Caribbean food glossary A–Z

Venezuelan corn bread, split and filled with chicken, steak or cheese. In miniature (arepitas) as a side.

Fresh limeade, the national thirst-quencher of Curaçao. Sour, sweet, ice cold.

Salted, dried cod — bakijou or bakkeljauw in the Antilles. As a salad on a johnny cake, in croquettes or as a main with tutu.

Papiamentu for cake. On menus you will find bolo pretu (the dark celebration cake) and bolo di cashupete (cashew nut cake), among others.

Dark fruit cake with rum and candied fruit, made weeks ahead. Essential at Curaçao weddings and holidays.

Papiamentu for welcome. You will see it on signs and menus of places that greet you with open arms.

Filled tortilla roll with chicken, steak or shrimp, salad and sauce. Often "Bo Bo Bo Borrito" in Curaçao.

Curaçao cake with ground cashew nuts — sweet, rich, with a layer of buttercream.

Raw fish or shrimp cured in lime juice, with onion and coriander. Fresh, sharp and light — perfect in the heat.

Crispy fried pork or chicken — fatty, salty and addictive. From the grill or the fryer.

The cooking of Chinese restaurants in the Antilles with local influences: fried rice, chow mien and tjap tjoy. Many Antillean businesses in the Netherlands combine this menu with grilled and stewed dishes.

Fried noodles with meat and vegetables. Chow mien in Curaçao, bami in the Netherlands.

Chicken in yellow curry sauce — Surinamese, Jamaican or Antillean, each with its own spice blend.

Papiamentu for sweet, lovely or delicious. Used as a term of endearment (mi dushi) and about food. Many businesses use it in their name, such as Boca Dushi or Dushi Ambiente.

Filled fried pastry from the Latin-Caribbean kitchen — beef, chicken or cheese. The pastechi's cousin.

Ripe plantain fried until it caramelises. Sweet, soft and present on almost every Caribbean plate.

Fried rice with chicken, ham, shrimp or all at once. The Chinese-Antillean staple of every toko menu.

Firm cornmeal porridge, the Antillean answer to polenta. Served alongside stews or fried in cubes (funchi hasá).

Thick okra soup with fish or meat, served with funchi. One of the island's oldest dishes.

Jamaican chicken marinated in jerk spices (allspice, scotch bonnet, thyme) and grilled or smoked. Hot, smoky, unmistakable.

Fried Antillean bread without yeast, crispy outside and soft inside. Filled with cheese, ham, egg, salt fish or grilled chicken.

Stewed goat — the celebration dish of Curaçao. Tender, spiced and often mildly hot; classically served with funchi or rice.

Soup made from the kadushi cactus, with meat or fish. Slippery, spiced and unique to Curaçao.

Fries, meat, cheese and salad in one tray — the Rotterdam invention has become a fixture on Caribbean menus, with chicken, steak, conch or shrimp.

Queen conch, the large sea snail of the Caribbean. Stewed, fried or as ceviche — a delicacy you will almost only find at Curaçao kitchens.

Antillean beef stew, slow-cooked in a sauce of tomato, onion and Curaçao spices. The heart of Krioyo cooking, usually served with funchi, rice or potatoes.

Fries buried under chicken, steak or shrimp, cheese and sauces. The street-food icon of the new Caribbean kitchen.

Grilled tenderloin, usually with batata, salad and a Curaçao sauce. The premium pick at every truk'i pan.

A very hot pepper from the Caribbean kitchen, also well known in Suriname. Used in hot sauces such as pika and in stews. When in doubt, ask whether a dish is spicy.

Rice cooked with beans and spices — the default side in Curaçao and the Dominican Republic.

Oxtail stewed slowly until the meat falls off the bone. Rabu di baka in the Antilles, oxtail stew in Jamaica — both with rice and beans.

The Curaçao pastry: a half-moon of fried dough filled with cheese, minced beef, chicken or tuna. The island's breakfast and snack in one.

Fried or stewed chicken leg, usually with batata (fried potatoes). The staple of every Curaçao toko.

Dominican fried chicken marinated in lime and oregano. Crispy, juicy, with tostones.

Brazilian rump cap with its fat cap, grilled over charcoal. Popular on Curaçao grills and in the Netherlands.

Stewed pig tail, often with cabbage or beans. A true Krioyo dish rarely found outside Antillean kitchens.

A hot pepper sauce or pickled hot peppers, served at the table in many Antillean restaurants. Usually made from hot peppers (often madame jeanette), vinegar and spices. Start with a little: pika can be very hot.

Antillean egg liqueur with rum — as a drink, in cake or over ice cream.

Curaçao flan: creamy caramel custard of milk, egg and sugar. The dessert every grandmother makes differently.

Thin flatbread filled or served with chicken or beef curry, potato, egg and long beans. A Surinamese-Caribbean classic.

Fries with sliced sausage, sauces and cheese — Colombian street food that has settled in Curaçao.

Hearty Dominican stew-soup with several meats, yuca, plantain and corn. A meal in itself.

Chicken or pork satay with fried potatoes and Curaçao peanut sauce. The Antillean take on chips-and-sauce.

Beef tripe soup, simmered for hours. The Antillean hangover cure.

From the charcoal grill or stewed (ribs di smoor) — with BBQ glaze or Curaçao pika.

Steak or tenderloin with shrimp or conch on one plate. The celebration plate of the Curaçao grill.

Stir-fried vegetables with chicken, pork or shrimp in a light sauce. The veg option on the Chinese-Antillean menu.

A small shop or mini market stocking Caribbean groceries: spices, hot sauces, bread and frozen meals. Many toko also sell hot snacks. The word comes from Indonesian, where it simply means shop.

Green plantain, fried twice and flattened. Crispy, lightly salted, with a dip or as a base under meat (patacón).

Airy cake soaked in three kinds of milk. Latin-Caribbean, moist and sweet, usually topped with cream.

Papiamentu for food truck, literally a bread truck. A mobile kitchen with grilled dishes, sandwiches and snacks, often open in the evening. A fixture of eating out in Curaçao, and now also found in the Netherlands.

Cornmeal cooked with black-eyed peas, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sweeter and richer than funchi; often served with fish.

Cassava: boiled, fried as chips or baked (telo). Firm, slightly sweet, gluten-free.