What to eat Bahamas? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Agriculture on the archipelago is above all food-producing, and there are few farms that produce in large quantities. Potatoes, corn, avocados, cassava, sweet potatoes, okra, eggplants, peppers, green, red or black beans, squash including the much appreciated giraumon, tomatoes, bird peppers, onions, the least that can be said of the palette of vegetables is that it pleasantly disorientates the palate. Without forgetting the breadfruit tree with very nourishing fruits, brought back from the Pacific, whose flesh reminds after cooking the texture and the taste of bread. Also known as breadfruit, this fruit is known on the islands thanks to Captain Blight, famous for his crossing of the Pacific on board the famous ship, the Bounty.

The ackee was introduced to the region in the 18th century by black slaves from West Africa. Beware the firm, yellow flesh of this fruit is poisonous when unripe. The okra is a small green vegetable that is eaten young and tender. Once cut it releases a viscous juice which is very appreciated to thicken dishes. Finally the christophine - of the squash family - looks slightly like a green pear. Finely cut, it is sautéed or gratinated and releases its sweet potato taste.

If fruits are nowadays innumerable on the islands, it was not always so. When Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World, he discovered only a few indigenous fruits, such as pineapple and guava. Very quickly, trade with other regions of the world, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, allowed the introduction of new species that adapted wonderfully to their land of refuge. For example, lemon, mango and sugar cane originated in Asia, one of the legacies of British colonization, not forgetting coconut, which originated in the Pacific.

All the most incredible exotic fruits, known and unknown, with rich and subtle scents and flavours, are on the tables of Bahamas. Among the best known, limes or yellows, oranges, tangerines, bananas, avocados, watermelons, pineapples, coconuts, take on exceptional flavours. The less common ones, citrons, refreshing papayas, sweet and tart star-shaped carambolas when cut into slices, passion fruit with tangy pulp, deliciously sweet guavas, sugar cane, refreshing tangy corossols, cinnamon apples, or even sapodilla with a subtle apricot taste, are all to be discovered with pleasure.

Surrounded by waters teeming with fish, the Bahamas has always incorporated seafood into its gastronomy. The Atlantic Ocean, with its coral reefs, gives fish of all kinds, reef habituated or migratory, swordfish, grouper, wahoo, mahi mahi, lobsters, shrimps, crabs, as well as various molluscs. The tradition of fishing continues and, all along the coasts, small fishing villages follow one another with their colourful boats resting on the sand. Often grouped in cooperatives, the fishing communities dump fresh produce on the markets.

The conch, or lambi in French, holds a place of honour on the Bahamian table. Contrary to neighbouring islands where fishing is banned during the breeding season, and where some people would be damned to consume it, fishing and conch consumption are not suspended in the Bahamas, which is a cause for concern to specialists and environmental activists. This very common shellfish is linked to the most ancient rites. The Amerindians carved it into tools, jewellery, used it as a musical and communication instrument. Today, once consumed, it is used to decorate Bahamian gardens or interiors.

Even more so than conch, the most common and most consumed food in the Bahamas remains chicken. On restaurant menus, sheep, pork and beef can also be found. Beef is imported and is generally of excellent quality. Red meat remains rare in the Bahamian diet. Marinated in tasty blends of spices, it is cooked as a stew or grilled.

Peas'n rice is the most classic dish in the local cuisine. Rice is prepared with peas, then cooked with tomatoes, spiced with spices and onions, sometimes with bacon. It is an inexpensive and nutritious dish that is very popular. It almost always accompanies the main course, meat or fish. Otherwise the fire engine - which can literally be translated as "fire truck" - is a dish consisting of long simmered corned beef served with white rice. Souse is a traditional soup whose ingredients (onion, celery, meat or chicken, pig's trotter or sheep's tongue or oxtail and peppers) are cooked for a long time in water.

The most famous pastry is the Johnny cake, a pan-baked flour roll that would take its name from the habit that sailors had of taking it with them on their sea voyages, or "journey" as it was then called. Because of its rounded shape, it was also called "moon loaf". It is a good accompaniment to breakfast. The guava duff is a boiled pudding, originally English, a kind of rolled cake with guava jam, cinnamon and nutmeg. Long to prepare and uncommon, it is often a guest at festive tables. Take advantage of the opportunity if you come across one on a menu. Anone-flavoured ice cream is also a very popular delicacy.

Exotic fruits full of flavour and vitamins are consumed in juices served chilled: mangoes, passion fruit, guavas, soursop, etc. Not forgetting the deliciously refreshing coconut water which is served plain or with milk and gin. We can also mention switcha, a lemonade made with the juice of different local lemons. The two local beers are blonde and have the sweet names Kalik or Sands, which are very light and blond.

Due to the American influence, Bahamians have an unfortunate tendency to eat fast and to favour all forms of practical catering. They eat a little bit anywhere, on a dock, on a beach, in a car. Many Bahamians frequent cafeterias and fast food restaurants. Take-out food is also favoured by many. Many restaurants offer a take away and home delivery service. On the Out Islands, small food kiosks for take-out or eat-in food flourish at the end of the day.