Aruba

🇦🇼Aruba

Aruban Cornmeal Pancake

Pan Bati

Pan bati is a soft, thin Aruban cornmeal pancake made with flour and sugar on a flat griddle, eaten sweet at breakfast or savory with soups and sauces.

🇦🇼Aruba

Aruban Fried Empanada

Pastechi

A traditional Aruban breakfast and snack: a deep-fried crescent pastry filled with cheese, chicken, beef, tuna, or vegetables, seasoned with onion, green pepper, celery, raisins, cumin, nutmeg, and hot pepper.

🇦🇼Aruba

Aruban Fried Fish

Pisca Hasa

Pisca hasa is fish fried until crisp and served with creole sauce; Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire each have named island forms, including Piska Korá and Bonaire Piska Hasá.

🇦🇼Aruba

Balashi Beer

Balashi

A pale lager brewed on Aruba by Balashi Brewery, first made for the island in the late 1990s and now one of its signature local beers.

🇦🇼Aruba

Balchi di Carni

Balchi Carni

Balchi di carni; Aruban meat balls; a traditional snack and side dish; deep-fried; a feature of roadside snack-bars; a staple of Aruban street food

🇦🇼Aruba

Banana Hasa

Banana hasa (fried plantain); a popular Aruban side dish; plantains fried as a sweet accompaniment; never eaten raw; served with stews, fish, and meat dishes; a staple of Aruban cuisine.

🇦🇼Aruba

Battered Conch

Calco Tempera

Calco tempera; battered conch prepared in onion and vinegar; a traditional Aruban dish; a feature of local restaurants; a staple of Aruban seafood

🇦🇼Aruba

Battered Fish

Pisca Tempera

Pisca tempera; battered fish prepared in onion and vinegar; a traditional Aruban dish; a feature of local restaurants; a staple of Aruban seafood

🇦🇼Aruba

Beef Stew

Carni Stoba

Carni stoba; a classic Aruban beef stew; beef slow-cooked with potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and chili peppers in a tomato-based gravy; a staple of Aruban cuisine; served with funchi or pan bati; requires 2-3 hours of braising; a hearty, comforting dish; a feature of everyday Aruban meals.

🇳🇱Netherlands

Bitter Balls

Bitterballen

Small round version of kroket made with beef or veal ragout, popular bar snack served with mustard, traditionally with liquors.

🇨🇼Curaçao

Black Cake

Bolo Pretu

Bolo pretu (black cake); a traditional Curaçaoan festive cake; a rich, dark fruitcake; a feature of celebrations and special occasions; a reflection of Dutch and Caribbean influences

🇦🇼Aruba

Black-Eyed Pea Fritters

Cala

Cala; black-eyed pea fritters; beans soaked overnight in water, peeled, ground, and fried in ball shapes; a popular Aruban snack; a feature of roadside snack-bars; a staple of Aruban street food

🇦🇼Aruba

Cashew Cake

Bolo di Cashupe

Cashew cake; a traditional Aruban dessert; made with local cashews; a sweet delight of Aruban cuisine; a feature of celebrations and gatherings; a reflection of the island's tropical ingredients

🇦🇼Aruba

Cheese Balls

Bolita di Keshi

Bolita di keshi are crisp fried balls of grated Gouda or Edam bound with flour and egg, a cheese-forward snack sold at Aruban bakeries and roadside snack-bars.

🇦🇼Aruba

Chicken Stew

Galina Stoba

Galina stoba; a traditional Aruban chicken stew; chicken slow-cooked with potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and spices; a staple of Aruban cuisine; served with white rice and beans (arroz moro) or funchi; a hearty, comforting dish; a feature of everyday Aruban meals

🇦🇼Aruba

Chocolate Milk Fudge

Chuculati Paha di Lechi

Chuculati paha di lechi; a traditional Aruban chocolate milk fudge; made with chocolate, milk, and cacao; a sweet delight of Aruban cuisine; a feature of celebrations and gatherings; a reflection of the island's Dutch and Caribbean influences

🇦🇼Aruba

Christmas Tamale

Ayaca

Ayaca; a Christmas staple in Aruba with as many recipes as families; cornmeal dough spread on banana or plantain leaves; filled with chicken, pork, prunes, raisins, olives, cashew nuts, ham, and piccalilli; folded in leaves, tied with string, and boiled for an hour; families come together to prepare it listening to Christmas music

🇦🇼Aruba

Conch Stew

Calco Stoba

Calco stoba; a traditional Aruban conch stew; conch meat simmered with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, hot peppers, and white-wine vinegar stock; conch is a shellfish like an oyster with firm, white meat; a popular local seafood dish; a staple of Aruban cuisine; a feature of coastal dining.

🇦🇼Aruba

Cornmeal Polenta

Funchi

Funchi; a cornmeal polenta-like side dish; one of the three core ingredients of Aruban cuisine; served with nearly every stew; a legacy of indigenous Arawak corn cultivation; a gluten-free corn-based side; designed to balance strong stew flavors

🇦🇼Aruba

Cornmeal with Black Beans

Tutu

Tutu; a cornmeal and mashed black-eyed pea side dish; a gluten-free corn-based side; beans and sugar cooked into funchi; a staple of Aruban cuisine; served with stews to balance strong flavors; appears at traditional meals

🇦🇼Aruba

Cream Puffs

Soesjes

Soesjes; cream puffs filled with tuna salad or crab; a Dutch-influenced Aruban snack; a distinctive savory twist on the traditional Dutch cream puff; a feature of local bakeries and snack-bars; a reflection of Dutch influence on Aruban cuisine

🇳🇱Netherlands

Croquette

Kroket

A Dutch breadcrumbed ragout croquette, served alone or in a soft roll with mustard.

🇦🇼Aruba

Cucumber Stew

Concomber Stoba

Concomber stoba; one of the healthiest dishes of Aruban Creole cuisine; small spiny cucumbers with goat meat, salted beef, onions, garlic, and hot peppers; a very traditional Aruban dish; a feature of local restaurants; a staple of traditional meals

🇳🇱North Holland, Netherlands

Edam Cheese

Edammer kaas

Semi-hard cheese with mild sweet to piquant flavor depending on maturity, spherical shape with red wax coating, PGI status.

🇦🇼Aruba

Fish Balls

Frekedel

Frekedel (balchi di pisca); fish balls made from shredded fish, eggs, spices, and breadcrumbs; deep-fried; served with funchi or pan bati and banana hasa; a popular Aruban snack and side; a feature of roadside snack-bars; a staple of Aruban street food

🇦🇼Aruba

Fish Stew

Keri Keri

Keri keri; a traditional Aruban fish stew; originally made with shark meat, now any firm white fish; leftover or flaked stew fish combined with green pepper, tomato, celery, onion, basil, and achiote (annatto); served with rice; a delicacy of Aruban cuisine; a resourceful dish using leftover catch; prepared in 30-40 minutes.

🇪🇸Spain

Flan

Flan de huevo

Spain's classic caramel custard made with eggs, milk, and sugar, with a soft caramel sauce on top, found in every Spanish home and restaurant.

🇦🇼Aruba

Goat Stew

Cabrito Stoba

Cabrito stoba; a traditional Aruban goat stew; goat meat slow-cooked with potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, nutmeg, and hot peppers; served at celebrations; accompanied by funchi or pan bati; goat thrives in Aruba's rocky terrain; a staple of traditional stoba cuisine; requires 3-4 hours of cooking.

🇳🇱South Holland, Netherlands

Gouda Cheese

Goudse kaas

Netherlands' most famous cheese, semi-hard cow's milk cheese with creamy and sweet flavor, aged for varying periods.

🇦🇼Aruba

Johnny Cake

Johnny cake; a traditional Aruban fried bread; made with flour, water, yeast, lard, and sugar; fried in oil; served with cheese or bacalao (salt cod); a popular snack and breakfast item; a feature of roadside snack-bars; a staple of Aruban street food

🇦🇼Aruba

Madame Jeanette

Pica Madame Jeanette

Madame Jeanette pepper; a core ingredient of Aruban cuisine; a hot pepper hotter than jalapeño with fruity notes; used to flavor almost every dish; processed into hot sauce that is a much-wanted souvenir; encountered everywhere on the island

🇮🇩Indonesia

Mee Goreng

Bami goreng

Fried noodles with spices, vegetables, and protein, wok hei with balanced seasoning and fresh ingredients, a daily Malaysian street food staple, versatile

🇦🇼Aruba

Pumpkin Soup

Sopi di Pampuna

Sopi di pampuna; a creamy Aruban pumpkin soup made with West Indian pumpkin (calabas) and salted beef; flavored with annatto seed; a hearty, comforting soup; a staple of Aruban cuisine; a feature of the midday meal; a traditional dish; a popular local favorite.

🇦🇼Aruba

Rice and Beans

Arroz Moro

Arroz moro (rice and beans); a popular Aruban side dish; white rice and beans served with stews and meat dishes; a staple of Aruban cuisine; a feature of everyday meals

🇦🇼Aruba

Sopi di Oester

Sopi Oester

Sopi di oester; a local Aruban oyster soup; each restaurant and household claims rights to the best recipe on the island; a traditional Aruban dish; a feature of seafood restaurants; a local specialty; a staple of the midday meal; a popular island favorite.

🇦🇼Aruba

Sopi di Yambo

Yambo

Sopi di yambo; an Antillean gumbo-style soup made with puréed okra for a thick, smooth consistency; made with fresh fish or pig's tail; served with funchi; a traditional Aruban soup; a staple of the midday meal; a local dish; a feature of Creole kitchen traditions.