Dining

Bahamas Cuisine: Dining in the Bahamas

What To Eat – Food, Dining, and Cuisine in the Bahamas

Although you can find almost any kind of international food in the Bahamas from Sushi to Lasagna, some dishes are unique to the Islands of The Bahamas.

The Bahamas are the delight of fresh seafood lovers who enjoy the bountifully rich treasures from the sea. Crawfish (local rock lobster) conch (pronounced ‘konk’), land crabs, and fish such as Grouper, Yellow Tail and Red Snapper are local and tourist favorites.

Boiled fish and grits is a favorite breakfast. Boiled fish is also delicious served with homemade Island bread. Grouper is the most popular fish used for boiling. Bahamians are experts at cooking this fish which is flaky, white, tender and mild in flavor.

Conch (pronounced ‘konk’), is a mollusk (shell fish like an oyster), is a perennial local seafood favorite. Unlike the slimy oyster the meat of conch is firm and white and is prepared in a variety of ways including conch chowder, conch stew, conch salad, popular conch fritters, and is also deep fried as “cracked conch”.

Other specialties include Bahamian stew fish (made with celery, onions, tomatoes, spices and fish), Bahamian crawfish, peas n’ rice (consisting of pigeon peas with salt, pork or bacon, tomatoes, celery, rice, thyme and pepper) and Johnny cake (pan-cooked bread made with butter, milk, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder).

A typical Bahamian meal consists of crab and rice, delicious steamed fish, served with baked macaroni and cheese and a good helping of potato salad. This is followed by desserts such as coconut or pineapple tart, bread pudding or guava duff, a delicious dessert that is made through a laborious process of folding the fruit into the dough and boiling and is served with a sauce. Such a typical meal also explains why their are so many Bahama Mama’s and why heart disease and diabetes is so rampant in the Bahamas.

A typical Bahamian Christmas meal consists of baked ham and baked turkey with stuffing, green peas and rice, yam or sweet potato, baked macaroni and cheese, potato salad, coleslaw and vegetables.