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Bahamas

The Bahamas is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. The archipelagic state consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence.

Featured Dishes from Bahamas

Bakes

Bakes

Fried bake is a Caribbean dish. Many West Indian nations including Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Grenada eat this dish. The main ingredient in fried bake is flour. It can be served in a multitude of ways. This dish is usually served with salt fish and steamed vegetables.

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Boil fish

A thin soup of whitefish such as grouper, mahi-mahi, hogfish, snapper simmered with onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, chili peppers, commonly served with grits

Cocoa tea

Cocoa tea

Hot chocolate with spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves

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Fire engine

Spicy corned beef and grits, the beef is cooked with oil, onion, tomato paste, chili peppers and thyme

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Goombay marmalade

Marmalade made using papaya, pineapple and green ginger

Grits

Grits

Grits are a type of porridge made from coarsely ground dried maize or hominy, the latter being maize that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp removed. Grits are cooked in warm salted water or milk. They are often served with flavorings as a breakfast dish. Grits can be savory or sweet, with savory seasonings being more common. Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world, such as polenta and mieliepap. The dish originated in the Southern United States but is now available nationwide. Grits are often part of a dinner entrée shrimp and grits, served primarily in the Southern United States. The word "grits" is derived from the Old English word grytt, meaning "coarse meal". In the Charleston, South Carolina area, cooked hominy grits were primarily referred to as "hominy" until the 1980s. The dish originated with the Native American Muscogee tribe using maize. American colonists learned to make the dish from the Native Americans, and it quickly became an American staple.

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Grits and tuna

Guava jam

Guava jam

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Island sweet bread

Sweet bread made with coconut, top with guava jam or cheddar cheese if desired

Johnnycake

Johnnycake

Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. The food originates from the indigenous people of North America. It is still eaten in the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Colombia, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Croix, Sint Maarten, Antigua, and the United States. The modern johnnycake is found in the cuisine of New England and is often claimed as originating in Rhode Island. A modern johnnycake is fried cornmeal gruel, which is made from yellow or white cornmeal mixed with salt and hot water or milk, and sometimes sweetened. In the Southern United States, the term used is hoecake, although this can also refer to cornbread fried in a pan. The earliest attestation of the term "johnny cake" is from 1739 ; the spelling "journey cake" is attested only from 1775 on the Gulf Coast, but may be the earlier form.

Mango jam

Mango jam

Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method of preparation, type of fruit used, and its place in a meal. Sweet fruit preserves such as jams, jellies, and marmalades are often eaten at breakfast with bread or as an ingredient of a pastry or dessert, whereas more savory and acidic preserves made from "vegetable fruits" such as tomato, squash or zucchini, are eaten alongside savory foods such as cheese, cold meats, and curries.

Papaya

Papaya

The papaya , papaw, (/pəˈpɔː/) or pawpaw (/ˈpɔːpɔː/) is the plant species Carica papaya, one of the 21 accepted species in the genus Carica of the family Caricaceae, and also the name of its fruit. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and Central America. It is grown in several countries in regions with a tropical climate. In 2022, India produced 38% of the world's supply of papayas. The word papaya derives from Arawak via Spanish, and is also the name for the plant. The name papaw or pawpaw is used alternatively for the fruit only in some regions.

Saltfish

Saltfish

Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export of the North Atlantic region, and has become an ingredient of many cuisines around the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. Dried and salted cod has been produced for over 500 years in Newfoundland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. It is also produced in Norway, where it is called klippfisk, literally "cliff-fish". Traditionally, it was dried outdoors by the wind and sun, often on cliffs and other bare rock-faces. Today, klippfisk is usually dried indoors with the aid of electric heaters. Salt cod formed a vital item of international commerce between the New World and the Old, and formed one leg of the so-called triangular trade. Thus, it spread around the Atlantic and became a traditional ingredient not only in Northern European cuisine, but also in Mediterranean, West African, Caribbean, and Brazilian cuisines.

Souse

Souse

A spicy meat and vegetable soup with lime juice, made with a variety of meats, for example, pork, chicken feet, oxtail, sheep's tongue, pig's feet, conch, also refers to a head cheese by the same name

Stew fish

Stew fish

Fish soup, serve with Johnnycake or bread

Benni cakes

Benni cakes

Sesame seed snacks

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Bread pudding

Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines. It is made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet and, depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey, dried fruit, nuts, as well as spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked. Savory puddings like breakfast strata may be served as main courses, while sweet puddings are typically eaten as desserts. In other languages, its name is a translation of "bread pudding" or even just "pudding", for example "pudín" or "budín". In the Philippines, banana bread pudding is popular. In Mexico, there is a similar dish eaten during Lent called capirotada. In Liverpool in the United Kingdom, a moist version of Nelson cake, itself a bread pudding, is nicknamed "Wet Nelly".

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Coconut mango cheesecake

Coconut tart

Coconut tart

Gizzada, also referred to as pinch-me-round, is an indigenous pastry in Jamaican cuisine. The tart is contained in a small, crisp pastry shell with a pinched crust and filled with a sweet and spiced coconut filling.

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Cornmeal pudding

Firm pudding with a sweet coconut custard topping

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Currants roll

Rolled pastry with a sweet currant filling

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Guava duff

Duff is a Bahamian cuisine dessert dish made with fruit in a dough. Fruit is folded into the dough and boiled, then served with a sauce. Ingredients include fruit, butter, sugar, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, flour, rum, pepper, and baking powder. Duff is also an English term for pudding. Examples are Christmas duff, plum duff and suet duff. In the 1901 short story by Henry Lawson, "The Ghosts of Many Christmases", published in Children of the Bush, plum pudding is referred to both as pudding and duff:

Ice cream

Ice cream

Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food colouring is sometimes added in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is cooled below the freezing point of water and stirred to incorporate air spaces and prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. It can also be made by whisking a flavoured cream base and liquid nitrogen together. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures . It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases. Ice cream may be served in dishes, eaten with a spoon, or licked from edible wafer ice cream cones held by the hands as finger food. Ice cream may be served with other desserts—such as cake or pie—or used as an ingredient in cold dishes—like ice cream floats, sundaes, milkshakes, and ice cream cakes—or in baked items such as Baked Alaska.

Papaya dessert

Papaya dessert

Pineapple tart

Pineapple tart

Pineapple upside down cake

Pineapple upside down cake

An upside-down cake is a cake that is baked "upside-down" in a single pan, with its toppings at the bottom of the pan. When removed from the oven, the finished upside-down preparation is flipped over and de-panned onto a serving plate, thus "righting" it, and serving it right-side up. An upside-down cake is a cake that is baked "upside-down" in a single pan—usually a skillet—with the eventual toppings placed in the bottom of the pan. When removed from the oven, the finished upside-down preparation is flipped over and de-panned onto a serving plate. Flipping the cake before serving puts the right-side up, so that the ingredients that were in the bottom of the pan are the toppings. Usually chopped or sliced fruits—such as apples, cherries, peaches, or pineapples—butter, and sugar are placed on the bottom of the pan before the batter is poured in, so that they form a baked-on topping after the cake is inverted. A simple cottage pudding cake batter may be used. The first American recipes for upside-down cake, using prunes, appeared in newspapers in 1923.

Potato pudding

Potato pudding

Rum cake

Rum cake

A rum cake or black cake is a type of dessert cake which contains rum. In most of the Caribbean, rum cakes are a traditional holiday season dessert, descended from the holiday puddings . Traditionally, dried fruit is soaked in rum for months and then added to dough prepared with sugar which has been caramelized by boiling in water. The result, also known as "black cake", is similar to a fruitcake, with a lighter texture. In Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, fruits are preserved in cherry brandy or rum to be used in the making of black cake. Black cake is traditionally associated with Christmas and weddings in Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. On the mainland United States, rum cakes have been popular since at least the 1970s. While many island travelers go out of their way to pick up a Caribbean variety, more and more small U.S. companies are competing, much the way that craft beers are competing with the large beer manufacturers. Some offer baked-to-order rum cakes. Some infuse the rum directly into their cakes (instead of glazing). Many appear to have a decades-old special recipe. In Puerto Rico, rum cake is called Bizcocho de Ron, and is a sponge cake, so as to absorb the rum. If fruit is added to it, it is fresh or dried. Raisins and sultanas may be soaked in rum for one day or one night. Bizcochos de Ron are given as gifts during the holiday season.[citation needed]

Sapodilla pudding

Sapodilla pudding

Made from the tropical fruit collected from the chocolate pudding fruit tree

Tart

Tart

A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard. Tartlet refers to a miniature tart; an example would be egg tarts. The categories of "tart", "flan", and "pie" overlap, with no sharp distinctions. The French word tarte can be translated to mean either pie or tart, as both are mainly the same except a pie usually covers the filling in pastry, while flans and tarts leave it open. Tarts are thought to have either come from a tradition of layering food or to be a product of Medieval pie making. Enriched dough is thought to have been first commonly used in 1550, approximately 200 years after pies. In this period, they were viewed as high-cuisine, popular with nobility, in contrast to the view of a commoner's pie. While originally savory, with meat fillings, culinary tastes led to sweet tarts prevailing, filling tarts instead with fruit and custard. Early medieval tarts generally had meat fillings, but later ones were often based on fruit and custard.

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Bahama Mama

Bush Crack

Bush Crack

Inexpensive brew

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C.C. Rider

Cocoa tea

Cocoa tea

Hot chocolate with spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves

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Coconut milk mixed with sweet milk and gin

Coconut water

Coconut water

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. As development continues, the endosperm matures into its cellular phase and deposits into the rind of the coconut pulp. The liquid inside young coconuts is sometimes preferred to the liquid of a ripened coconut. Coconut water from young green coconuts is also known specifically as buko juice in Philippine English. Fresh coconuts are typically harvested from the tree while they are green. A hole may be bored into the coconut to provide access to the "meat" (liquid and pulp). In young coconuts, the liquid and air may be under some pressure and may spray slightly when the inner husk is first penetrated. Coconuts that have fallen to the ground are susceptible to rot and damage from insects or other animals.

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. The seeds of the Coffea plant's fruits are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into fine particles typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways . Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

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Coffee and rum

Fruit juice

Fruit juice

Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as clam juice. Juice is commonly consumed as a beverage or used as an ingredient or flavoring in foods or other beverages, such as smoothies. Juice emerged as a popular beverage choice after the development of pasteurization methods enabled its preservation without using fermentation . The largest fruit juice consumers are New Zealand (nearly a cup, or 8 ounces, each day) and Colombia (more than three quarters of a cup each day). Fruit juice consumption on average increases with a country's income level.

Goombay punch

Goombay punch

Bahamas Goombay Punch is a carbonated beverage that is produced in The Bahamas by the Caribbean Bottling Company Bahamas Ltd., the main distributor of Coca-Cola products in the Bahamas. It is very sweet and has a high sugar content. The taste is also very strong and has a pineapple flavor. Goombay Punch is widely available throughout The Bahamas in 12 fl oz cans as well as 20 fl oz bottles. Six packs of the soft drink are also widely available. The product comes in two varieties, Bahamas Goombay Punch and Goombay Fruit Champagne. The regular flavor is yellow in color.

Goombay Smash

Goombay Smash

Goombay Smash is a rum based beverage in the Bahamas. It is traditionally served in a sling or collins glass. The Goombay Smash was created by Emily Cooper, aka Miss Emily, at the Blue Bee Bar in New Plymouth. The original recipe is a secret, but it is believed to have contained coconut rum, dirty rum, apricot brandy, and pineapple juice. Imitators and variations commonly use rum, coconut and pineapple juice. Apricot liqueur is sometimes used and dark, amber or spiced rums are preferred. In place of coconut rum, coconut cream can be used. Other variations include Creme de Banana, orange juice and grenadine.

Island Rose Tea

Island Rose Tea

Kalik

Kalik

Mauby

Mauby

Mauby, also known as madi, maví, mobi, mabi, and maubi, is a tree bark-based beverage grown, and widely consumed, in the Caribbean. It is made with sugar and the bark and/or fruit of certain species in the genus Colubrina including Colubrina elliptica and Colubrina arborescens, a small tree native to the northern Caribbean and south Florida. Recipes usually include other ingredients as well, spices such as aniseed being very common. Mauby was traditionally a fermented beverage made in small batches, but is now predominantly a commercial non-fermented soft drink. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two of the largest Caribbean exporters of the bark and leaves. Often the drink is fermented using a portion of the previous batch, while sometimes it is consumed unfermented. Mauby is often bought as a pre-made syrup and then mixed with water to the consumer's taste, but many make it themselves at home or purchase it from neighbourhood producers or street sellers. Its taste is initially sweet, somewhat like root beer, but changes to a prolonged, but not astringent bitter aftertaste. To many, it is an acquired taste, and has been known to cause an initial laxative reaction unexpected to many first-time drinkers. In Puerto Rico the drink is also called mavi champán (champagne mauby) because the drink is fermented, causing it to foam. This process is made by mixing an older batch with a new batch. Mauby bark and leaves are boiled with ginger, avocado leaves, brown sugar and other spices. The drink is then placed in a tight sealed bottle and left out in the sun for 6-8 hours. The drink is then placed in a dark cool place left to ferment up to a week. Ginger has a significant role in the fermentation process.

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Nassau Royale

Nassau Royale is a liqueur made by Bacardi. It is popular in Nassau, Bahamas, and Bahamian cuisine. The liqueur is used with whipped bananas and cream to top the Banana Royal dessert.

Planter's Punch

Planter's Punch

Planter's punch is an IBA Official Cocktail made of Jamaican rum, fresh lime juice, and sugar cane juice. The cocktail originated in Jamaica. The September 1878 issue of the London magazine Fun listed the recipe as follows:

Rum Punch

Rum Punch

The term punch refers to a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruits or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from the Indian subcontinent to England by employees of the East India Company in the late 17th century. Punch is usually served at parties in large, wide bowls, known as punch bowls. In the United States, federal regulations provide the word "punch" to describe commercial beverage products that do not contain fruit or fruit juice. The term is used to label artificially flavored beverages, with or without natural flavorings, which do not contain fruit juice or concentrate in significant proportions. Thus a product labeled as "fruit punch" may contain no fruit ingredients at all. The original drink in the Indian subcontinent was named paanch. The word punch may be a loanword from Hindi पाँच , meaning "five", as the drink was frequently made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, juice from either a lime or a lemon, water, and spices, or milk, curd, butter, honey, sugar. Some believe the word originates from the English puncheon, which was a volumetric description for certain sized barrels used to transport alcohol on ships.

Sands

Sands

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Sky Juice

Sky juice is a Bahamian cuisine beverage combining coconut water or coconut milk, condensed milk or evaporated milk, and alcohol . Nutmeg and cinnamon can spice it up. In Malaysia, sky juice is slang for plain water.

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Switcha

Switcha is a beverage made with native limes or lemon, water and sugar made in The Bahamas and is also a part of Turks and Caicos Cuisine. It is a traditional accompaniment of duff. A version of the beverage won the 5th Winterfest White Party in 2011. Switcha is also a brand of lemon-lime flavored beverage made in Nassau, Bahamas.[citation needed]

Vita Malt

Vita Malt

Vitamalt is a brand of non-alcoholic malt beverages manufactured and originated in Denmark and its taste might be described as sweet, unfermented beer. Vitamalt is a drink designed as an energy supplement[citation needed]. It is available in about 70 countries, but it is most widely known in the West Indies, where over time it has attained the status of a cultural symbol.[citation needed] The manufacturers have sponsored sporting events and clubs throughout the Caribbean. Cycling, running, basketball, football and amateur sports are activities that Vitamalt is usually associated with.

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Yellow Bird

Yellow bird is a Caribbean cocktail. The origins of the yellow bird name is unclear. Some sources mention that the cocktail was named after the Haitian tune "Yellow Bird", that was first rewritten in English in 1957 that became a sort of national anthem of the Caribbean due to the popularity of Harry Belafonte's recording. Hawaiian singer Arthur Lyman, one of the influencers of the tiki culture's exotica music, released a version of the song which rose to number four in July 1961 on the Billboard charts and was played weekly at Shell Bar in The Hawaii Village, a possible birthplace of the cocktail. Others argue that it was not named after the song and obtains the name from its sunny color resulting from Galliano, a golden, sweet vanilla-anise Italian liqueur or from its color combination of yellow and orange fruits that are accompanied by a golden rum. The IBA does not include this latter ingredient.

Ackee and saltfish

Ackee and saltfish

Ackee and saltfish is the Jamaican national dish prepared with ackee and salted codfish. The ackee fruit is the national fruit of Jamaica. It was brought to the Caribbean from Ghana before 1725 as 'Ackee' or 'Aki', another name for the Akan people, Akyem. The fruit's scientific name honours Captain William Bligh who took the fruit from Jamaica to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England in 1793 and introduced it to science. Because parts of the fruit are toxic, such as the arils prior to the opening of the husk at the ripening stage, there are shipping restrictions when being imported to countries such as the United States. Salted codfish, on the other hand, was introduced to Jamaica for enslaved people as a long-lasting and inexpensive protein source. In west Africa, ackee is mainly used as medicine or an ingredient for soap and is not consumed as food. To prepare the dish, salt cod is sautéed with boiled ackee, onions, Scotch bonnet peppers, tomatoes, then seasoned with spices like pepper and paprika. It can be garnished with bacon and tomatoes, and is usually served as breakfast alongside breadfruit, hard dough bread, dumplings, or boiled green bananas.

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Baked crab

Crabmeat is mixed with seasoning, bread crumbs and egg, and baked in the shell

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Boil fish

A thin soup of whitefish such as grouper, mahi-mahi, hogfish, snapper simmered with onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, chili peppers, commonly served with grits

Bonefish

Bonefish

The bonefish is the type species of the bonefish family (Albulidae), the only family in order Albuliformes. Bonefish were once believed to be a single species with a global distribution, however 9 different species have since been identified. There are three identified species in the Atlantic and six in the Pacific. Albula vulpes is the largest and most widespread of the Atlantic species.

Brown stew chicken

Brown stew chicken

Brown stew chicken, is a meat dish eaten throughout the English-speaking Caribbean islands. Some countries in the Caribbean use this name interchangeable with another popular dish referred to as stew chicken that has a different recipe.[citation needed] Brown stew chicken is usually paired with rice and peas and eaten as dinner, preferable on Sundays. The eponymous chicken color is achieved by frying chicken to a deep brown color, after which its cooked in a slow simmer with spices, carrots, and ketchup.

Callaloo

Callaloo

Callaloo is a plant used in popular dishes in many Caribbean countries, while for other Caribbean countries, a stew made with the plant is called callaloo. Cuisines, including the plant callaloo or dishes called callaloo, vary throughout the Caribbean. In countries such as Trinidad and Tobago or Grenada, the dish itself is called callaloo and uses taro leaves (known by many local names such as 'dasheen bush', 'callaloo bush', or 'bush') or Xanthosoma leaves (known by many names, including cocoyam and tannia). Since the leaf vegetable used in some regions differs, some confusion can arise among the vegetables with the dish itself. This, as is the case with many other Caribbean dishes, is a remnant of West African and Taino cuisine. There are two possible etymological origins for the word. The first deriving from Tupi caárurú, meaning thick leaf. The other being from Kimbundu kalulú referring to okra, similar to the present use of the word in Haitian Creole and São Tomean Portuguese.

Conch

Conch

Conch is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point on both ends). In North America, a conch is often identified as a queen conch, indigenous to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Queen conches are valued for seafood and are also used as fish bait. In the United States, a rule has been proposed to list the queen conch's conservation status as threatened.

Conch chowder

Conch chowder

Tomato-based chowder made with ground conch meat

Conch salad

Conch salad

Conch, tomatoes, onions, Scotch bonnet peppers, celery in citrus juice, herbs and seasonings

Conch stew

Conch stew

Conch soup and conch chowder are soup dishes made with conch that are traditional in various Caribbean island cuisines as well as the cuisine of Honduras. Conch chowder is also a traditional food of the Florida Keys.

Crab

Crab

Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax .[a] They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of pincers on each arm. They first appeared during the Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago.

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Crab and rice

Cracked conch

Cracked conch

Pounded and tenderized conch, dipped in batter and fried, serve with lime juice, goat pepper sauce, peas and rice

Curry

Curry

Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. It is not to be confused with leaves from the curry tree, although some curries do include curry leaves. Curry is prepared in the native cuisines of many Southeast Asian and East Asian countries.

Escovitch

Escovitch

Escabeche is the name for several dishes in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Filipino and Latin American cuisines, consisting of marinated fish, meat or vegetables, cooked or pickled in an acidic sauce , and flavored with paprika, citrus, and other spices. In both Spain and Latin America, many variations exist, including frying the main ingredient before marinating it. Escabeche of seafood, fish, chicken, rabbit, pork, and vegetables are common in Spain, Caribbean and Portugal. Eggplant escabeche is common in Argentina. The Spanish and Portuguese word escabeche originates from Andalusi Arabic (spoken in Muslim Iberia) and ultimately Persian. It is derived from al-skepaj (السكباج), the name of a popular meat dish cooked in a sweet-and-sour sauce, usually containing vinegar and honey or date molasses. This technique spread throughout the former Portuguese and Spanish Empires and is particularly common in Latin America and the Philippines.

Fish

Fish

Ceviche, grilled, pan-fried, stew, salad, fritters, Creole style, steamed

Fish chowder

Fish chowder

Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. Clam chowder from New England is typically made with chopped clams and diced potatoes, in a mixed cream and milk base, often with a small amount of butter. Other common chowders include seafood chowder, which often consists of fish, clams, and other types of shellfish; lamb or veal chowder made with barley; corn chowder, which uses corn instead of clams; various fish chowders; and potato chowder, which is often made with cheese. Fish, corn, and clam chowders are popular in North America, especially Atlantic Canada and New England. The origin of the term chowder is obscure. One possible source is the French word chaudron, the French word for cauldron, the type of cooking or heating stove on which the first chowders were probably cooked. Chodier was also a name for a cooking pot in the Creole language of the French Caribbean islands. Additionally, a Portuguese, Brazilian, Galician and Basque fish and shellfish stew is known as caldeirada which appears to have a similar etymology. Another possible source of the word "chowder" could be the French dish called chaudrée , which is a thick fish soup from the coastal regions of Charente-Maritime and Vendée. Yet another etymology could be the Quebecois French word chaudière, which means "bucket".

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Fried chicken

Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior of the chicken while retaining juices in the meat. Broiler chickens are most commonly used. The first dish known to have been deep fried was fritters, which were popular in the European Middle Ages. However, fried chicken originated in Great Britain. The Scottish were the first to have been recorded as deep frying their chicken in fat with breadcrumbs and seasonings, as evidenced by a recipe in an 1747 cookbook by Hannah Glasse and a 1773 diary entry describing fried chicken on the Isle of Skye. There is an English cookbook from 1736 which mentions fried chicken, the “Dictionarium Domesticum”, by Nathan Bailey, where it is called “a marinade of chickens”. The first printed recipe for fried chicken in the USA was by a viriginan housewife called Mary Rudolph. However, this recipe removed the seasonings of the earlier British recipe. Meanwhile, in later years many West African peoples had traditions of seasoned fried chicken .

Fried fish

Fried fish

Pan-fried fish fillets or a whole fish, though may also be deep-fried, serve with rice and beans, salad, johnnycake

Grouper

Grouper

Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus and Mycteroperca. In addition, the species classified in the small genera Anyperidon, Cromileptes, Dermatolepis, Graciela, Saloptia, and Triso are also called "groupers". Fish in the genus Plectropomus are referred to as "coral groupers". These genera are all classified in the subfamily Epiphelinae. However, some of the hamlets , the hinds (genus Cephalopholis), the lyretails (genus Variola), and some other small genera (Gonioplectrus, Niphon, Paranthias) are also in this subfamily, and occasional species in other serranid genera have common names involving the word "grouper". Nonetheless, the word "grouper" on its own is usually taken as meaning the subfamily Epinephelinae.

Iguana

Iguana

Iguana is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena. Two species are placed in the genus: the green iguana, which is widespread throughout its range and a popular pet and the Lesser Antillean iguana, which is native to the Lesser Antilles. Genetic analysis indicates that the green iguana may comprise a complex of multiple species, some of which have been recently described, but the Reptile Database considers all of these as subspecies of the green iguana. The word "iguana" is derived from the original Taino name for the species, iwana. In addition to the two species in the genus Iguana, several other related genera in the same family have common names of the species including the word "iguana".

Jerk chicken

Jerk chicken

Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica, in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. The art of jerking originated with indigenous peoples in Jamaica from the Arawak and Taíno tribes, and was carried forward by the descendants of 17th century Jamaican Maroons who intermingled with them.

Lobster salad

Lobster salad

A mix of lobster, mayonnaise, celery and lemon juice

Lobster thermidor

Lobster thermidor

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish of lobster meat cooked in a rich wine sauce, stuffed back into a lobster shell, and browned. The sauce is often a mixture of egg yolks and brandy , served with an oven-browned cheese crust, typically Gruyère. The sauce originally contained mustard (typically powdered mustard). In January 1891, the play Thermidor by Victorien Sardou opened in the Comédie-Française theatre. The play took its name from a summer month in the French Republican Calendar, during which the Thermidorian Reaction in 1794 occurred, overthrowing Robespierre and ending the Reign of Terror. The recipe of lobster Thermidor was possibly created at Café de Paris by Leopold Mourier, a former assistant to Auguste Escoffier, or possibly it was created in 1894 at Chez Marie. Another source says it was created at Maison Maire, whose owner Mlle. Paillard sold the restaurant to Mourier. Maison Maire was a Parisian restaurant near the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin. According to that account, Paillard created the name of the recipe due to the play's notoriety. The play was highly controversial and was closed by the authorities, re-opening in March 1896. The lobster Thermidor at Maison Maire was served like homard Américain, which was made with tomatoes, cayenne, and brandy, but with the addition of English mustard. An early London recipe for Homard à l'Américaine referred to à la Thermidor as a version with the addition of English mustard, while an early American recipe for lobster Thermidor left out the tomatoes, cayenne, and mustard and added cream sauce thickened with Béarnaise sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese. It can be served with Newberg sauce but is differentiated from lobster Newberg by the addition of tomatoes.

Mahi

Mahi

The mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado (not to be confused with Salminus brasiliensis, a freshwater fish) and dolphin, it is one of two members of the family Coryphaenidae, the other being the pompano dolphinfish. These fish are most commonly found in the waters around the Gulf of Mexico, Costa Rica, Hawaii and the Indian Ocean. The name mahi-mahi comes from the Hawaiian language and means 'very strong', through the process of reduplication. By chance in Persian, mahi (ماهی) means 'fish', but the word mahi-mahi is Hawaiian. Though the species is also referred to as the common dolphinfish, the use of dolphin can be misleading as they are not closely related to dolphins; see Coryphaena for the possible etymologies of dolphinfish. In parts of the Pacific and along the English-speaking coast of South Africa, the mahi-mahi is commonly referred to by its name in Spanish, dorado. On the Mediterranean island of Malta, the mahi-mahi is referred to as the lampuka. In Indonesian, they are called ikan lemadang.

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Peas and dumpling soup

Soup or stew with pigeon peas, vegetables, dumplings and large chunks of ham

Peas soup

Peas soup

Savory pea or bean soup made with vegetables, oxtail, dumplings

Pepper steak

Pepper steak

Pepper steak is a stir-fried Chinese dish consisting of sliced beef steak (often flank, sirloin, or round) cooked with sliced bell peppers, bamboo shoots and other seasonings such as soy sauce and ginger, and usually thickened with cornstarch. Sliced onions and bean sprouts are also frequent additions to the recipe.[citation needed] Evidence for the dish's existence in the United States dates from at least 1948. The dish originated from Fujian cuisine, where it was known as qīngjiāo ròusī (青椒炒肉絲). In the original dish the meat used was pork and the seasonings were relatively light compared to pepper steak. Similar adaptations of the Chinese qīngjiāoròusī (青椒肉丝; 青椒肉絲) include gochu-japchae (고추잡채; "pepper japchae")[citation needed] found in Korean Chinese cuisine and chinjao-rōsu (青椒肉絲) found in Japanese Chinese cuisine.

Pepperpot

Pepperpot

Pepperpot is an Amerindian-derived dish popular in Guyana. It is traditionally served at Christmas and other special events. Along with chicken curry, and cook-up rice, pepperpot is one of Guyana's national dishes. This dish is usually reserved for special occasions because it needs to cook for several hours, and mostly eaten on Christmas Day or during the Christmas holiday season, and sometimes on Boxing Day. Like the original Amerindian version it is usually made in a large pot and can be reheated and eaten over several days because the cassareep starts preserving the meat.

Rack of lamb

Rack of lamb

A rack of lamb, also known as carré d'agneau , is a lamb cut that is perpendicular to the spine and includes 16 ribs or chops. In retail, it is commonly sold as a 'single' rack, which means it is sawn longitudinally and includes the 8 ribs on one side only. However, it may also be sold as a "double rack of lamb," with ribs on both sides. Another presentation involves placing two French trimmed racks together with the ribs interlinked, which is often referred to as a "guard of honour". Rack of lamb is typically roasted, sometimes with a coating of herbed breadcrumb persillade. To enhance the presentation, the tips of the bones are occasionally decorated with paper frills known as manchettes. Two or three single racks of lamb tied into a circle make a "crown roast of lamb". Crown roasts are sometimes cooked with (ground-lamb) stuffing in the middle.

Rice and peas

Rice and peas

Rice and beans, or beans and rice, is a category of dishes from many cultures around the world, whereby the staple foods of rice and beans are combined in some manner. The grain and legume combination provides several important nutrients and many calories, and both foods are widely available. The beans are usually seasoned, while the rice may be plain or seasoned. The two components may be mixed together, separated on the plate, or served separately. The dish usually consists of white or brown rice accompanied by cooked brown, red or black dry beans and seasoned in various ways. This dish is also commonly served with sides of stewed chicken, pork, beef, potato salad, boiled potatoes, and many other sides from many different cultures. In many areas, beans and rice are often served side by side rather than combined. Either way, they may be considered a meal, frequently with a topping of meat or chicken. Meat or other ingredients are sometimes placed atop beans and rice or, less frequently, mixed into it. Different regions have different preferences. In Brazil, for example, black beans are more popular in Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, while in most other parts of the country these are mostly only used in feijoadas. The New Orleans specialty known as "red beans and rice" is often accompanied by a side of smoked sausage or a fried pork chop.

Salt pork

Salt pork

Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, less commonly, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger and performed for longer, and never smoked. The fat on the meat is necessary for the curing process as it allows the salt to soak in and preserve the meat. Salt pork is made by layering salt and thin layers of meat, then dousing it in a brine mixture once the desired size has been reached. Along with hardtack and corned beef, salt pork was a standard ration for many militaries and navies throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, seeing usage in the American Civil War, War of 1812, and the Napoleonic Wars, among others. Salt pork now finds use in traditional American cuisine, particularly Boston baked beans, pork and beans, and to add its flavor to vegetables cooked in water, as with greens in soul food. It is also central to the flavoring of clam chowder. It is generally cut and cooked before use. However, it can also be eaten without prior heat treatment. [citation needed]

Saltfish

Saltfish

Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export of the North Atlantic region, and has become an ingredient of many cuisines around the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. Dried and salted cod has been produced for over 500 years in Newfoundland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. It is also produced in Norway, where it is called klippfisk, literally "cliff-fish". Traditionally, it was dried outdoors by the wind and sun, often on cliffs and other bare rock-faces. Today, klippfisk is usually dried indoors with the aid of electric heaters. Salt cod formed a vital item of international commerce between the New World and the Old, and formed one leg of the so-called triangular trade. Thus, it spread around the Atlantic and became a traditional ingredient not only in Northern European cuisine, but also in Mediterranean, West African, Caribbean, and Brazilian cuisines.

Savory pie

Savory pie

A meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and often with other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide. Meat pies are usually baked, fried, or deep fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the Maillard reaction. Many varieties have a flaky crust due to the incorporation of butter to develop a flaky texture when baking. The origins of the meat pie have been traced back to the Neolithic period, around 6000 BC. Versions of what are now known as pies were featured on ancient Egyptian tomb walls, and in ancient Greek and Roman texts.

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Scorch conch

Raw conch that has been tenderized by scoring the flesh, cut into pieces and typically marinated in orange and/or lime juice and onions, vegetables can also be added to serve the conch as a salad

Souse

Souse

A spicy meat and vegetable soup with lime juice, made with a variety of meats, for example, pork, chicken feet, oxtail, sheep's tongue, pig's feet, conch, also refers to a head cheese by the same name

Spiny lobster

Spiny lobster

Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the Bahamas, called crayfish, sea crayfish, or crawfish ("kreef" in South Africa), terms which elsewhere are reserved for freshwater crayfish. The furry lobsters (such as Palinurellus) were previously separated into a family of their own, the Synaxidae, but they are usually considered members of the Palinuridae. The slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae) are their next-closest relatives, and these two or three families make up the Achelata. Genera of spiny lobsters include Palinurus and a number of anagrams thereof: Panulirus, Linuparus, etc. The name derives from the small Italian port of Palinuro, which was known for harvesting the European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas) in ancient Roman times. The town itself was named for the legendary figure of Palinurus, who was a helmsman in Virgil's Æneid.

Steak

Steak

A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patties, such as hamburgers. Steaks are cut from animals including cattle, bison, buffalo, camel, goat, horse, kangaroo, sheep, ostrich, pigs, turkey, and deer, as well as various types of fish, especially salmon and large fish such as swordfish, shark, and marlin. For some meats, such as pork, lamb and mutton, chevon, and veal, these cuts are often referred to as chops. Some cured meat, such as gammon, is commonly served as steak.

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Steam conch

Conch in a rich and spicy tomato-based sauce

Stew fish

Stew fish

Pan fried fish is topped with a dark roux of vegetables and spices

Stone crab

Stone crab

The Florida stone crab is a crab found in the western North Atlantic, from Connecticut to Colombia, including Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, The Bahamas, and the East Coast of the United States. The crab can also be found in and around the salt marshes of South Carolina and Georgia. It is widely caught for food. The closely related species Menippe adina (gulf stone crab) is sometimes considered a subspecies – they can interbreed, forming hybrids – and they are treated as one species for commercial fishing, with their ranges partly overlapping. The two species are believed to have diverged approximately 3 million years ago. The stone crab's carapace is 5 to 6+1⁄2 in (125 to 165 mm) wide. They are brownish red with gray spots and a tan underside, and have large and unequally sized chelae (claws) with black tips. In addition to the usual sexual dimorphism exhibited by crabs, the female Florida stone crabs have a larger carapace than males of a similar age, and males generally have larger chelae than females.

Bakes

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Bakes

Fried bake is a Caribbean dish. Many West Indian nations including Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Grenada eat this dish. The main ingredient in fried bake is flour. It can be served in a multitude of ways. This dish is usually served with salt fish and steamed vegetables.

Black beans

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Black beans

The black turtle bean is a small, shiny variety of the common bean especially popular in Latin American cuisine, though it can also be found in the Cajun and Creole cuisines of south Louisiana. Like all varieties of the common bean, it is native to the Americas, but has been introduced around the world. It is also used in Indian cuisine, Tamil cuisine, where it is known as karuppu kaaramani and in Maharashtrian cuisine, where it is known as Kala Ghevada. It is widely used in Uttrakhand India also known as "Bhatt". It is a rich source of iron and protein. The black turtle bean is often simply called the black bean (frijoles negros, zaragoza, judía negra, poroto negro, caraota negra, or habichuela negra in Spanish; and feijão preto in Portuguese), although this terminology can cause confusion with at least three other types of black beans. The black turtle bean is the only type of turtle bean. It is called turtle because of its hard outer "shell". It is not to be confused with douchi, the Chinese dish made with black hulled soybeans.

Breadfruit

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Breadfruit

Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae) believed to be a domesticated descendant of Artocarpus camansi originating in New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippines. It was initially spread to Oceania via the Austronesian expansion. It was further spread to other tropical regions of the world during the Colonial Era. British and French navigators introduced a few Polynesian seedless varieties to Caribbean islands during the late 18th century. Today it is grown in some 90 countries throughout South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, Central America and Africa. Its name is derived from the texture of the moderately ripe fruit when cooked, similar to freshly baked bread and having a potato-like flavor. The trees have been widely planted in tropical regions, including lowland Central America, northern South America, and the Caribbean. In addition to the fruit serving as a staple food in many cultures, the light, sturdy timber of breadfruit has been used for outriggers, ships, and houses in the tropics.

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Side, Snack, Appetizer

Calypso sauce

Sauce made with ketchup, mayonnaise, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce, serve with conch fritters

Cassava bread

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Cassava bread

Thin flatbread made from bitter cassava root without leavening

Coco bread

Side, Snack, Appetizer

Coco bread

Coco bread is a Jamaican bread eaten on the island and in other areas of the Caribbean. The bread contains milk or coconut milk and is starchy and slightly sweet in taste. It is made to be split in half and is often stuffed with a Jamaican patty or other filling to form a sandwich. It is a standard item in school cafeterias and bakeries. Flour, butter or oil, yeast, sugar, and milk or coconut milk are combined to form a soft dough, which after rising is separated into portions which are rolled out, coated with butter or oil, and folded before baking to make an easy-to-split roughly wedge- or half-moon-shaped bun. It is a dense, moist, starchy bread and slightly sweet in taste.

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