Macaroni Pie

Macaroni pie is on essentially every Barbadian plate and it is not the creamy baked pasta of anywhere else: it is set firm, cut into squares and served as a side dish beside fish or chicken, held together with egg, cheese, mustard and often a little ketchup, with the top browned. The mustard and the sharpness are what distinguish the Barbadian version. Around it sit the other standard sides that appear without being ordered: rice and peas, pickled breadfruit, sweet potato, plantain and a small salad, and the combination is called a plate rather than a meal with sides.

What you actually see

• The set texture - firm enough to cut into squares and lift.
• The mustard - what separates the Barbadian version from others.
• The full plate - macaroni pie with rice, breadfruit and salad.
• Oistins on a Friday - where most visitors first meet it.

When to go

Year-round, at any meal that is not breakfast. It appears automatically beside fish and chicken at Oistins, in rum shops and at Sunday lunch. Nobody has to order it.

Honest expectations

It is heavy and it appears on the plate whether or not you asked. Quality varies enormously; a good one is properly set and sharp, a bad one is claggy and bland. It is vegetarian, which makes it useful on a menu that mostly is not. Visitors expecting creamy baked macaroni are usually surprised.

Nearby

Every rum shop, restaurant and fish fry across the island.