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The Kittitians and Nevisians put local produce, seafood, spices, and game to excellent use in their cuisine. The region's abundance of fresh fish, fruits, and vegetables, helps cooks on St. Kitts and Nevis fuse local fare with Caribbean spice.
Where should you start when looking for dining on St. Kitts and Nevis, A good place to begin is in Basseterre, St. Kitts' capital, where restaurants represent a range of international cuisines. Other large cities, such as Charlestown or Newcastle on Nevis, also have many varied types of restaurants, but local fare is also easy to find.
St. Kitts and Nevis are mountainous isles, and growing fruits and vegetables can often be difficult in this type of terrain. But the fertile soil makes up for the slopes and rises. Cassavas, yams, pumpkins, avocados, breadfruit, golden apples, gineps, wild cherries, and seagrapes are among the islands' bountiful harvests.
Seafood is extremely important to the island diet. Lobsters, crabs, sea urchin, and sea turtles are common delicacies, especially when paired with West Indian curries. Some popular main dishes are rikkita beef (beef marinated in champagne with Italian dressing), cookup (rice and peas with meat), salt fish, and roasted suckling pig.
In 2003, St. Kitts and Nevis gourmands voted on the region's most representative entree in the National Dish Competition. The winner, Goat water, also known as goat stew with fresh vegetables and dumplings, or"droppings."
Coffee is served throughout most of the day, so are fresh fruit juices, squeezed from local, hand-picked produce. In Basseterre, ask for a glass of fairling, a local fruit punch, or a bottle of sugary grapefruit drink called Ting. If you get the chance, take a short trip to one of the many sugarcane fields. Most farmers will gladly sell you a large stalk. Pull back the husk and suck on the juices with a glass of Caribbean rum, preferably a dark rum to contrast with the sweetness of the sugarcane.
For dessert, try an upside-down pineapple cherry cake, perhaps with a scoop of soursop ice cream. Seasoned fruit, especially gineps, mangoes, and grapefruit, are also special after-dinner treats on St. Kitts and Nevis, where culinary techniques are simple, the results delicious.
From dress code to price range, learn all about the dining options found in St. Kitts.
Learning as much as possible about the local culture will help visitors to appreciate the beauty and diversity found throughout St. Kitts.
There's more to St. Kitts than just beautiful scenery and excellent weather. Find out more about local history before you go.