Food

The Bahamas has great traditional foods.  Here are some we love.  We have mostly enjoyed them at a restaurant, but some can be made on the boat or at home.

Conch fritters.  Yes, you’ve seen this picture before.  These are the conch fritters we made with conch which our daughter and son-in-law found and with batter purchased in Marsh Harbor at Maxwell’s.  Yum, yum, yum. 

Conch salad is also popular, served cold with diced conch, onion, bell pepper, tomato and a spicey lime dressing.  Also cracked conch – strips of conch lightly battered and fried (sometimes with coconut in the batter), conch chowder, conch burgers, and other conch delicacies.  Unless you live here (or in Key West), you probably can’t find conch in your local waters or in your neighborhood grocery stores.  So come here to enjoy conch.

One of our new favorites is Grouper Nantua.  Basically, it’s a creamy dip made with grouper and spices and served, broiled, on bread.  Reminds us of the hot crabdip from home, especially the one served at Cantler’s. 

The Grouper Nantua above, is from the Abaco Inn.  Very tasty.  Also, lots of fresh fish is served here in Abaco – wahoo, mahi, snapper and grouper are plentiful, depending on the season, plus Bahamian lobster.   A favorite appetizer is fish fingers.  Often these are fried, but some restaurants serve them grilled – just pieces of delicious fresh fish – with a slice of lime and tartar sauce.

Here is a very special treat that doesn’t look like much, but the taste is amazing:  Chicken Souse.  Slow-cooked chicken pieces and potatoes are served in a broth of lime juice and seasonings.  You have to taste it – and then you are totally hooked.

This is from On Da Beach, where they serve it with grits and sweet cake.  The Kalik is extra.

Favorite sides here are peas and rice, (made with pigeon peas and flavored with ham/bacon and coconut), and baked macaroni and cheese, which is layered high and thick, lasagna-style, and often made with jalapeños.  

For dessert, we like the coconut pies that Vernon makes.  Big chunks of fresh coconut – not the sweetened, shredded stuff we buy at home.

And maybe it all tastes better because when we eat it we are always overlooking the harbor, the Sea of Abaco, or the ocean.