Cuisine on Dominica: Discovery

Discovering Dominica: Cuisine

Culinary specialties

Buljow

Cod cooked with onions, hot peppers, spring onions, tomatoes and vegetable bananas, and it's all cooked in coconut milk. You'll find this dish in the villages or at the Rastas who have their own cuisine that's called « Ital food » which is vegetarian cuisine.

Bakes

a fritter stuffed with cod, tuna, and cheese. This is what replaced poor man's bread and you'll find women selling it on every street corner.

Le rôti

A sort of tortilla stuffed with chicken with a curry sauce, onions and potatoes. Have a rôti and you'll be cooked... recommended for those with a large appetite.

Callaloo soup

This looks a little like spinach soup. These are leaves from the dasheen plant, which is a tuber.

Pumpkin soup

This is the Creole version of the turban squash or winter squash that will often be served on menus as an entrée. Excellent!

Mountain chicken

This is the equivalent of our frog's legs and they are called « mountain chicken » because they do indeed taste like chicken.

And now for the national dish: chicken, chicken and more chicken!
You'll find it everywhere, prepared in all sorts of ways, as it is the least expensive meat: fried, grilled, in a gravy… The local meat is of quality and you can buy it at the Roseau market on Saturday mornings from 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. It is very good, fresh and not very expensive (about 6€/kg). The American version (frozen) is sold in supermarkets. It is full of hormones and the cold chain is not always respected. As for products from the sea, enjoy all the fish: marlin, sea bream, in first place and then, tuna…
But also lobster, that you will not find (or very rarely) in supermarkets and in any case the price is must too expensive. It's better to purchase them directly in the fishing villages.
Other specialties on the island are its crayfish. Don't leave without having tried some! They are dangerously good and you'll really like them.