Country Profile

Population 285,000
Area 430 sq km (166 sq miles)
Major language English (Bajan, an English-African dialect, is widely used)
Major religion Christianity
Life expectancy 73 years (men), 78 years (women)
Currency Barbadian dollar
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general.Prime minister: Freundel Stuart

A Brief Overview

(I must admit that I’ve been pretty busy this weekend, so my research on Barbados has been pretty short)

Barbados is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, situated as the easternmost island of the West Indies. The word Barbados means “the bearded ones”. It is unclear as to why the country has received this name, but some suggest that it may have been given to them due to the bearded Caribs that once inhabited the island. The first Europeans to discover Barbados are believed to have been the Portuguese or Spanish en route to Brazil, however the English were the first to settle there.

Flying Fish and Cou Cou

The Dish of the Week

Flying Fish Ingredients

8 flying fish fillets*1 small onion, chopped1 small green pepper, chopped1 blade of chives, choppedThyme and parsleySalt and pepperFew drops of lime juice1 egg, beaten BreadcrumbsOil for frying2 limes, wedged

*Apparently you can’t get flying fish from anywhere here, so we used flounder

The Instructions

Mix the breadcrumbs, green pepper (I only used half the green pepper) onion powder, chives, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper. Dip the fish into the egg, and then into the seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry gently in a little oil for about 10 minutes. Serve with lime wedges.*Apparently you can’t get flying fish from anywhere here, so we used flounder

Cou Cou Ingredients

8oz of cornmeal3oz of okra1 medium onion, chopped3tbsp butter WaterSalt to taste

Instructions

In a bowl put cornmeal and enough water to cover it, and set it aside.Cut the okra into rings and put in a saucepan with water, chopped onion, and salt. Bring to a boil until okra is soft. Strain the okra in a bowl and set the liquid aside.Add about a quarter of the okra liquid back into the pan along with the cornmeal. Stir with whisk or wooden spoon as it cooks. Stir constantly to avoid lumps. Add more of the okra liquid gradually, you can tell it’s nearly done when it starts to bubble gently. Now add the cooked okra and continue stirring for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Serve! Note: Both of these recipes were kind of vague on ingredients, therefore I did a lot of guessing on some of the steps, so I wasn’t sure if I was doing some things right. I think this is what lead to both recipes not turning out very well.

Our Thoughts

“We both feel like this would have been really good had we made it correctly. Unfortunately we didn’t do a very good job on cooking the fish (We undercooked the inside and over cooked the outside). This was our first flop, but hopefully one day we can get around to retrying this recipe. If we do we will update this blog on how it taste.”