COPPERWhat is the national dish of Saint Kitts and Nevis?
The national dish of Saint Kitts and Nevis is stewed saltfish with spicy plantains, coconut dumplings and seasoned breadfruit: salt cod soaked, boiled, flaked and stewed with peppers, onion and tomato, served with dumplings made with grated coconut. No law makes it official, but it is the plate most often cited; goat water is the islands' other famous dish.
What is on the plate?
The national dish of Saint Kitts and Nevis is not one preparation but a full plate of four parts, cooked separately and served together:
Saltfish and dumplings is the classic combination in Saint Kitts and Nevis, as it is on several other islands. The Kittitian plate works grated coconut into the dumpling dough and serves breadfruit and plantain alongside.
- Stewed saltfish: salt cod, desalted, flaked and simmered in a sauce of sweet peppers, onion, garlic and tomato.
- Spicy plantains: plantains fried until golden, seasoned with ginger, onion and chilli.
- Coconut dumplings: a stiff dough of flour and grated coconut, shaped by hand and boiled.
- Seasoned breadfruit: breadfruit pieces cooked with butter, onion, garlic, thyme and sweet peppers.
How stewed saltfish and dumplings are made
The saltfish needs planning. In our saltfish and dumplings recipe, 400 g of salt cod soaks overnight in cold water with two changes, then boils 20 minutes before it is flaked and the skin and bones removed. Skipping the soak leaves the dish far too salty.
The sauce starts with onion, sweet pepper, garlic and thyme softened 4 minutes in oil, then chopped tomato and half a scotch bonnet cooked 5 minutes. The flaked fish goes in with black pepper and stews gently for 10 minutes.
The dumplings are kneaded from 250 g of flour, 60 g of grated coconut and about 150 ml of water, rolled into fingers and boiled 15 to 20 minutes, until they float and are fluffy inside. Ripe plantains are fried until caramelised and tossed with the rest of the chopped scotch bonnet.
The breadfruit is cut into pieces of about 2.5 cm and cooked with butter, onion, garlic, thyme and diced sweet peppers, moistened with a little broth. Everything is drained on paper so the fried sides stay crisp.
Is it official?
We found no law or government decree. The status comes from usage: Caribbean media such as Times Caribbean present stewed saltfish with spicy plantains and coconut dumplings as the national dish of St Kitts-Nevis, and international food guides say the same. So the honest answer is: no official act, but this is the dish most often cited.
Goat water: the other contender
Goat water is often described as the country's best-known dish. This goat stew combines goat meat, breadfruit, green pawpaw (papaya) and dumplings, known locally as "droppers", in a tomato-based broth.
Goat water is not unique to the federation. It is described as the national dish of Montserrat, where it is thought to descend from Irish stew made with goat instead of lamb, and it is also eaten in Dominica. But it is in Saint Kitts and Nevis that it is most prominent outside Montserrat.
On Montserrat, goat water is served with white rice and boiled dasheen leaves or crusty bread rolls, and it is a fixture at weddings, parties and funerals.
Other dishes to know from Saint Kitts and Nevis
Pelau, also called cook-up, is the everyday one-pot rice dish: chicken browned in a heavy pot, then rice, pigeon peas and coconut milk cooked together for 20 to 25 minutes without stirring, until every grain is seasoned. Local versions can add pig tail and saltfish.
Conch fritters use conch pounded with a mallet until the flesh stops springing back, chopped fine and folded into a peppery batter, then fried at 180 °C for 3 to 4 minutes.
Conkies are close to tamales: cornmeal mixed with grated sweet potato, pumpkin and coconut, wrapped in banana leaves and boiled. Unlike tamales, nothing is rolled inside the dough, and the parcels are boiled rather than steamed. The national drink is CSR, Cane Spirits Rothschild, a spirit distilled from fresh sugar cane.
With rich soil, the islands grow a wide variety of produce, and seafood such as lobster and conch is a staple. Sweets are simple, sometimes nothing more than tamarind or guava cooked with sugar; coconut cakes, guava cheese and tamarind balls are the classics. On Nevis, many villages hold cookouts on Friday and Saturday nights, with food, drink and dominoes.
You will find all three Copper dishes on our page about the food of Saint Kitts and Nevis. For the wider region, see our guide to Caribbean food and the national dish of Antigua and Barbuda.
The recipes
- Saltfish and dumplings🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis · 13 hours and 20 minutes
Pelau🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis · 50 minutes
Conch fritters🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis · 1 hour and 5 minutes
Questions people ask
What is the national dish of St Kitts?
St Kitts and Nevis share one national dish: stewed saltfish with spicy plantains, coconut dumplings and seasoned breadfruit.
Is goat water the national dish of St Kitts and Nevis?
Goat water is one of the federation's best-known dishes, but it is usually described as the national dish of Montserrat. The plate most often cited for Saint Kitts and Nevis is stewed saltfish with dumplings.
What are coconut dumplings?
They are boiled dumplings made from flour, grated coconut and water, kneaded into a stiff dough, shaped by hand and cooked in boiling water until they float.
What is cook-up in St Kitts?
Cook-up is the local name for pelau: rice cooked in one pot with pigeon peas, chicken and sometimes pig tail and saltfish.
What is the national drink of St Kitts and Nevis?
CSR, Cane Spirits Rothschild, a spirit distilled from fresh sugar cane.
Keep reading
- Traditional food of Saint Kitts and Nevis: 12 dishes to know
- What is the national dish of Antigua and Barbuda?
- What is the national dish of the Bahamas?
- What is the national dish of Barbados?
- What is the national dish of Cuba?
- What is the national dish of Dominica?