Basseterre, St. Kitts (MoPIEUDT NEWS) – Camaraderie and competition saturated the grounds of the St. Kitts Water Services Department (WSD) on Friday, March 28, 2025, when four teams faced off for the inaugural inter-departmental cooking competition dubbed Three Stone Soup-Off.
Three teams from the St. Kitts Water Services Department (Groundwater, Administration/Customer Service, and Distribution and Maintenace) and one from the Nevis Water Services Department battled for the title in the competition that unearthed the tradition of cooking outdoors with a wood-burning fire ignited over three cinder blocks.
The competition rules required the teams to use breadfruit and carrots in their dishes but also allowed them to create any soup they wanted. The teams used an array of vegetables, poultry, meat, and fish to create masterpieces for the judges.
The Maintenance Division prepared a turkey soup. Administration and Customer Service cooked a fish soup. The Groundwater Division served bull foot soup, and the Nevis Water Services Department delivered a meaty soup consisting of pig, chicken, and mutton.
Each team picked a station in the yard next to an outhouse where judges Kenneth Bobb, Diandra Jno-Baptiste, and Cromwell Williams sampled every dish and deliberated before making their final decision.
In a competition almost too close to call, the judges awarded the top 2 positions to the Distribution and Maintenance Division and the Administration/Customer Service Divisions with only 0.2 points separating them and a mere 3.5 points separating the top and bottom scorers. Ultimately it was the Distribution and Maintenance Division who claimed the title with 22 points.
The Three Stone Soup-Off was one of the final activities in the WSD’s month-long commemoration of World Water Day on March 22, 2025.