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local Friday 11 august 2023
Food culture in Aruba

(Oranjestad) - Like many you may also find many
other cultures, an impor- snack trucks and cafes that
tant aspect of the Aruban sell sandwiches, pastechis
cultural identity is our con- (meat pie), arepas and
nection to food and food empanadas early in the
traditions. The local food morning.
traditions consist of a melt-
ing pot of different cultural Main Meal
and religious eating habits The main meal is typically
and dishes. eaten in most households
around noon or in the af-
Breakfast, lunch and dinner ternoon. This can consist of
The routine of breakfast, meat, fish, and chicken—
lunch and dinner on the stewed or fried—with fun-
island is one that does not chi (polenta) or rice with
completely follow a Euro- stewed vegetables. Often,
pean or American routine, fried or boiled plantain
despite the major influ- or pan bati (Aruban pan-
ences from these parts of cake) is included. Stews are
the world on our culture a staple in Aruban cuisine Dinner Time
and way of living. When it and can are largely influ- Dinner time can vary signifi-
comes to the three impor- enced by Latin-American cantly from household to
tant meals of the day, most and Latin/Afro-Caribbean household. Unlike the U.S.
of the Aruban population Stews. Some of the more or in Europe, dinner time
follows a Latin-American in- unique stews and soups typically does not consist
fluenced routine. from the ABC Islands* in- of a whole (warm) meal. In-
clude sopi di bonchi cora stead, the evening “meal”
Breakfast (red kidney bean soup with can typically consist of
Breakfast in Aruba is quite pig tail), sopi mondongo something lighter, like a
simple: a cup of coffee (tripe soup), carni stoba sandwich, though it is not
or tea, some bread, and (beef stew), comcomber uncommon to see leftovers
sometimes an egg. Some- stoba (West Indian gherkin from the main meal reheat-
times, due to the need of stew) and much more. ed and eaten again. Tea
a quick “to-go” breakfast, and coffee are often also
served with the evening
snack.

(Religious) Holidays
Christmas is probably the
biggest global holiday, and
every culture has its own cial holiday dishes, along sold at local snack trucks
spin on what their Christmas with stuffed turkey, roasted and cafes, often located
cuisine entails. In Aruba, our glazed ham topped with on the side of the road. In
Christmas cuisine is again pineapples, arroz con pollo the area of Tanki Leendert
largely based on Latin- (rice and chicken) and po- and Tanki flip, for example,
American influences, most tato salad, among other there are many of these
notably form Venezuela. items. Traditional drinks in- trucks parked on the side
Ayacas and the famous clude ponche crema (Aru- of the road and often open
pan di ham* are two cru- ban eggnog), chuculati until late at night—offering
pinda (hot chocolate with tasty and filling snacks post
peanut butter), and home- night-life fun.q
made fruit punch. Desserts
include, bolo di pistachio *ABC Islands: Aruba, Bo-
(pistachio cake), bolo di naire and Curacao
cashupete (cashew cake),
quesillo (flan), bolo preto *Pan di ham: Derived from
(dark fruit cake), drigidek the Venezuelan Pan de
(gingerbread), pan boyo Jamon (rolled up bread
(bread cake) and more. with ham, raisins and olives)
*Saco: Saco literally means
Snacks and tasty delights “bag”. Saco contains fried
Besides meals and dishes potatoes, plantains, chick-
that are eaten on the din- en (and ribs) and a Johnny
ner table, Aruba also has a cake, served in a paper
food tradition that includes bag.
snacks and other tasty de-
lights that you may eas- Source: Voeding, voedings-
ily find around the island. gewoonten en gerechten op
These include, Saco*, bas- Aruba (Nutrition, Food Tradi-
tions and Dishes on Aruba) by
ket, pastechi, kroket, dedi- Biblioteca Nacional Aruba
tos, Johnny cake and more.
These snacks are usually