Page 10 - AHATA

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local Thursday 4 april 2024

Food culture in Aruba

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