Rice and Beans

Belizean rice and beans is not beans served with rice, which is a different dish also on the menu and worth knowing before ordering: here the red kidney beans are cooked into the rice with coconut milk, thyme and a little recado, the red annatto paste that colours so much Belizean cooking, so the whole thing comes out fragrant and slightly sweet. It arrives with stewed chicken in a dark recado gravy, fried ripe plantain, potato salad or coleslaw, and a bottle of Marie Sharp's habanero sauce on the table, which is made in the Stann Creek valley and is on essentially every table in the country.

What you actually see

• Rice and beans - cooked together in coconut milk, not served separately.
• Stewed chicken - in dark recado gravy, the standard accompaniment.
• Recado - the annatto paste that colours and flavours it.
• Marie Sharp's - the habanero sauce made in Stann Creek and used everywhere.

When to go

Year-round, at lunch above all. Sunday is the traditional day for the full version. Roadside stands and small diners do it better and far cheaper than anywhere aimed at visitors.

Honest expectations

Ordering beans and rice instead gets you a different plate with white rice and beans in a stew alongside, which confuses visitors constantly. It is filling and mild; the heat comes from the bottle on the table. Portions are large. Vegetarians can have the rice and beans alone but the stewed chicken is the point of the plate.

Nearby

Every town has diners; the market stalls in San Ignacio and Belize City are reliable.