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funerals – include food. According to the and pork wafts over the public marketplace
literature, our deep connection with it is about
preparing, creating, discovering, exploring,
inventing and changing our food and food
landscape.
Antigua and Barbuda’s culture has seen all of
the above. But perhaps nowhere else has it
undergone such a sea change than in the foods
we consume or the manner in which they are
prepared.
In the last 20 years or so, North American cuisine
has been all- pervasive. Along with breakfast
cereals replacing porridge, the ubiquitous KFC,
with or without fries, has all but taken over young
palates, and has become lunch, dinner, snack or
breakfast.
Adults, meantime, due to the deepening Middle
Eastern influence, patronize the shwarma and
pizza joints. In almost every neighbourhood,
there is at least one of these establishments and
they are not lacking in customers.
Jamaican patties have taken over where the
Nook left off, and the smell of jerked chicken
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somehow has caused us to re-look at what we sprung up in the making and supplying of these
of an evening. Roti with various fillings have eat and, perhaps by extension, the role food plays thirst-quenching blends. Our people know they
become another staple for lunch, compliments in our culture. have no additives, since, in most cases, the
of the Guyanese influence. ingredients are found locally.
Fever grass, sage, man-better-man, eucalyptus,
But rivalling KFC are the Chinese restaurants. soursop and vervine bush have made a giant We can thank the church for breathing life
There is almost no community in town or in the comeback, as bush tea is now a staple in many into our food culture, as almost all the major
country in which a Chinese restaurant cannot be homes. So are ginger, garlic and turmeric. We denominations host annual food fairs, where
found. Some say that sales of $5-fried rice, chow have come full circle, back to Grandma’s kettle the emphasis is on local cuisine, including the
mein noodles, and fried wings are indicators of with the strong-smelling brew that was the signature dishes of sister-island Barbuda, with its
the economic health of the nation, since a little remedy for many an ailment. delectable seafood.
of any of these goes a long, long way.
Thanks to the pandemic, too, there is a resurgence The only constant is change; so goes the cliché.
It is difficult to find a blessing in the current of local drinks. Sorrel at Christmas and ginger On the 40th anniversary of Independence, this
pandemic, which has cost the lives of so many beer were always with us. But five-finger, beet, holds true when it comes to what and how we eat.
and up-ended the economy. However, COVID carrot, passion fruit, sea moss, mauby and even Therefore, just as we honour our past with stories
hibiscus can be bought on almost and songs and literature, it is time to preserve
every street corner five days our food culture and the memories
a week. And don’t they evoke by documenting the
forget the coconut recipes that bring them
water. back to life.
An entire
industry
has
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