Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TIPPING A 10% to 15% service charge is automatically added to most restaurant
tabs. If the service has been good, you should tip a bit extra.
WHAT TO WEAR In some of the posh resorts, such as Caneel Bay on St. John,
it is customary for men to wear a jacket, but in summer, virtually no establishment
requires it. If in doubt, ask the restaurant beforehand. At the better places, women's
evening attire is casual-chic. During the day it is proper to wear something over your
bathing suit if you're in a restaurant.
RESERVATIONS Check to see if reservations are required before heading out to
eat. In summer, you can almost always get in, but in winter, all the tables may be
taken at some of the famous but small places.
The Cuisine
Be sure to read “The Best Dishes in the Virgin Islands,” in chapter 1, for our recom-
mendations on where to find the finest examples of some of the dishes discussed
below.
APPETIZERS The most famous soup in the islands is kallaloo, or callaloo, made
in an infinite number of ways with a leafy green vegetable similar to spinach. It's often
flavored with any combination of the
following: salt beef, pig mouth, pig tail,
hot peppers, ham bone, fresh fish,
crab, corned conch, okra, onions, and
spices.
Many soups are sweetened with
sugar and often contain fruit; for
example, the classic red-bean soup—
made with pork or ham, various spices,
and tomatoes—is sugared to taste.
Tannia soup is made with its name-
sake, a starchy root known as the
“purple elephant ear” because of its
color and shape; it's combined with salt-fat meat and ham, tomatoes, onions, and
spices. Souse is an old-time favorite made with the feet, head, and tongue of a pig,
and flavored with a lime-based sauce.
Saltfish salad is traditionally served on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday in the
Virgin Islands. It consists of boneless salt fish, potatoes, onions, boiled eggs, and an
oil-and-vinegar dressing.
Herring gundy is another old-time island favorite; it's a salad made with salt her-
ring, potatoes, onions, green sweet and hot peppers, olives, diced beets, raw carrots,
herbs, and boiled eggs.
SIDE DISHES Rice —seasoned, not plain—is popular with Virgin Islanders, who
are fond of serving several starches at one meal. Most often rice is flavored with ham
or salt pork, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and shortening.
Fungi is a simple cornmeal dumpling, made more interesting with the addition of
okra and other ingredients. Sweet fungi is served as a dessert, with sugar, milk, cin-
namon, and raisins.
Okra (often spelled ochroe in the islands) is a mainstay vegetable, usually accom-
panying beef, fish, or chicken. It's often fried and flavored with hot peppers, tomatoes,
2
Sustainable Eating
Because of the decline of local species,
such as Caribbean lobster and conch,
you may want to eschew ordering reef
fish, such as grouper, snapper, and
grunt, and opt for equally tasty and
more sustainable alternatives that live
out in open water such as dorado,
wahoo, and barracuda.
—Christina P. Colón
35
 
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