Travel Culinary vocabulary Food is a highlight of any trip to Antigua, but any discussion of traditional cuisine requires learning a new vocabulary. Cha-cha dumplings, for example, are an Antiguan dishmade by stuffing banana leaves with a cornmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg mixture. “In the old days, farmers carried cooked cha-cha in their shoulder sacks for lunch,” explained the vendor. “You roast cha-cha in a yabba until the banana leaves dry up, indicating that they’re done. Yabbas look like clay frying pans without handles. African slaves brought them here when they came to work in the sugar plantations.” Nowadays, it’s hard to find cha-cha dumplings, but ground provisions ‒ yams, sweet potatoes and other root vegetables ‒ are readily available. Antiguan cooks mix ground provisions with meat and other vegetables to make a stew called pepper pot. Ironically, there are no peppers in it. People add hot sauce to taste, after it’s cooked. Antigua’s most popular bottled hot sauce is Susie’s, made by Rosie McMaster. Rosie’s mother Susie started the company in her kitchen in 1960. Today, Rosie makes and sells not only Susie’s Original Hot Sauce, but also new flavours such as Papaya Delight and Pineapple Pleasure. Our eyes watered as we watched her staff stempungent red and yellow scotch bonnet peppers before grinding them in a machine. We sawmounds of scotch bonnet peppers in St. John’s Public Market. In addition to stacks of fresh papayas, mangoes and other tropical fruits, we found Antiguan black pineapples, reputedly the sweetest in the world. (The fruit’s skin is golden and/or dark green, not black.) It’s important to eat it from the top down, because the sweetness concentrates in the base. Vendors also sell bananas, which the locals call figs. The best place to see banana trees growing wild is along Fig Tree Drive, a winding 15-kilometre road through a lush rain forest. Antigua seduces visitors with many other attractions, including King’s Casino, duty-free merchandise at Heritage Quay and souvenir shopping (clothing, guava jelly and jewellery) at Redcliffe Quay. Our favourite scenic spot was Devil’s Bridge on the East Coast. Pounding Atlantic Ocean waves have eroded the limestone rock into a large natural arch. Foaming white surf skyrocketed from under the arch up into the air, as high as palm trees. Top Left – Grinding scotch bonnet peppers to make Susie’s Hot Sauce Top– Bottles of Susie’s Original Hot Sauce in basket of scotch bonnet peppers Top right – Antiguan black pineapples and figs (bananas) in St. John’s Public Market Above– Devil's Bridge 24 | www.snowbirds.org
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