he Caribbean consists of an archapelago of islands
stretching from Florida to Venezuela. Barbados is the most easterly of these islands,
some of which were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The Caribbean consists
of an amalgam of many different races, the most prominent being those of Caribbean Indian,
African, European and Asian. This race mix has provided the Caribbean with an eclectic
culinary heritage. Such products as cassava, maise, breadfruit, guava, rice (which became
a staple of Caribbean kitchens), an abundance of fish (Flying Fish in Barbados) was
available from the surrounding ocean and prominently appeared in the local diet.
![[blue bar]](http://www.fiu.edu/~library/images/bluebar.gif)
he early European settlers added to the native products of the
Caribbean by introducing various fruit trees such as figs, lemons, limes, oranges, bananas,
pineapples, coconuts, yams, potatoes, and sugar cane which became the raison d'etre for most of
the Caribbean islands. Sugar was the mainstay of the Caribbean economy and also produced
such by-products as rum, and molasses.
aribbean cusine has been influenced by many European cultures
but its greatest influence comes from the British and French. Each Caribbean island shares some
dishes in common, and each has developed dishes which are unique to their particular island. This
page represents the island of Barbados and some of its unique dishes.
arbados, and its native Barbadians are commonly known as Bajans.
The first Bajans were made up of cannibals, convicts, pirates, planters and slaves. This
eclectic group shaped the destiny of the tiny coral island. Though Christopher Columbus
missed Barbados on all four of his trips to the West Indies, Caribbean Indians, Africans, and
Europeans left their mark on the 166 square-mile spot of ground.
The story of Barbados began in about 400 BC when the Arawaks,
the first Indians to establish villages in Barbados came from the area known as Venezuela.
They travelled across the sea in canoes up to 90 feet long, which transported women, children,
animals, water, plants, idols, navigational devices and weapons. The Arawaks farmed and fished;
they also brought with them a calendar system and a unique tradition of pottery-making.
The Arawak population declined in 1200 AD, probably because they were wiped out by the
Caribs, a somewhat less sophisticated tribe of hunters and fishermen
who dominated Barbados for three hundred years.
When the British arrived in Barbados in 1627 all of the Indians had disappeared. However,
traces of Carib and Arawak culture are still evident in modern Barbados. Whether one is
handling a piece of prehistoric pottery, sipping Planter's punch,
or ladling out a Pepperpot stew, you'll be taking a momentary
trip back in time. Sounds of an ancient Indian Language are in such familiar Barbadian
words as:
![[red dot]](http://www.fiu.edu/~library/images/rd_dot.gif)
huracan
![[red menu]](http://www.fiu.edu/~library/images/rd_menu.gif)
hurricane
maiz
maize or corn
canaua
canoe
tobaco
tobacco
hamaca
hammock
sabana
savannah
guayaba
guava
arbados' name is Portuguese. At some point during the years
of Caribbean exploriation, the Portuguese began referring to the island as Los Barbados,
meaning the bearded ones, possibly a reference to bearded fig trees, a few of which
can still be found on the island.
The first English explorers landed in Barbados in 1625 but the first English settlement
did not begin until 1627, when on February 17, eighty English settlers and ten black
slaves (captured from trading vessels en route) disembarked on the west coast of the island.
Black male slaves were introduced by the Dutch and Portuguese traders during Barbados'
earliest years and, when they did not fare well, importation of slaves became a yearly event.
The original English settlers were made up of the younger sons of well placed Englishmen
who would receive none of the inheritance which fell to the oldest son. Subsequent
migrations were made by political outcasts and later by lower class laborers from England,
Ireland, Scotland and Holland who were without money to buy land.
he history of Barbados, as we know it, took a pivotal turn
in the 1640's when the British decided to manufacture sugar, making Barbados the first
British possession to cultivate sugar on a large scale. Food rations for the salves who,
for the most part, worked as field workers on the sugar plantations, consisted of yams,
potatoes, corn (maiz), fish, salt and molasses. These are the precursors to some of the
foods which now appear in modern Barbadian cuisine.
ice is a major staple of the Barbadian diet so much so
that many Barbadians (Bajans) feel that a meal without rice is not a complete meal, as
witnessed in this poem rendered in the Bajan dialect:
We language limit?
Who language en limit?
Evah language
Like a big pot o' Bajan soup:
Piece o' yam, piece o' potato,
T'ree dumplin; two eddoe
One beet, two carrot,
Piece o' pig-tail, piece o' beef
Pinch o' salt, dus o' pepper
An' don' furget okra
To add to de flavour,
Boil up, cook up, eat up
An' yuh still wan' rice...
fter the long reign of sugar as the primary economic
source in Barbados, the late 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of tourism as a major economic
activity in the region. The Barbados Hotel Aid Act of 1956 promised extensive fiscal concessions
for the construction of tourist accommodation, and a Barbados Tourist Development Board was
established in 1958. These efforts were designed to tap an increasingly affluent North Anerican
and European Market. The number of tourist arrivals in Barbados in 1965 was almost twice that
of 1960.
The tourist trade has greatly influenced cooking in hotels and travellers who stay in most
of them may think that there is no real Caribbean cooking today. However, Barbadian cooking
is still done in typical island homes and has been handed down, from generation to generation,
through the years. Too, several hotels, the Barbados Hilton for example, have decided to
showcase a menu of Barbadian fare at least once a week, and at the famous New Years Eve Fest
there is an extensive show case of Caribbean fare in which foods from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica
and Trinidad & Tobago are featured prominently.
This page was last updated November 22, 1999
Please send comments or suggestions to the author:
Cynthia Dottin
