Hey guys! First of all, Happy Independence Day to my beautiful Bahamaland! I’m so super stinkin’ proud to be a Bahamian. 🙂 In honor of this special day I wanted to share some of my favorite down-home dishes to try the next time you’re in The Bahamas. When I travel, I love getting a literal taste for the culture so the trip contains some of the real-real. Let’s check out these Bahamian foods!
1. Conch Salad
HANDS DOWN! This meal is mandatory and I make sure all of my friends that visit try the bliss that is an authentic conch salad! So good! Conch is the national seafood of The Bahamas (unofficially official). Any Bahamian experience is incomplete without it. Check out my family’s love for conch salad in this Bey I Hungry video!
2. Conch Fritters
Another Bahamian delicacy. This heavenly fried dough is made with herbs, spices, and of course conch (duh). You can find this dish all over The Bahamas – the fish fry, fairs, steak-outs, restaurants. It’s a fan favorite especially paired with Calypso sauce.
3. Stew Boil Grouper or Conch
This is one of my favorite ways to start the day! Here in The Bahamas, we believe in a hot breakfast. Oatmeal just won’t cut it. There’s nothing better than a piping hot bowl of stew fish or conch to brighten up the morning. This dish pairs perfectly with ‘johnny cake’ or yellow grits.
4. Cracked Conch Snack
My go-to meal for cheat day! Did you think we were done with conch? Never! Bahamians have mastered the way of the conch with 1,001 ways to make this mollusk delectable ok! This dish consists of tender, battered conch deep-fried with french fries and an unnecessary amount of ketchup (and hot sauce). The more tender the ‘cracked conch’, the better.
4. Fried Snapper Dinner
This is the epitome of a Sunday dinner in The Bahamas. The essentials are a whole fried, seasoned Bahamian snapper and plenty starches – peas’ n rice, macaroni, potato salad. Coleslaw and fried plaintain are typical sides to add as well for your eating pleasure. I can’t promise you it’s healthy. But you can trust that’s it delicious and worth it. The hardest thing to do is walk around after a meal like this.
Those are my must-try Bahamian foods! What’s your favorite local dish you tried on your last vacation to another country?