PlanetEye

March 27th, 2008

Fryjacks & Fritters - Culinary Belize

Brendan

The Global Nomad

When was the last time you saw a Belizean restaurant in a big international city? Yeah that’s what I thought.

Belize isn’t exactly known for its cuisine, and sometimes it seems like everything is deep fried. But there are some fun eats to be had, as long as you aren’t too fussy about presentation or trans-fat counts.

If you are lucky enough to be here during lobster season, cheap and plentiful lobster tops the list—for as little as ten bucks you can have a fresh lobster dinner; try it in everything from fritters (mmm) to tacos.

Speaking of fritters, conch fritters is my favourite way to have that most Caribbean of shellfish. If you aren’t familiar with the chewy meat from the shell made famous as an instrument, you can also find it in soups and stews, as well as fresh in ceviche, the Latin dish where seafood is chemically ‘cooked’ in a mix of lime juice, cilantro and other veggies like onion or peppers. (And it’s pronounced CON-k, at least here)

Of course, Belize is a world hot sauce superpower, and although food is usually not cooked spicy, hot sauce made with the regional habanero pepper (the hottest in the world) is a standard fixture on every restaurant table.

One of the least healthy but tastiest Belizean treats is fryjacks, essentially triangular fried bread served at breakfast, can also be stuffed with the rest of your breakfast—eggs, bacon, sausage all wrapped in dough and fried….mmmm. It’s no wonder Belizeans aren’t the slimmest of people.

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