Bajan Seasoning and Pepper Sauce

Bajan seasoning is a wet green paste of marjoram, thyme, parsley, spring onion, garlic, scotch bonnet and lime, blended and kept in a jar, and it goes into meat and fish before cooking rather than being added at the table; almost nothing on the island is cooked without it, and every household has its own proportions. The sauce that sits on the table is different: a yellow mustard-based hot sauce with scotch bonnet, turmeric and vinegar, thinner and sharper than the tomato-based sauces of other islands and quite unlike the Trinidadian or Jamaican style.

Highlights

• The green seasoning - marjoram, thyme and scotch bonnet blended into a paste.
• Mustard pepper sauce - the yellow table sauce that defines Bajan heat.
• Bajan marjoram - the local variety the seasoning is built around.
• Cheapside market - where the herbs are bought by the bunch.

When to go

Year-round. Cheapside market in Bridgetown on a Saturday morning is the best place to see the herbs sold by the bunch. Jars of both are in every supermarket at a fraction of the souvenir shop price.

Good to know

The pepper sauce is hot and the mustard base hides it; a small amount goes a long way. Seasoning bought in a jar is not the same as freshly made and locals will say so. Souvenir shop and airport prices are several times the supermarket. Glass bottles need checked luggage.

Nearby

Cheapside market in Bridgetown; supermarkets island-wide.