Peas and Rice

Almost everything served in the Bahamas arrives on a bed of peas and rice, and the peas are pigeon peas rather than anything a British cook would recognise. They are cooked into the rice with salt pork or bacon, onion, thyme, celery and enough tomato paste to turn the whole thing a light brick colour, which distinguishes it immediately from the coconut-milk rice and peas of Jamaica. Beside it, in nearly every case, comes a slab of baked macaroni firm enough to be cut into squares and served like a side dish rather than spooned, and a mound of coleslaw. Together these three are the foundation of the Bahamian plate.

What you actually see

• Pigeon peas - cooked into the rice rather than served beside it.
• The salt pork base - what gives the dish its depth.
• Baked macaroni - firm enough to slice, served as a side.
• The standard plate - peas and rice, macaroni, slaw and a protein.

When to go

Year-round and at every meal that is not breakfast. Sunday dinner is the fullest version. Fish fries and takeaway counters serve it as the default side without asking.

Honest expectations

It is made with salt pork or bacon almost everywhere, so it is not vegetarian even though it looks it; ask if that matters. Portions are large and the plate is heavy. Quality varies from excellent to claggy. The baked macaroni surprises visitors expecting something creamy; it is firm and cut into blocks by design.

Nearby

Every fish fry and cook shop across the islands.