's made in the two
years he's lived in this country.

Despite the less than hospitable welcome to Canada, Beckford says he
loves living in Victoria.

"It's the tropics of Canada," he says, adding, "when the weather is
good."

Chocolate wasn't the only Jamaican treasure, Beckford brought with
him. The secret family jerk sauce was also safely stowed away. Through
generations, the sauce has evolved as each family member builds and
adjusts the recipe.

"I have inherited those flavours," he says of the sauce that includes
13 fresh herbs and spices.

Each community establishes their own line and taste, so no two jerk
sauces are ever the same. Generally, the sauce is composed of three
different tastes: spicy, sweet and salty. Each sauce incorporates all
three flavours, however, they usually lean more towards one than the
other - distinguishing each sauce as unique.

Beckford is no stranger in the kitchen. After working as a wholesale
grocer in Jamaica, he has owned two different restaurants since 1984.

He speaks lovingly of his country describing images of sandy beaches,
warm sunlight, tropical forests and blue, blue sea. You wonder why
anyone would ever want to leave such a picturesque paradise.

June, who is now Beckford's wife, was at the heart of his
decision.

The couple met in Jamaica when June was an overseas student. They
became acquainted and, when Beckford was looking for somewhere to
holiday a couple of years later, she invited him to Victoria.

Four flights later - through Florida, Toronto, Vancouver and finally
Victoria - Beckford arrived.

"When I booked the flight, I said I didn't want a world tour, just a
holiday," he laughed.

For eight years, he kept visiting June until he won her over with his
Jamaican charm. Three years ago they were married. Other factors also
contributed to his decision.

"People come to Jamaica for the sunlight and beauty," he says. "But,
unfortunately, that is not all of it."

He talks about how Jamaica wasn't ready for self-management in 1962.
How the economy plummeted with independence from Britain and how
marijuana was traded for arms from the United States.

"The whole country fell to shambles," he says, just as a song about
how brothers aren't brothers anymore plays over the stereo in his
restaurant. "Jamaica is in a terrible state where the economy is concerned."

Beckford says he's happy to bring the brighter side of Jamaica to this
island with his Esquimalt restaurant, the Jamaican Jerk House. "My
heart is here, so I am happy," he says.