An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude

An Embarrassment of Mangoes is a chronicle of leaving the type-A lifestyle behind — and discovering the secrets of life in the Caribbean.

Who hasn’t fantasized about chucking the job, saying goodbye to the rat race, and escaping to some exotic destination in search of sun, sand, and a different way of life? Canadians Ann Vanderhoof and her husband, Steve did just that.

In the mid 1990s, they were driven, forty-something professionals who were desperate for a break from their deadline-dominated, career-defined lives. So they quit their jobs, rented out their house, moved onto a 42-foot sailboat called Receta (“recipe,” in Spanish), and set sail for the Caribbean on a two-year voyage of culinary and cultural discovery.

Exchanging business clothes for bare feet, they drop anchor in 16 countries — 47 individual islands — where they explore secluded beaches and shop local markets. Along the way, Ann records the delectable dishes they encounter — from cracked conch in the Bahamas to curried lobster in Grenada, from Dominican papaya salsa to classic West Indian rum punch — and incorporates these recipes into the text so that readers can participate in the adventure.