Thursday, November 20, 2008
New national dish
Growing up I was made to believe that roast breadfruit and saltfish was the national dish of St Vincent and the Grenadines. For us,the breadfruit is revered and such a part of our daily life that phrases centered around it has found its way into our jargon. Hence,you would hear Vincies saying "I not cutting down anybody's breadfruit tree or nobody better not try to cut down mine". In reality, we are saying do not mess with our livelihoods.
It appears though that the breadfruit has been replaced as our national dish by Chinese food. If you think am lying, take a walk around Kingstown at lunch time and you will see the number of patrons walking about with their "chinee" food in tow. Not only is it the popular lunchtime meal but the food of choice to take home for those days when you just do not want to cook. As food goes,it is relatively cheap and the boxes are packed to capacity which means it can comfortably feed more than one person.
On the other hand, the cost of breadfruit and saltfish is more costly and not as tightly packed. No wonder then that it is being pushed down the charts. As if it is not bad enough,the poor breadfruit has to contend with KFC and other new entrants all vying for pride of place. It's enough to make the breadfruit suicidal or ballistic, isnt'it?
It appears though that the breadfruit has been replaced as our national dish by Chinese food. If you think am lying, take a walk around Kingstown at lunch time and you will see the number of patrons walking about with their "chinee" food in tow. Not only is it the popular lunchtime meal but the food of choice to take home for those days when you just do not want to cook. As food goes,it is relatively cheap and the boxes are packed to capacity which means it can comfortably feed more than one person.
On the other hand, the cost of breadfruit and saltfish is more costly and not as tightly packed. No wonder then that it is being pushed down the charts. As if it is not bad enough,the poor breadfruit has to contend with KFC and other new entrants all vying for pride of place. It's enough to make the breadfruit suicidal or ballistic, isnt'it?
# posted by Abeni @ 10:03 PM 
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what a cute post. Well that being said, all our national dishes are becoming a thing of the past. For bajans, the Cou-cou and flying fish giving way to Pizza man Doc, okras few and far between and de fish fyling down tuh Tnt...so we all having issues with our national dishes.
do the have chinese food with gravy like they have in barbados?
i remember ordering sweet an sour pork on rice and the man put traditional bajan gravy over the sweet n sour pork lol
that said i'll take breadfruit any day of the week over chinese food
i remember ordering sweet an sour pork on rice and the man put traditional bajan gravy over the sweet n sour pork lol
that said i'll take breadfruit any day of the week over chinese food
Chinese food, everyone's favorite. In my case, its just food, period. I am a lover of food. So it goes.
i cant understand how anyone can eat that "chinee" food. i had it once out of sheer, utter, incomparable hunger and you know what..never again. it was like lead in my tummy. my tummy loves how breadfruit and saltfish taste.
when i was living in vincy i would go by tina turner in calliaqua every saturday to get some with lime juice...boy the days..i miss them.
when i was living in vincy i would go by tina turner in calliaqua every saturday to get some with lime juice...boy the days..i miss them.
Once again you are right on target. I heard the feature speaker at a National Heroes Day Rally make that same claim a few years ago. When he made the statement, the crowd went wild. He was just trying to demonstrate that we are losing our heritage fast. I long for the good old days!!!
# posted by 
: 7:50 PM
: 7:50 PM
I love chinese food ... and I'm allergic to the main ingredient in our national dish so ... bring on the S&S chicken!
# posted by : 9:03 PM
: 9:03 PM
It seems Chinese food is most common here in Jamaica too. It is somewhat affordable and you do get a lot of food. There seems to be more Chinese food places than there are traditional food places.
I was in China last year and got sick of all the breadfruit and saltfish they served for breakfast lunch and dinner.
# posted by : 12:46 PM
: 12:46 PM
I love chinese food myself! On the other hand, I would dust out some breadfruit and saltfish too. ;-)
Over all, I would prolly go with the chinese food tho.
Over all, I would prolly go with the chinese food tho.
# posted by : 10:23 AM
: 10:23 AM
Some the comments are very amusing. I like Chinese food too but not the version sold here. Seriously,it is bland
Chinese food is great, but the problem is that it does not stay with you long.Eat it now and five minutes later you are dying for hungry.Yuh belly nuh full!Unlike yawd food that hold you for the entire day, and in some instances post-eating,it will put you to sleep or in a state of lethargy or stupor because it solid and heavy.Meaning yuh gut full!Also,comparatively speaking,most yawd food take a considerably amount of time to prepare/cook vis-a vis Chinese.But for me, breadfruit and saltfish anytime and anywhere !! ESTEBAN AGOSTO REID
# posted by : 5:09 PM
: 5:09 PM
Neat I mentioned the Chinee influence in a post I'm working on. Out of many one people. That's pretty much the Caribbean reality. But you're right, if we don't pay attention some of these things like breadfruit and saltfish will become novelties, mean time minority culture take over.
What happen? No room for a breadfruit tree in Vinci backyards. When I'm in Jamaica I have breadfruit the best way...free. I'm gonna steal your national saying btw. You hear that people "I not cutting down anybody's breadfruit tree or nobody better not try to cut down mine".
But on the real that Chinese food ting is true. I think Chinese Food should be appointed the United Nations Food Ambassador. It do matter where in the world you go, you can always find some Chinese food.
But on the real that Chinese food ting is true. I think Chinese Food should be appointed the United Nations Food Ambassador. It do matter where in the world you go, you can always find some Chinese food.
actually abeni most real chinese food is generally bland. is only like two provinces that have dishes that may have any real spice in it but chinese food usually flavorless or if i have flavour is pure msg.
i work near chinatown and my coworkers always go there for lunch but i just cant get past spending my money on bland food that i dont like.
i work near chinatown and my coworkers always go there for lunch but i just cant get past spending my money on bland food that i dont like.
I love Chinese food myself. I'm surprised that people haven't gone back to the old standby 'cause of the recession. Things must be going well over there.
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# posted by : 7:52 AM
: 7:52 AM << Home
