Glossary of Bajan terms
The words you'll see on our menu, explained without fuss.
- BajanBAY-jun
- What Barbadians call themselves, their dialect and their food. A worn-down contraction of "Barbadian", and the everyday word rather than a nickname.
- Bajan seasoning
- A wet green paste of parsley, thyme, marjoram, scallion, onion, garlic and hot pepper, rubbed into meat or fish hours before cooking. The backbone of the cuisine, and the reason Bajan food tastes herbaceous rather than smoky.
- Bakes
- Fried dough, slightly sweet, eaten at breakfast or alongside fish. Confusingly not baked.
- Conkies
- Cornmeal, coconut, pumpkin, sweet potato and spice wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. Traditionally made around Independence Day in November.
- Cou-couCOO-coo
- Cornmeal and okra cooked and turned until smooth and firm enough to hold a shape. Descended from West African fufu. Half of the national dish.
- Cutter
- A sandwich made in a salt bread roll. A fish cutter is the standard: fish cakes or fried fish inside the bread, with pepper sauce.
- Crop Over
- The summer festival marking the end of the sugar cane harvest, revived in the 1970s. It ends with Grand Kadooment — costume, calypso and a road march.
- Fish cakes
- Salt cod fritters, fried to order and eaten hot, usually with a pepper sauce. Sold by the piece and rarely lasting the walk home.
- Flying fish
- The fish Barbados is known for, and the other half of the national dish. Usually steamed in a tomato and onion gravy or fried. It appears on the coins, and on our logo.
- Jug jug
- A Christmas dish of guinea corn and pigeon peas with salted meat, generally traced to Scottish settlers and adapted with local ingredients.
- Macaroni pie
- Baked macaroni and cheese, firm enough to cut into squares, seasoned with mustard and pepper. A side dish, served next to rice and peas without apology.
- MaubyMAW-bee
- A bittersweet drink brewed from tree bark and spices. Closer to a bitter herbal soda than a sweet one, and an acquired taste acquired young.
- Pepperpot
- A slow-cooked, heavily spiced meat stew. Versions exist across the Caribbean; the Bajan one is its own thing.
- Pigtails
- Cured pork tails, salty and rich, either braised or barbecued. A staple cut rather than an oddity.
- Pudding and souse
- A Saturday dish. Souse is pork pickled cold in lime, cucumber, onion and hot pepper; pudding is seasoned grated sweet potato, steamed until dense. Sharp and rich together. Spelled "sous" on some older menus.
- Rice and peas
- Rice cooked with pigeon peas and seasoning. The default starch on a plate.
- Salt bread
- Soft round rolls, less salty than the name suggests. The bread a cutter is built from.
- Sorrel
- A deep red drink made from dried hibiscus sepals with ginger and clove. Belongs to Christmas.
- Souse
- Pork pickled in lime, onion, cucumber and hot pepper, served cold. See pudding and souse.
- Sweet bread
- A dense coconut loaf, closer to cake than bread, often with dried fruit. Eaten in slices with tea.