Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine January 2018 | Page 506

Nivea Spanner
N
ivea V. E. Spanner inherited
her passion for cooking
and baking from her
beloved grandmother,
Ms. Irma L. Spanner, who owned a home-based
bakery on the island of St. Eustatius, and is very
well-known for her delicious hot breads.
That passion for cooking and baking led Nivea to
form a Facebook group, “Statia Food & Recipes,”
targeting people who, like her, had a passion
for all things kitchen. Statians now had a forum
where chefs on the island and others could share
their individual recipes. This group was welcomed
in Statia’s close-knit community, attracting people
from the diaspora who happily contributed
recipes from their childhood, many of these
recipes now tweaked according to their modern-
day tastes. grandmother’s tutelage, she has mastered the
art of producing traditional island delicacies such
as Johnny cakes, bread pudding, pastechies,
pumpkin fritters, cakes (especially cheesecakes),
fudge, peanut sugar cakes, flan, doughnuts, party
snacks and much more. Nivea said, “the admirable
aspect of my grandmother’s way of cooking is
that she never uses exact measurements.” This
made it very difficult at times for Nivea to follow
her recipes. Fondly, she recounted some of her
grandmother’s instructions, “Put in a pan ah
butter, not too much... some sugah, don’t make
it too sweet and a little bit ah salt... and oh, don’t
forget the essence.” The fact that her grandmother
mastered the art of cooking without measuring
anything, she found to be very unique. “And, that
is something I would always remember and admire
about my grandmother. She is now 71 years old and
still has a love for the kitchen.”
Since then, Nivea has hosted a cake competition
and also opened her own home-based food
business on the island, selling pastries and a
variety of other food. As a direct result of her Twenty-two year old, Nivea V. E. Spanner, was
born and raised on the island of St. Eustatius. She
currently resides in Curacao and is a student of
the University of Curacao.