When you stay in the best 5-star hotels in the Caribbean, there is a lot of great food on offer. No matter which island, or combination of islands, you decide to visit, each one is guaranteed to have amazing food for you to discover. Many of the Caribbean islands are famous for their signature dishes, and any visitor who wants a taste of the “real Caribbean” will usually find that out when they sample some of the unique foods available. Whether your tastes are meat or vegetarian dishes, a hearty breakfast or a light dinner, you’ll be able to find something to suit your needs while traveling in the Caribbean. Here are three of our favorite foods that you might run into.
pepper pot
If you are going to visit Trinidad or Guyana on your travels, it is definitely a good idea to make some time for the pepperpot that is served in their 5 star hotels in the Caribbean. It is a stewed meat dish flavored with cinnamon, hot peppers and a special sauce made from cassava root called ‘Cassareep’. Traditionally, cassareep was boiled in a soft pot (the actual “pepper pot”) which would absorb the flavors and then impart them to later cooked foods such as rice and chicken. An unusual quality of Cassareep is that it acts as an antiseptic, allowing food to be left cooking for indefinite periods of time. According to local legend, Betty Mascoll from Granada had a pepper pot that remained that way for more than a century.
Cou-Cou and flying fish
The national dish of Barbados is cou-cou and flying fish, a name that usually arouses the curiosity of those who want to taste the most exotic food offered by their 5-star Caribbean hotels. Cou-cou itself is a mixture of cornmeal and okra, and is usually prepared with the help of a special cou-cou stick, a unique wooden utensil with a long, flat, rectangular shape. Many people say that it reminds them of a miniature cricket bat. Flying fish are quite a sight when they jump out of the water and take a short flight to escape predators. As the national fish of Barbados, it appears on coins, in works of art, and most importantly, in 5-star Caribbean hotels, on your plate!
mountain chicken
Although nowadays eating ‘pollo serrano’ is discouraged, this Dominican dish deserves a special mention. It may come as quite a surprise to those staying in 5-star Caribbean hotels when they discover that, despite the name, the mountain chicken is actually a breed of frog.