Barbados Foods: Caribbean's Most Underrated Cuisine
Barbados, a tiny island called the Gem of the Caribbean Sea and home to Superstar Rihanna, is a place where you can taste some of the Caribbean's best cuisines! Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Barbados Food & Wine

Tickle your taste buds with these hidden gems of Caribbean cuisine - the flavorful and delicious dishes from Barbados.

This stunning island boasts some of the region's most breathtaking beaches and vibrant city streets and offers a diverse culinary experience that will leave you craving for more.

Barbados Food: 5 Delicious Dishes to Try

Barbados has something for every foodie to enjoy, from mouth-watering seafood to savory stews. So, let's dive into the treasure trove of delectable Bajan foods and discover the true essence of this Caribbean culinary paradise.

BBQ Pigtails

Get ready to savor a unique and delectable dish from Barbados - Pigtails! Despite its name, this isn't your average pigtail but a delicious meal made with salted pork tails. To prepare this mouth-watering dish, the pigtails are first boiled to remove the salt and then thoroughly cleaned.

A sweet and tangy BBQ sauce is then applied to the tails cooked over an open flame to create a perfectly caramelized exterior. The secret to the perfect pigtail is in the sauce.

The sweet BBQ sauce perfectly complements the saltiness of the pigtails, creating a delectable flavor combination that will surely please any foodie. This dish will become a new favorite whether you enjoy it as a savory appetizer or a hearty main course paired with fries.

Bajan Chicken Soup With Dumplings

This is one of the most beloved traditional Bajan foods, served weekly on "soup day" with a hearty dose of Caribbean flavor. This soup is a nutritional powerhouse packed with various vegetables and roughage that add to its thick, delicious texture.

The critical ingredients of Bajan chicken soup include sliced chicken, salted pigtails, carrots, onions, celery, okras, ground provisions like sweet and English potatoes, eddoes, yams, and split peas.

The soup's base is made from pumpkin, which adds a unique twist to the dish. Once the broth is prepared, fresh dumplings and a blend of fresh herbs and seasonings are added to create a savory and satisfying meal.

The dumplings are added to the soup towards the end of the preparation process, giving them just enough time to soak up the flavors of the soup.

The dough for the dumplings is made from a blend of flour, sugar, water, and aromatic spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, which lend a sweet and fragrant aroma to the dish.

Macaroni Pie

If you're looking for a dish to satisfy a crowd, look no further than Bajan Macaroni Pie, also known as simply "pie" to locals. This cheesy baked pasta dish is a staple at banquets and formal events in Barbados, but it's just as delicious as a casual meal.

The key ingredients in this classic dish include cooked macaroni, cheddar cheese, onions, fresh herbs and spices, egg, milk, ketchup, and mustard.

Once everything is combined, the mixture is baked in a casserole dish until it's creamy, cheesy, and flavorful. To make this Bajan favorite dish a complete meal, serve it alongside your choice of meat or fish and a fresh salad.

Roasted Breadfruit

The tropical regions are ideal for growing breadfruit. You will need help locating this fruit elsewhere besides the Caribbean, South America, and West Africa.

No other option comes close to matching its flavor and consistency. Like its namesake, it tastes and feels quite bready because the fruit has high starch content.

Butter is placed into the 'heart' of the breadfruit before it is grilled over an open flame. After the fruit has been cleaned and the pit removed, your preferred filling can be added.

Butter and pepper sauce are the most basic toppings, but add things like pulled pork, souse, ham, cheese, or sautéed salt fish with herbs. What the locals call "niggeritis" is one hefty, indulgent dinner.

Chicken Pilau

When it comes to Barbados' food, there's one dish that stands out above the rest: chicken pilau. Perfect for lunch or dinner, this savory and satisfying meal bursts with flavor and leaves your taste buds begging for more.

The broth in which the rice is cooked is the heart of this dish. Burnt sugar is used as a base to create chicken pilau's unique flavor. Slowly heating the sugar until it reaches a rich, dark brown color is crucial to achieving the perfect balance of sweetness and depth of flavor.

Once the sugar is caramelized, it's time to move on to the next step: simmering the chicken and salt until they are tender and juicy. Water, seasonings, fresh herbs, and veggies are added to the pot, infusing the broth with even more aromatic goodness.

Finally, the washed rice is added to the pot, allowing it to soak up all the delicious flavors from the other ingredients. In 30 minutes, you will have tender, succulent chicken and fluffy, dark rice combined to create a dish that's truly out of this world.

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: EXOTIC Stuffed BAJAN BREADFRUIT! Roasting BREADFRUIT in BARBADOS! - From Davidsbeenhere