09/06/2026
🌿 Heritage Month Cayman Kitchen Restoration Update – Phase 2 🌿
Phase 2 of the Cayman kitchen restoration focuses on the traditional construction of the walls. Historically, the external and foundation posts of a Cayman kitchen or home were made from Cayman Ironwood (Chionanthus caymanensis). However, as this species is now protected, the posts for this restoration have been constructed using pressure-treated lumber.
Within the structure, long strawberry branches are used to form the internal framing between the posts, while shorter branches are woven between them in a lattice pattern to create what is known as the wattle. As Mr. Bodden explains, this stage of the process is highly labor-intensive and requires multiple skilled hands working together.
You might be wondering, what about the daub? We often hear of wattle and daub together. Traditionally, daub is a limestone plaster mixture made from pan shoals (shallow, hard-packed limestone deposits from the sea), which were burned and mixed with sand before being applied over the wattle. However, daub is not used for the kitchen, as proper ventilation is required. Instead, the structure remains wattle-only, as daub was primarily used in the construction of main dwelling homes rather than kitchen buildings.
To date, the kitchen walls have been successfully framed, bringing this historic structure one step closer to completion.
✨ Stay tuned and update on the finished project soon come.
