Food & Cuisine in Antigua & Barbuda
Food info sections | Eating locally
From the popular Fungee, a cornmeal delicacy, to the hot and spicy Pepper Pot, a seasoned meat and vegetable stew, Antigua has a variety of dishes that have been handed down generations. Traditional customs and ways of life have lead to the evolution of these favourite regional recipes - not always enjoyed by everyone. It does take some getting used to. The local produce is rich and fresh, and what makes it even more enjoyable, is that it served with a genuine friendliness.
Food is such an important part of daily life that many proverbs have been coined keeping food in mind! “Every pepper pot ha ‘e fungee” - Antiguan proverb that means 'Every person will meet a companion'.
Just reading our Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant Guide will make you hungry! So, after some Shopping for presents from Antigua and Barbuda, relax in beautiful surroundings and taste a variety of dishes from the restaurant of your choice.
Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant and Food Guide
National Food of Antigua
Pepper pot and Fungee
The national food of Antigua is Pepper pot and Fungee. The Amerindians were the first inhabitants of Antigua and Pepper pots were part of their culinary spread. They called this stew "Tomali" - "Toma" meaning sauce and "ali" meaning clay pot. Their method of cooking the dish was also a clever way to store food.
The Amerindians made a rich brown spicy sauce using ingredients such as agouti, birds, fish heads and bones, iguana, rice rat, and seashells in a deep clay fire pot. Also included were cassava juice and flour, peppers and sweet potatoes. The meal was eaten by dipping cassava bread and other meats in this stew. The pot was almost bottomless since the stew was boiled continuously, more ingredients being added every day. The cooking method was not very hygienic - according to the missionary Father Breton, who lived among the Antiguans in the 17th century, roucou or body paint and women's hair were often known to find their way into the pot!
Like the ancient stew, the Pepper pots of Guyana are mostly meat based but recent recipes show that food habits are changing. It is quite common to find a blend of herbs and vegetables in the stew. The stew is accompanied by a cornmeal delicacy, Fungee.
Cooking methods
Roasting is the most common method of cooking. The boucon, from where the word barbecue originates, is often used for roasting. It is common to roast food in the embers of a fire too. The ash, which coats the food, is later removed. Another way is to wrap the food in clay and roast it directly in the fire. The clay is broken open when done, and in the earlier days the feathers or scales came away with it.
Boiling is not very popular, except while cooking crabs. A little water and a lot of red pepper are added to the crabs, and the whole thing is then covered with leaves. Traditionally, fish, half cleaned and still with scales, were often cooked this way. The Amerindians never used salt.
Vegetables and fruits
Maize or corn is an important part of the Antiguan meal. It is either roasted on coal or boiled to make maize cakes called Kayzu. Green maize soup is also part of a meal. Other vegetables are baked arrowroot, beans mankonti and yams kuchu. Carib Cabbage Taya is a seasoning. Peanuts and cassava are eaten together.
Among fruits, the pineapple was brought in from South America. Fruits of the prickly pear cactus, native coco plum and native seaside grapes are eaten too. Other fruits eaten in Antigua though not native to the country are avocado, guava, mamey, paw-paw and soursop.
