Barbados / Special Interests / Food and Cooking

You can eat extremely well on Barbados – some of the best restaurants in the Caribbean are set on the beaches and cliffs of the West Coast – see our Barbados Food & Drink section.

Local food also has its own strong tradition on Barbados and this can be interesting to experience. Most hotels have a weekly buffet of local food which will give you a taster, but it is also worth noting that most of the villas on Barbados have their own cooks who would be delighted to introduce you to local food. Like much West Indian food, Bajan food is quite hearty, with stews accompanied by rice ‘n’ peas or hefty vegetables such as plantain or sweet potato.

There are of course plenty of fish dishes, but an island favourite is flying fish, which is served steamed in a tasty but light onion and tomato-based sauce on cou-cou (not unlike polenta, made from cornmeal and okra). Alternatively, the fish is seasoned with Bajan Seasoning (a blend of spring onions, thyme, marjoram, onions, garlic, black pepper, spices and salt, which you can buy in any local supermarket) and then dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and pan-fried. A flying fish sandwich or cutter (Bajan salt bread roll with salad) is very popular, and is usually enhanced by a dash of the local mustard-based hot pepper sauce.

Saltfish (once a slave staple, now fondly retained) is another firm favourite on Barbados. It can be cooked in a variety of ways, but one that should not be missed is freshly fried fish cakes of salted cod, flour, herbs and pepper. They are sold at all local festivities.

Black pudding and souse, another local delicacy, is very much a special treat for high days and holidays. The black pudding is a blood sausage with sweet potato and herbs and the accompanying souse is pickled pig’s head and trotters (though many places substitute this with more traditional cuts of pork) with cucumber and breadfruit. Such local fare is most often found at street festivals, rum shops, and often on the deli and takeaway counters at the bigger supermarkets.

Over recent years, the spot for local food has become the Fish Fry at Oistins, a fishing village on the South Coast, which sees a nice mix of locals and visitors and makes a lively early evening out. In fact there are a number of places with a Friday night fish fry. At Six Men’s Bay in the north of the island, you can go along to the fish fry with a bottle of wine and cutlery provided by the Fish Pot Restaurant.

An easy to follow cookbook of traditional Barbadian and Caribbean recipes is the award-winning Caribbean Recipes “Old & New” by LaurelAnn Morely. The book is available through Amazon or directly from LaurelAnn (who will sign it if you ask) at her home and restaurant, The Cove, where she is the chef. The book features the artwork of her late father, Gordon Parkinson. The Cove is located just off Cattlewash on the East Coast and their Sunday buffet of traditional fare is extremely popular, featuring many of the book’s dishes.