Page 8 - AHATA

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local Saturday 28 OctOber 2023

Food culture in Aruba

(Oranjestad) - Like many other cul- Dinner Time
tures, an important aspect of the Dinner time can vary significantly
Aruban cultural identity is our con- from household to household. Un-
nection to food and food traditions. like the U.S. or in Europe, dinner
The local food traditions consist of a time typically does not consist of
melting pot of different cultural and a whole (warm) meal. Instead,
religious eating habits and dishes. the evening “meal” can typically
consist of something lighter, like a
Breakfast, lunch and dinner sandwich, though it is not uncom-
The routine of breakfast, lunch and mon to see leftovers from the main
dinner on the island is one that meal reheated and eaten again.
does not completely follow a Euro- Tea and coffee are often also
pean or American routine, despite served with the evening snack.
the major influences from these
parts of the world on our culture (Religious) Holidays
and way of living. When it comes Christmas is probably the biggest
to the three important meals of the global holiday, and every cul-
day, most of the Aruban popula- ture has its own spin on what their
tion follows a Latin-American influ- Christmas cuisine entails. In Aru-
enced routine. ba, our Christmas cuisine is again
largely based on Latin-American
Breakfast influences, most notably form Ven-
Breakfast in Aruba is quite simple: a ezuela. Ayacas and the famous
cup of coffee or tea, some bread, pan di ham* are two crucial holi-
and sometimes an egg. Some- day dishes, along with stuffed tur-
times, due to the need of a quick key, roasted glazed ham topped
“to-go” breakfast, you may also with pineapples, arroz con pollo
find many snack trucks and ca- (rice and chicken) and potato sal-
fes that sell sandwiches, pastechis ad, among other items. Traditional
(meat pie), arepas and empana- drinks include ponche crema (Aru-
das early in the morning. ban eggnog), chuculati pinda (hot
chocolate with peanut butter),
Main Meal and homemade fruit punch. Des-
The main meal is typically eaten in serts include, bolo di pistachio (pis-
most households around noon or in tachio cake), bolo di cashupete
the afternoon. This can consist of (cashew cake), quesillo (flan), bolo
meat, fish, and chicken—stewed preto (dark fruit cake), drigidek
or fried—with funchi (polenta) or (gingerbread), pan boyo (bread
rice with stewed vegetables. Of- cake) and more.
ten, fried or boiled plantain or pan
bati (Aruban pancake) is included. Snacks and tasty delights
Stews are a staple in Aruban cuisine Besides meals and dishes that are
and can are largely influenced by eaten on the dinner table, Aruba
Latin-American and Latin/Afro-Ca- also has a food tradition that in-
ribbean Stews. Some of the more cludes snacks and other tasty
unique stews and soups from the delights that you may easily find
ABC Islands* include sopi di bon- around the island. These include,
chi cora (red kidney bean soup Saco*, basket, pastechi, kroket,
with pig tail), sopi mondongo (tripe deditos, Johnny cake and more.
soup), carni stoba (beef stew), These snacks are usually sold at lo-
comcomber stoba (West Indian cal snack trucks and cafes, often
gherkin stew) and much more. located on the side of the road.
In the area of Tanki Leendert and

Tanki flip, for example, there are ives)
many of these trucks parked on the *Saco: Saco literally means “bag”.
side of the road and often open Saco contains fried potatoes,
until late at night—offering tasty plantains, chicken (and ribs) and
and filling snacks post night-life fun. a Johnny cake, served in a paper
bag.q

*ABC Islands: Aruba, Bonaire and Source: Voeding, voedingsge-
Curacao woonten en gerechten op Aruba
*Pan di ham: Derived from the (Nutrition, Food Traditions and Dish-
Venezuelan Pan de Jamon (rolled es on Aruba) by Biblioteca Nacio-
up bread with ham, raisins and ol- nal Aruba