country Essentials · 5 foods
Sint Maarten Essentials
A considered first route through Sint Maarten: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Sint Maarten foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
5 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Sint Maarten
Conch and Dumplings
Karkó & Dumplings
Look for tenderized conch simmered with flour dumplings, herbs, spices, tomato, and onion; it is served with rice, vegetables, or johnny cakes.
Saint Martin
Sint Maarten Callaloo Soup
Callaloo Soup
Sint Maarten Callaloo Soup — the national dish of French Saint-Martin and on the whole island; thick green soup made from callaloo leaves, pork cubes, okra, hot peppers, black pepper, thyme, and chicken stock.
Guadeloupe
Fried Bread Sandwich
Bokit
Bokit — a French-style sandwich from the French Antilles popular on the whole island; baguette filled with cheese, ham, eggs, tuna, fish, or vegetables, then fried in sunflower oil; a street food.
Bahamas
Conch Fritters
Sint Maarten Conch Fritters — deep-fried balls of conch meat mixed with flour, herbs, onions, and hot peppers; popular carnival food and appetizer; a island street food.
Saint Martin
Guavaberry Liqueur
Guavaberry Rum
Guavaberry Liqueur — legendary folk liqueur and national symbol of Sint Maarten; made from wild guavaberries (Myrciaria floribunda), oak-aged rum, and cane sugar; a Sint Maarten product.