Bahamas Food - Dining For The Rush
Our first taste of Bahamas food was the midnight snack we managed to find
at the Donkin' Donut shop just across from the British Colonial Hotel.
We were starving. We had just checked in and it was late that Thursday
night.
Restaurants were all closed for the night and were tired. After
satisfying our hunger pains, I thought we had had a poor introduction to
Bahamian eating, but it was midnight; what could two wandering visitors
expect this late. Then came the morning.
We started learning what Bahamas food was about
at sunrise. Now, after over a decade living in Nassau, Bahamas, I have
had more peas n' rice, macaroni n' cheese than I care to admit now. And
that is just a few items from the part of menu that I care about.
Many people could easily believe that Bahamas
food means conch salad, crab, crawfish and sea food in general. Fish and
shellfish abound in the waters of the Bahamas. There is such an
abundance of this there, it's at every meal. [Readers will have to bear
with this writer's visual experience of the conch.]
Home cooking Bahamas food
You haven't a clue about Bahamas food until you
eat at a cookout. [Actually, I salivate on just writing that last
sentence.] A cookout has no dictionary definition that I know of, but I
do know what a Bahamian cookout is.
It's like a special catering, usually done as a
fundraising event. It is outdoor catering. It is a sale of hot meals,
packaged for take-out, usually at an event such as a community or church
group event.
Most often the menu includes peas n' rice and
macaroni n' cheese. A cookout allows you to have an outing without
packing your own lunch. It could be at the beach or the ball field.
Bahamas food has a sort of community flavor to
it. In fact, you can assemble a crowd almost anywhere if you include
food. Warning to visitors: be sure you know when to stop. You
could take back more weight than you carried there with you if you
follow your taste buds.
Bahamian fast food and drink
You can find almost all the major fast food
chains in the US represented in the Bahamas. The only difference in
buying at a McDonalds or KFC is the view outside.
There are native fast food and drinks that
visitors love to sample as well. Goombay Punch is a soda that will give
the kids or "kids-at-heart" lots of energy to run around the hundreds of
miles of clear beaches in the Bahamas.
A malt drink (VitaMalt) bottled or canned in
the Bahamas is quite famous. This tasty drink that now has different
flavors wears a label that has been associated with many sponsored local
and national sporting events.
Kalik (Bahamas beer) and Bacardi are always
popular alcoholic beverage choices. You will see these labels at every
seaside bar. Carry your alcoholic drink in a paper bag if you walk and
drink though. Of course, it is extremely illegal to drink and drive
anywhere in the Bahamas!
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The
Bahamas Experience