Food & Drink

Caribbean Cuisine

Caribbean cuisine is a varied collection of spicy mixtures of Island flavours blended with tomatoes, chilli peppers, a portion of reggae music and a huge measure of imagination! Each island has a strong culinary tradition and not surprisingly, seafood  being cheap and easy to come by, is one of the most common types of cuisine on the Islands and each island will boast its own speciality.

A trip to the Caribbean wouldn't be complete without an opportunity to enjoy some of the regional seafood and with so many delicious options; the only challenge will be deciding which one you like best. Popular Caribbean fruits of the sea include lobster, crab, shrimp, blue marlin, kingfish and flying fish - all of which should be sampled at a local weekend fish fry, a great inexpensive opportunity to fill up on the freshest fish while soaking in the local atmosphere, music and local rum.

The fish is cooked by the road, barbecued, fried or grilled and served up with a warm friendly welcome. "Flying Fish" is a featured dish in Barbados and during your trip and you should ensure you savour the tastes of this exciting dish.

Hot tip – Try the CONCH, which is delicious simply grilled! If you're feeling adventurous, try sea urchins!

Meat - with the exception of goat, is expensive and most islanders survive on vegetables and delicious variations of chicken and fish. In Cuba, however, pork is a major feature of most cooking.

Jerk cooking is also common throughout the Caribbean, and originated with the African slaves who came to the islands in the 1600s, coated meat in spice mixtures (jerk) using island-grown ingredients such as ginger, thyme, allspice, hot peppers and green onion and then marinated it before cooking it very slowly in a pit, smoker or on a barbecue grill.

Cooking styles in the Caribbean islands are as diverse as the various nations that have populated the region over the years. Generally, French and Spanish styles predominate, with lots of garlicky, tomato sauces served over fish, and meat cooked very simply in an oven or on an open grill.

Another Caribbean mainstay is rice, but you'll find the rice on each island may be a little different. Some season their rice, or add peas and other touches - like coconut. Though it comes in many forms, it is a common side dish throughout the region.

Amongst the many fruits on offer, some of the best are the familiar favourites: bananas, grapefruits and oranges. More exotic fruits include the milky white pulp of the soursop, from which a breakfast juice is made; the carambola or star fruit, which is de-seeded and then eaten whole or sliced in salads or as a garnish for drinks and meat dishes. Guava - often used to make breakfast jelly and of course coconuts, which produce milk when ripe and a refreshing coconut-flavoured water when green.

Vegetables tend to be versatile and filling and cooked in various different styles. Such as the yucca, breadfruit or callalloo - a spinach-type vegetable in Jamaica, where it is used like turnip or greens. Plantains, sweet when ripe and savoury when green, are prepared as a side dish to rice and beans or fried and made into chips.

From jerk chicken in Jamaica to cracked conch in the Cayman Islands the Caribbean is home to a rich and fascinating variety of local foods with influences of cultures from around the world.

If you are interested in a culinary exploration on your visit to the Caribbean you will not be disappointed.

Drinking specialities

Rum is the liquor of choice in the Caribbean, and most islands distil their own brand. You'll find rum distilleries, factories and museums all over the islands, from Jamaica and Barbados to Trinidad and Tobago, with the most famous brand, Bacardi, being made in Puerto Rico. Rum comes in three distinct varieties: White rum, a sweet, fruity drink used as the base for the popular Caribbean cocktails; Ambered rum, which is white rum aged in barrels of oak, from which it gets its darker colour and slightly more dense flavour; and the richest rum of all - Old rum, aged for three to six years in barrels of oak from North America that once contained bourbon or whisky.

Caribbean beers are refreshing and moderately light, somewhere between their European and American counterparts. Particularly good are Jamaica's Red Stripe, St Lucia's Piton lager and the regional favourite, Carib which is brewed on Trinidad and Tobago.

Fantastic fruit juice concoctions are a great alcohol-free alternative. The quality of Caribbean citrus fruits is very high and limes, lemons, oranges and grapefruits are available freshly squeezed in most cafés and restaurants, as well as by the side of the road. The roadside is also the place to buy delicious coconut water - vendors simply sell you the unripe coconut with a hole drilled through to the delicious sweet water inside, and a straw.

Tropical fruit juices such as pineapple, mango and papaya are also widely available, as is a delicious cranberry-coloured beverage made from the flowers of the slightly sour sorrel plant and the almost creamy, milky-white juice of the prickly and dark-skinned soursop.

Tea and coffee are readily available but - with the exception of strong, rich roasts from Jamaica and Dominica - tend to be of negligible quality. Instead, many islanders will drink a cup of milky hot chocolate made from the shavings of a locally grown cocoa stick with their breakfast.