Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Where to Dine on
Grand Cayman
On his trip to the West Indies in 1859, Anthony Trollope,
the British novelist, was not impr essed with the food his plantation-
owning hosts ser ved him. I gnoring the rich bounty of their islands,
including local fr uits and v egetables, they fed him canned potatoes,
“tinned meats,” and cheeses impor ted fr om E ngland. A t the time,
British expats felt that if a food item didn 't come fr om their home-
land, it wasn't worth putting on the table.
Regrettably, Trollope did not visit the Cayman Islands as part of his
sojourn. Had he paid a call, he would hav e found that the enterpris-
ing Caymanians w ere eating what they raised. O r, more accurately,
what they caught. There was little reliance on imported goods. Today,
Caymanian cuisine continues to take advantage of the islands' natural
provisions and local fish is easily found on menus thr
oughout the
Caymans.
Many of today's chefs in the Cayman I slands rely on international
recipes for their r estaurant offerings, and some Caymanians claim
that you have to be invited to a local home for r eal island cuisine.
That is not true. Many restaurants still feature West Indian cooks who
prepare food as their grandmothers did, and w e've r ecommended
several of them. U nless a r estaurant is dev oted to a for eign cuisine,
many Cayman dishes still appear r egularly on menus.
Although Grand Cayman hotels quote their rates in U.S. dollars,
nearly all restaurants present menus in both Cayman and U.S. dollars.
This is based on the assumption that islanders patr onize their local
restaurants, but have little need for hotel rooms. Most restaurants add
a 10% to 15% charge in lieu of tipping, so check y our bill carefully.
Following are some menu items and descriptions of main dishes at
Cayman restaurants:
SEA TURTLE
Turtle meat that appears on menus in the Cayman
Islands is fr om a local tur tle farm that raises tur tles specifically for
commercial purposes.
QUEEN C ONCH
The national food of the Cayman I slands is
conch. The firm white meat of this mollusk—called the “ snail of the
sea”—tastes some what bland until local chefs wor
k their magic.
