Traditional island cooking primarily consists of fish, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cristophene (chayotte), coconut bread, rice and peas, chicken, pork and Bajan black-belly lamb. We suggest trying some Bajan specialties: flying fish, jug-jug (green peas, meats and corn flour), fish cakes, cou-cou (okra and corn flour), dolphin (the fish, not the mammal—also called dorado), pepper-pot stew, puddin' and souse (pig entrails stuffed with grated sweet potatoes, served alongside lime-pickled pig feet and ears), roti (curried chicken or beef—sometimes with potatoes—or vegetables wrapped in pastry) and conkies (made from cornmeal, raisins, spice, pumpkin and sweet potatoes). If you spot a van parked roadside at lunchtime with people lining up for food, give it a try. You'll get an authentic meal at good value.

Do try some of the local fruit: Barbados cherries, dunks, guavas, shaddock (a huge grapefruit,) soursop and ackees (known in other parts of the Caribbean as ginips)—a small, green-skinned fruit with a sour-sweet gelatin inside that surrounds a seed. Attend a West Indian barbecue if the opportunity arises, and be sure to sample the island's rum punch. A popular local soft drink is the molasses-based Tiger Malt, and mauby is a bittersweet local drink made from tree bark and sugar. If your palate is partial to sizzle, drown everything in the local hot pepper sauce (and take some home for your friends with fireproof mouths). Wash it all down with the local award-winning Banks beer.

Bajans cook with a traditional combination of fresh herbs. To replicate the flavor at home, take back a jar of Bajan seasoning, available in supermarkets and specialty shops.

Visitors should note that breakfast is usually served 7-10 am and lunch noon-3 pm. Dinner is the main meal of the day and is served 6-10 pm.