COPPERWhat is the national dish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
The national dish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish: a whole breadfruit roasted over fire until the skin chars, served with small jack fish washed in lime, rubbed with green seasoning, floured and fried. No law makes it official, but it is the dish most sources name; callaloo is sometimes cited too.
What is roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish?
It is a simple plate of two things. Breadfruit, a large starchy fruit, is roasted whole until the skin is black, then peeled and cut into thick wedges. Jackfish are small jacks, a local sea fish, fried whole on the bone and picked apart at the table.
In Saint Vincent, breadfruit is eaten boiled in soups, roasted and fried, and the ripe fruit goes into drinks, cakes and ice cream. The islands hold a breadfruit festival every August. The roasted breadfruit and jackfish plate is cooked on weekends and at festive occasions, and all year round.
The country is made up of 32 islands, only 9 of them inhabited.
How it is made
Our fried jackfish recipe covers both halves of the plate:
- Whole fish, not fillets. Eight small jacks are scaled and gutted, then washed in water with the juice of 2 limes for 15 minutes, rinsed and patted completely dry.
- Green seasoning. Chive, thyme, garlic and onion are pounded with salt and rubbed into the slashes and the belly, then the fish rests 30 minutes.
- Fire-roasted breadfruit. A whole breadfruit roasts directly over an open fire or a gas flame for 45 to 60 minutes, turned often, until the skin is charred and a skewer slides through. An oven works too: about 1½ hours at moderate heat.
- Flour only. The fish is dredged in flour seasoned with black pepper, no cornmeal, and fried in 2 cm of oil for 4 to 5 minutes per side.
- To serve: hot wedges of breadfruit, the fish and more lime.
Why breadfruit belongs to Saint Vincent
Breadfruit is not native to the Caribbean. In the late 18th century, colonial administrators and plantation owners wanted a cheap, high-energy food for enslaved people in the British colonies. After a failed first voyage on HMS Bounty, William Bligh led a second expedition in 1791 that collected breadfruit plants in Tahiti and carried them to St Helena, Jamaica and Saint Vincent.
That voyage is how breadfruit reached the island where it is now half of the national plate. Neighbouring Grenada builds its national dish, oil down, on breadfruit too.
Callaloo: the other candidate
Some sources, including a Remitly guide to national dishes, present callaloo as the iconic dish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Most others, including Wikipedia, name roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish, which is why we treat it as the national dish.
Vincentian callaloo is a full meal rather than a side: dasheen leaves and okra cooked down with salt beef, white sweet potato and flour dumplings, crushed against the pot with a swizzle stick and finished with coconut milk. Like Dominica, which chose callaloo as its national dish, Saint Vincent relies on okra for the soup's body.
The Vincentian pot starts with salted beef soaked for an hour in two changes of water and boiled 30 minutes. Dasheen leaves, okra, onion, garlic, thyme and diced white sweet potato follow for 25 minutes, then short finger dumplings and 400 ml of coconut milk for 15 minutes more. It is served as a main course, and is better still reheated the next day.
Other dishes to know from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Roti, the plain Indian flatbread of flour, water and salt cooked on a dry pan, is eaten across the Caribbean, especially where Indo-Caribbean communities are large, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Saint Vincent received indentured Indian labourers between 1861 and 1888, and about 6% of Vincentians today are of East Indian descent.
The best-known Caribbean form, the roti wrap folded around curry as street food, was created in southern Trinidad in the mid-1940s. Copper's recipe is the plain version: 2 cups of flour, a teaspoon of salt and 3/4 cup of water, kneaded, rested 10 minutes, rolled out and cooked 1 to 2 minutes per side, then brushed with oil.
Ducana, a sweet potato and coconut dumpling boiled in a leaf, is made in Saint Vincent as well as Antigua and Saint Kitts. Buljol, a salad of salted cod, onion, tomato and peppers, is another dish to know.
You will find all three Copper dishes on our page about the food of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. For the neighbouring islands, see our guide to Caribbean food.
The recipes
- Fried jackfish🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · 1 hour and 45 minutes
Callaloo🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · 2 hours and 25 minutes
Roti🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · 40 minutes
Questions people ask
What is jackfish in Saint Vincent?
Jackfish are small jacks, a sea fish caught around the islands. Vincentians fry them whole, not as fillets, and the name has nothing to do with the jackfruit tree.
Why is breadfruit important in Saint Vincent?
William Bligh's 1791 expedition brought breadfruit plants from Tahiti to Saint Vincent and Jamaica. It became a staple and is now half of the national dish, with a breadfruit festival every August.
Is callaloo the national dish of Saint Vincent?
Some sources say so, but most, including Wikipedia, name roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish as the national dish. Callaloo is a much-loved Vincentian meal.
How do you roast breadfruit without a fire?
Pierce it and roast it whole in a moderate oven for about 1½ hours, until soft, then peel it and remove the core.
Is the national dish of Saint Vincent official?
No law or decree makes it official. Roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish holds the title by consensus.
Keep reading
- Traditional food of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 10 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?