Every June, there’s an “Aruba Food Wine & Art Festival” in Pago Pago. The main draw is a Best Chef competition on opening night. Other features including wine tastings, art shows, and a gala finale on the last night. The festival is held at the Westin Hotel in Pago Pago. More information and ticket pricing is available by contacting the hotel directly.

Another fun festival is the weekly “Food and Wine Festival at the Village”.  This is held every Wednesday night from 6 pm until 10:30 pm. Up to eight restaurants participate, with each one showcasing their finest culinary efforts. This festival is perfect for those who can’t make up their mind as to which restaurant to try, or if time is a constraint. Each restaurant offers bite-size munchies, so you get a nice range from all the chefs. Gift shops are also open so you can shop for the friends and family back at home. The festival takes place at The Village Mall which is located right across the street from the Radisson Resort.

There’s a monthly gala called “The Food & Wine Festival” that takes place at the Cozy Arawak Garden. All the restaurants are open with their chefs providing special treats. One eatery even showcases a live cigar-roller for that after dinner smoke! Admittance to the Garden is free – your only cost is the food and beverages. Festivities start at 5 pm and are located in the Cozy Arawak Garden, which is right across the street from the Occidental Resort. For more information, contact Pepia Est, Romar Trading, Compra or Aruba Wine and Dine.

The biggest festival is the Aruba Carnival, taking place from January 1 until Ash Wednesday every year. The locals work for months on costumes and floats. The entire island is wrapped up preparing for the event. Every weekend features entertainment, dances, contests, food and wine tastings and more. It all culminates in the Grand Parade. On the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the locals take to the streets in an hours-long parade.  The celebration is held in the streets of Oranjestad.

Other food and wine festivals to be on the lookout for include the Bon Bini Festival, held every Tuesday at the outdoor courtyard at Fort Zoutman in Oranjestad. Hours are from 6:30 to 8:30 and the cost varies from $3.00 to $10.00 depending on what the entertainment is. On Wednesdays you can go to the Watapana Food and Art Festival, held on the street between the Hyatt Regency and the Occidental Grand. The fun starts at 5 pm – for more information, contact either hotel. For music fans, there’s the Annual Aruba Soul Beach Music Festival, held in late May.  The Aruba International Film Festival, held in mid June every year, is an up and coming industry convention. And for the athletically inclined, or those who just like to watch, windsurfers take to the seas in the annual Aruba Hi Winds Festival. This sun-baked oceanside festival takes place in late June every year.

Enjoy the festivities!

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Caribbean cuisine started with two tribes, the Arawaks and the Caribs (for whom the area was named). It’s generally accepted that the Caribs started spicing up their food with chili peppers. The Arawaks are credited with being the first to cook using barbeque techniques, using sticks to build grills. The English word “barbecue” comes from the Spanish word “baracoa”, which in turn comes from the Arawak word “barbacot”.

After being invaded by various European countries, Spain ended up being the primary occupation force in the Caribbean and the biggest European influence on the cuisine. Europeans brought the African slaves with them, lending that continent’s cuisine. Finally, immigrants from the East Indies and China came and added their influence to the Caribbean cuisine.

The Spanish influence was first to add its flair to Caribbean cuisine. It started with Christopher Columbus and continued for a few hundred years while Spain remained a great naval power. Some things the Spaniards, as well as other Europeans, added to the cuisine were onions, cilantro, eggplant, and garlic. Even ingredients like mangoes and oranges that we associate with Caribbean cuisine today originated with the Spaniards and other Europeans. It didn’t take long for people to discover that fermenting sugarcane, one of the European imports, led to a very tasty drink called rum. The Caribbean is still known today for its high quality rum.

Next came the African slaves, brought by the English, Spanish, and other European conquerors. The slave owners kept the best food for themselves, so the slaves had to be creative, blending their native foods with leftovers found on the islands. African influences and contributions to the Caribbean cuisine include okra, saltfish, pudding and much, much more. The jerk technique of cooking, especially for meat, was said to have originated among African hunters. Away from home for long periods, they needed a way to preserve the meat, inventing what is now called jerk-cooking.

The Chinese brought noodles of all kinds, soy sauce and related items, and the five spice blend that Chinese cuisine is famous for. Technique wise, the Chinese introduced the concept of quick cooking – think stir fry and wok. Other concepts brought over by the Chinese are the sweet / sour combination in food taste and color composition in dish presentation – making food look more appetizing by using different foods that are color complements to each other on the same plate, artfully arranged. One of the most popular dishes in Guyana today is a chicken vegetable chow mein. It’s sometimes referred to as the unofficial state dish.

The East Indies have had a similar influence upon the Caribbean cuisine as China has had.  Their contributions include the dry spice rubs, seen today in the many barbecue dishes, bread – you’ll find many Indian-looking breads in the Caribbean, and masala, which is the forerunner of the commercially made curry. Flat bread was also brought over from India.

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The inhabitants of the Caribbean make up an unusual mix of people ranging from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Very cosmopolitan. It is interesting to note that it is mainly food that unifies the Caribbean in a cultural way.

Caribbean Food and Culture

Just like Jamaica where the motto goes - out of many, one people. So in the Caribbean culture you could very well say out of many, one cuisine. There is a common thread through land, sea and sun. The local cuisine proves to be the backbone to the unexpected experience you will get in the Caribbean.

There is just so much to experience within the Caribbean Food and Culture vibe. From the special cuban rum to the exquisite view when the sun sets into the ocean. Then there is the heart stopping music in typical Dominican meringue as well as the Trinidad Calypso. It sure leaves you with a lingering feeling thinking that your taste buds are playing the fool with you. It sure does affect you’re thinking abilities.

The original Arawaks and Caribs preserved and dried their food. This was done by using what we call a barbacot, which is a framework out of wood over a pit of coals. This was adopted by the Spanish who now make use of the modern day barbeque grill. It is therefore good to note that all the islands of the Caribbean adopted some of their ideas to Africa. This is so due to African slaves being imported by the the Europeans.

The cuisine you will find here is mainly a fusion of French, African, Indian, and other cuisines. Your most common dish would be jerk seasoned meat. The method used to create this interesting recipe, is to rub spices and hot peppers onto the meat strips to get them soft and tender. Rice would be the staple food here blended with a variety of beans and sauces.

Festivity Facts on Caribbean Food and Culture

Every year in August you will find yourself engaged in their festivities one way or another. Ya Maka is known to be a signature weekend that consists of Reggae bands and beach music that creates its own rhythmic beat.

The modern Caribbean food and culture has greatly been influenced by creating newer, tastier, spicier cuisine.

These newer mouthwatering appetizers range from spicy flavored soups, colorful salads, deliciously prepared local seafood, and modern made poultry and meat dishes. Just imagine the special preparation methods now being used. You will delight all your senses by trying the modern Caribbean Food and Culture way of doing things.

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Island cooking, as most people would expect, involves a lot of seafood as a key ingredient.  With Caribbean cuisine, however, it also involves vegetables, chicken, steak, and a lot of fruits, of course.  The Caribbean is made up of different islands that have their own produce, flavors, and cooking methods.  This information alone would make it very difficult to describe Caribbean cuisine.  Most of their ingredients are not unusual, but you would definitely be surprised at how unusual these ingredients are cooked.  More surprisingly, dishes turn out with amazing flavors you never thought possible.

Most dishes make use of lime, tamarind, and coconut milk.  These are used not only in main dishes but in desserts as well.  They also make use of different spices to even make flavors more distinct and unique.  Most people are used to nutmeg being part of a recipe for sweet desserts, but the locals of the Caribbean have used it in several ways, along with other spices available in the island, to create a variety of flavors.  Even certain fruits and vegetables are cooked in unique ways.  With the number of original dishes that they serve, even professional chefs would be delighted to learn a thing or two to add to their cooking knowledge.

The different islands that make up the Caribbean contribute to the diversity of flavors that visitors would encounter in this beautiful tourist destination.  The Bahamas, for example, make great conch recipes while Barbados does well with using flying fish and cou cou, which is a type of edible fungi.  Puerto Ricans make great chicken dishes while Cuba focuses on black beans and rice dishes.  If you would go island hopping, which is a must-try activity, you would be intoxicated with the variety of flavorful dishes you would come across with.

The great thing about Caribbean cuisine is the people who cook and serve them.  A warm smile and a friendly greeting from the locals would definitely put you in a great mood for satisfying your cravings.  This is why it is important to keep an open mind in trying out the different dishes of Caribbean cuisine.  Even with a brief introduction, you never know what to expect with each dish served to you.  So brace yourself for flavors that will drive your taste buds wild with delight.

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Very few of the foods that we think of as Caribbean today were actually started there. Native foods grown on the islands include corn, yams, peanuts, and pinapples. Other items included black-eyed peas and lima beans. Ironically, some of these foods are not thought of as Caribbean at all, while things like jerk spices that originated somewhere else, are thought of as Caribbean traditional cuisine.

In the case of jerk cooking, it was thought to have started with hunters in Africa looking for a way to preserve the meat caught on the hunt. The Caribbean combined one of their inventions – barbecue – and now spice it with a dry jerk rub. The idea of jerk cooking came from the African continent, while the idea of using a dry spice rub to enhance the food came from China. Today, jerk cooking and barbecue is exclusively associated with the Caribbean.

Rum, still one of the Caribbean’s most popular drinks as well as one of its biggest exports, came from discovering that fermenting the sugarcane that the Europeans brought over led to this tasty concoction. Now you can’t find anyone that can name a quality rum that came from someplace other than the Caribbean.

Africa contributed many foodstuffs associated with the Caribbean today. Among them are okra, taro, plantains and  breadfruit. These items, especially the plantains, are closely associated with Caribbean cuisine today. Plantains are used in salads, main dishes, and even sliced and deep fried for an appetizer or a snack. Coated in sugar, they’re eaten at dessert.

From India, the migrant laborers that came over brought masala, which is the original curry. Masala is just a combination of spices, picked to match the dish being cooked and enhance its flavor. It led to curry, which now too-often means a bunch of old spices thrown together and sold in the supermarket aisle. The Caribbean cooks took the masala and made it into their own style of curry, island style. It’s used most often with vegetables and starchy dishes with rice in them.

Even goat stew, arguably the most famous Caribbean dish, had its roots elsewhere. The animal itself was brought over from Africa. Prized for its milk from the females, the male goats were used to make goat stew, and flavored with native foodstuffs like peanuts. Added influences, like curry from India and onions and garlic from Europe, were added. Other influences are found in nearly every ingredient traditionally put in this stew – very few, if any, are native to the Caribbean. This is truly an international dish, no matter how Caribbean we may think it is.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this worldwide tour through the Caribbean – tonight let’s eat some Caribbean food and make a toast with rum to the Caribbean contribution to foodies everywhere.

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The Native Americans, called Arawaks, were the first settlers in this beautiful island.  Although most islands surrounding Aruba have already adapted to the modern way of living, Arubans still retain the Arawaks influence in terms of language and culture.  Despite their fluency in Dutch, Spanish, and English, the locals still keep their Papiamento language for everyday use.  They have managed to keep certain things the same and are happy that they did.  Even certain areas within the island, especially those that are of great importance to the locals, have been carefully preserved to remind them about their roots.

Arubans love to celebrate a lot of festivals, which is another reason why tourists love visiting the island.  Each festival is full of wild and contagious upbeat dancing while Arubans wear their colorful traditional clothes.  Of course festivals would not be the same without the flavorful cuisine that keeps visitors off their diets while on the island.  It is expected to see a lot of seafood dishes with plantain produce if you dine in any of the local restaurants in Aruba.  However, people who still prefer red meat would be able to enjoy their Caribbean vacation without being deprived of it.  Arubans pay special attention to how their dishes are served and they make sure that you get enough flavors that will make you want to say “Mi Stima Aruba!”

The local people of Aruba are so friendly and hospitable that you will always feel welcome in their island.  They will always go out of their way to please people, especially visitors.  Because their island was not influenced by any form of attack or slavery, their people have kept a peaceful disposition that is highly evident when you interact with them.  They are always ready to give you a warm smile and a greeting, whether in English or in their native tongue.  So if you are planning a trip to Aruba, there is no need to think twice.  You get the best experience with their warm and friendly local people and their amazing cuisine.  All you have to do is relax, enjoy the sun and the sea, and to keep in mind that this is not just a beautiful dream.

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Just imagine – you can travel the culinary world without ever leaving your seat in your favorite Caribbean restaurant. Come with us while we tour the world while sipping on a pina colada.

While cooling off while drinking that pina colada,  just think of where the rum in that drink came from? The Spaniards who came roaring through the Caribbean five hundred years ago brought sugarcane with them. It was soon discovered that fermenting the cane led to this wonderful libation called rum! While we’re touring Spain, why not try anything with eggplant, cilantro, onion or garlic in it? These all came from Spain and other European countries. For dessert, how about a rum-soaked fruit salad with mangoes, oranges, and limes. Yes, these, too, all came from Europe.

Next stop on our global culinary tour is Africa. For appetizers, how about a salsa with pineapple? This was introduced by the slaves from Africa. Give them thanks for bringing over the jerk style of cooking as well. This was invented by African hunters who needed a way to preserve the game meat they killed on the hunting forays. Other African imports include okra, plantains, taro, breadfruit and callaloo.

If you don’t want to travel so far on your culinary journeys, how about Mexico? Their contributions to the Caribbean cuisine include papaya and avocado. Mull that over while you’re drinking your hot cocoa, as the cocoa beans were brought over by travelers from Mexico.

The Chinese immigrant laborers brought over both foodstuffs and cooking techniques. Caribbean cuisine has borrowed stir fry cooking and barbecue techniques (think Chinese spare ribs) from the Chinese. Many sauces are based on the brown soy suace and the sweet and sour sauce. And you can find many chow meins flavored with jerk seasoning in the Caribbean. And let’s not forget the dry rub spices – most of the spices and the whole concept of dry rubbing the meat came from China. Other foods include the many varieties of noodles that China is famous for, both rice and wheat based.

Traveling overland to India, start your meal off with the many varieties of bread borrowed from the Indian cuisine. From the breads sitting on your table that you nibble on before the appetizers come, to the flat breads that the main courses often are served on – these all come from India. Although you would think the rice would have come from China, the rice in Caribbean cuisine was actually brought over by the Indian laborers. The curry that is often used in the rice and vegetable dishes in Caribbean cuisine was also brought from India. The curry is derived from the Indian spice mix marsala, which is a specific blend of spices that the cook mixes together to complement the dish he is preparing. Prepare to be amazed at the variety of curries available in the Caribbean and think back to the boring choice of just the one available, pre-blended at most American supermarkets. You’ll never be able to go back to that one.

I hope you’re hungry after that global culinary tour through the Caribbean – now let’s go eat some jerk chicken!

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Aruba is indeed a beautiful island. Read on and you will find out countless reasons why the island is a perfect place for a romantic get away or family vacation.

What to Expect in Aruba

1. All-Night Fun at Excellent Restaurants with Sumptuous Caribbean Cuisine

International travelers can fully experience the goodness of the island by tasting its traditional Caribbean cuisine. Home to various restaurants and night clubs, you can taste various Caribbean dishes served by the locals of the island. Caribbean cuisine offers a broad variety of sumptuous dishes. Feed your appetite with exotic foods that the island can offer.

2. Breathtaking Array of Sandy, White Beaches

If you are dreaming of powder-white beaches and blue crystal-clear waters, then Aruba will make your dreams come true. For beach lovers, there are lots of beautiful tropical beaches to choose from in Aruba. You can opt for Palm Beach, Manchebo Beach, and Eagle Beach. These beaches offer exciting water sports for you to choose from. Just remember to bring the necessary things such as a sunblock lotion, a pair of shades, and a camera to make your experience more fun.

3. Unforgettable Underwater Experience

You will truly enjoy the beauty of the island by doing underwater sports and outdoor activities during your stay. Enjoy the beach and do swimming, sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, as well as wind surfing. There is certainly a long list of fun beach activities you can do. You can also do jet skiing and body boarding.

4. Arikok National Park and Museums

Aruba is not just famous for its spectacular white beaches. You can also find land attractions in this beautiful country. The Arikok National Park is part of the list. Travelers can walk around the park and explore varieties of flora and fauna. You can have an educational tour by visiting archeological museums. Take a visit to their incredible Butterfly Farm too.

5. Great Accommodations

If you wish to stay in Aruba, there are a variety of great hotels to choose from. Located just a few minutes away from the beach, you can enjoy your vacation with great hotel amenities and entertainment. You can go to your travel agent or search on the internet for a great choice of hotel in Aruba. Also, souvenir shops are located inside the hotels so you can go shopping.

When you wish to experience Aruba, you can ask your local travel agent for a great travel package to Aruba. Plus, you can also be advised as to when is the perfect season of taking a trip to this beautiful island. Aruba can offer great shopping experiences, delicious Caribbean cuisine, fantastic nightlife, and world-class beach experiences!

Being a fantastic destination, international travelers will surely fall in love with the island. You will definitely discover a piece of heaven on earth, and you can find it in Aruba – an island paradise. So what are you waiting for?