Savor Belize: Top Ten Things To Taste In Belize
1. Belize Rice and Beans
Rice and beans with a choice of stewed beef, chicken, pork, lobster, shrimp or game meat (the gibnut is FABULOUS) is one of the most important items on the Belize diet, approaching something like the national dish. The meat is cooked with recado (a spice made with annato seed a native herb with a characteristic deep red colour), and garlic.
Belize Rice and Beans is cooked in coconut milk. The dish is served with potato salad and ripe fried or baked plantain when in season and fresh habanero and onion sauce. Belize Rice and Beans reigns as the quintessential Belize dish. Photo: The traditional and world-famous Belize Rice and Beans is a staple in the Belizean diet.
2. Belize Fruit Cake
Belize Fruit Cake, is a traditional Belize rum cake. Popular around holidays, it is a cake with preserved fruits baked in and then stored for a couple of days after being enormously doused with dark rum.
The combination of a sweet cake and Caribbean rum is sure to make an excellent end to a magnificent meal - tipsy or otherwise. Two types are made - the traditional Black Fruit Cake infused with caramel, and the White Fruit Cake that is lighter and minus the caramel. Christmas in Belize is not complete without Belize Fruit Cake,
Photo: Cashew, craboo, blackberry and other wines from Belize fruits are produced by Bel Mer Winery near Almond Hill on the Western Highway.
3. Cashew and Craboo Wines
Cashew wine is made from the fermented cashew fruit - not the more well known nut. A native and traditional liqueur of the Belize River Valley it produces a sweet and potent wine that is deceptively mild and alluring. But beware - overindulgence can lead to a hefty hangover. Belize Cashew wine can be obtained most anywhere in Belize. Main cashew wine producing areas are Burrel Boom and Crooked Tree in the Belize District. A local winery, BelMer Wines makes cashew and other wines from local fruits such as mango and blackberry.
4. Johnny Cakes
Johnny cakes, sometimes referred to as journey cakes, are baked bread cakes, made with flour and coconut milk and flour. They are best when cooked in the traditional fire hearth.
A companion is the Belize Fry Jack made of flour and shortening and deep fried. The Johnny cake is dry and can last for a couple days and was used in the days before refrigeration when mahogany workers had to go on long trips, hence the name "journey cakes". Fry Jacks are best eaten hot right after preparation.
5. Ceviche
Ceviche is made from conch or shrimp or combined in a mixed dish. The seafood is diced and steeped in lime juice for a few hours under refrigeration and tossed with diced cucumber, tomatoes, onions and chopped cilantro, black pepper and habanero pepper.
Photo: Shrimp and conch ceviche served with crisp friend corn tortilla and accompanied by optional fresh Habanero pepper on the side.
Some Belizeans prefer the queen conch for a gourmet ceviche. Like Mexico, some Belizean chefs incorporate fresh fish fillet chunks into the ceviche but this is optional.
6. Cochinita Pibil
Cochinita Pibil is a traditional Belize-Yucatec-Maya slow roasted pork dish. Preparation consists of marinating the meat in an acidic sour orange juice flavoured with annato seed paste (a local spice known as recado), garlic, allspice and onion.
The meat is then wrapped in plantain leaf, placed inside a large roasting pan which then goes underground or inside a clay oven with firewood and slow cooked and smoked for hours until the meat is succulent and tender.
The cochinita pibil dish served with hot hand-made corn tortillas, avocado and fresh Belize Habanero Pepper sauce.
Photo: Cochinita Pibil dish with fresh Belize onion, tomato, cilantro and Habanero pepper sauce.
7. Tamales
Tamales are squares of cornmeal stuffed with chicken, pork or beans, along with green peas, onion and chunks of tomato, wrapped in smoked plantain leaves,and held together with the string stripped off plantain leave.
The tamales are then steamed over an open fire until cooked. Tamales colados are a variation where the corn meal is pressed through a fine mesh making for a creamy and smooth tamale that just melts in your mouth. Tamales are cheap and available most anywhere in Belize especially at public markets. And best of all because of their ingredients and method of preparation, are a healthy and nutritious meal for those on the go or on a budget. For more budget Belize food check out our Belize Fast Food Page.
8. Belize Chicken Escabeche
Escabeche is a an exotic chicken soup with its roots in Belize Yucatec Maya and Spanish cuisine. The chicken is seasoned with oregano and thyme, lightly broiled, then roasted and served in a light chicken soup seasoned with onions, black pepper, allspice, and jalapeno pepper.
The base of the soup is white cane vinegar and chicken stock. Some purists prefer sour orange, The dish is served piping hot with hand made corn tortillas. Photo: Belize-style chicken escabeche served with hot hand-made corn tortillas and the requisite Jalapeno pepper.
9. Belize Desserts
Dessert anyone? Belize deserts are many but top picks include soursop ice cream. The soursop fruit (Annona muricata) is at once sweet and tart, very healthy and a leading anti oxidant and widely available in Belize. Soursop is also eaten mixed with condensed milk and chilled.
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) pudding is another favourite Belize dessert - and sweet and very nutritious. Another popular dessert is the Belize craboo, also known as nance or nanche (Byrsonima crassifolia) ice cream. This is made from the fruit that grows all over Belize. Craboo is also popular as a wine.
Above: Belikin beer poster in Belize.
10. Belikin Beer
Belikin Beer and Belize are synonymous. Belikin is one of the the ancient Maya names for Belize and means Road To The Sea. Belikin is made in the style of a German pilsner and has won many international awards.
Tourists and visitors soon learn to ask for an ice cold Belikin to wash down a meal or get in the groove on a wild night out. Belikin is a tuly an indigenous Belize beer and easily holds its own against imported beers.
Related Article: Beers of Belize