If you’re a seafood lover or an avid poultry dish eater, Guadeloupe just might have everything for you, from soups to grilled goods, Guadeloupe has it all. Expect your palate to be educated, with the rich combination of herbs and cooking styles from different cultures all over the world.
What Foods Are Associated with Guadeloupe?
If you think of Caribbean cuisine, you automatically think of Creole cooking, with a love for seafood, vegetables, and spices. Guadeloupe combines all these with a lingering influence of French and a side of rum punch.
Due to the archipelago’s creole-French heavy culture, while being surrounded by the bountiful majestic Caribbean, you are bound to encounter some of the most interesting fusion of cuisine. From Grilled Fish dishes, meat puddings, and blood sausages, to fruity concoctions characteristic of any tropical island destination.
But what really sets Guadeloupe’s gastronomy apart is the interesting fusion of the influences from the various people groups that have lived in the archipelago since its conception during the French colonial years. Guadeloupe’s gastronomy is a spectacular mix of African, Arabic, French and Indian influences that have also shaped Guadeloupe’s culture today.
Many of the archipelago’s famous dishes are recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation of these various people groups. These recipes are made with fresh seafood, and poultry, and can sometimes be hot and spicy. The local cuisine is also known for using fresh fruits and seafood, and other natural and healthy ingredients found throughout Guadeloupe’s islands.
What Is the Most Popular Food in Guadeloupe?
Seafood cooked in various ways is arguably the most popular food in Guadeloupe. You can’t go by a day in Guadeloupe where one seafood dish isn’t served in your hotel, or in the restaurants you’re planning on eating in.
One of the most popular seafood dishes is the Blaff, a certain way of preparing and cooking white fish in Guadeloupe. The seafood is marinated in lime juice, garlic, and pepper, and then poached in the marinade. It is heavily seasoned and flavorful. Another go-to dish is the Accra, a kind of fritter usually made from fried fish, usually cod, other seafood, or vegetables. It usually served as an hors d’oeuvre in Guadeloupe.
What Is the Specialty of Guadeloupe?
Nothing beats the rich mix of Creole specialties and the refinement of French cuisine, which happens to be Guadeloupe’s specialty, along with Martinique. This rich mix is then further enhanced with the combination of East Indian and Southeast Asian recipes brought by immigrants less than a century ago. Other specialties include shellfish, smoked and grilled fish dishes, stuffed seafood, and curry dishes.
The archipelago is considered to be one of the culinary capitals of the Caribbean because of this amazing, hearty fusion of cuisines and influences. A true testament to this reputation, Guadeloupe boasts some 200+ restaurants that specialize in the archipelago’s rich gastronomy as recommended by the Tourism Office.
What Is the National Dish of Guadeloupe?
With a wealth of seafood and poultry recipes, you’d think that Guadeloupe has fish or chicken as its national dish, but no, it rather has a pork recipe as a national dish. The Porc Columbo is seasoned with herbs and spices, such as allspice, cinnamon, thyme, and curry powder, a nod to its South Asian influence. The pork is heavily seasoned, then stewed with green pepper, lots of chopped onion garlic, sweet potato, and tomato.
What Products Are Grown in Guadeloupe?
Guadeloupe, despite the rise in business, mainly in the tourism sector, and a growing public service sector, the country is still heavily dependent on agriculture and industries. The archipelago’s popular products are sugarcane and bananas. They make up around 6% of the GDP, providing jobs to the workforce since 1997. Sugar cane and bananas have some of the largest plantations in the archipelago where both export and local consumption are sourced.
Other products grown in Guadeloupe include aubergines, pineapples, sweet potatoes, tropical fruits, and vegetables, with bananas and sugar cane make up the main and largest exports. Rum is also big on Guadeloupe from the industry’s large supplies of sugar. Guadeloupe agriculture and farming sector has become a fortified institution on the archipelago that even animal husbandry like raising and farming animals have also provided jobs and food for the people.
Is Food Expensive in Guadeloupe?
Using US Dollars, let us compare three tourist destinations in the Caribbean, Cancun, Aruba, and Guadeloupe. A reasonably priced meal in an inexpensive restaurant in Cancun costs around 5 to 10 USD, while in Aruba it can cost around 10 to 35 USD, and in Guadeloupe it costs 5 to 14 USD, almost beating Cancun in affordability. Another thing worth comparing is the price of simple grocery store purchases. A liter of milk can cost 1 USD in Cancun, 1 to 2 USD in Aruba, and Guadeloupe.
You can already surmise that Guadeloupe isn’t exactly the cheapest but it isn’t the most expensive either. Keep in mind that the archipelago is French and thus uses the Euro, so the prices might take aback because they can be higher than expected for the region.
What Is the Beer in Guadeloupe?
When you go out drinking in Guadeloupe at night, or even just have a quick bottle or can of suds or two in a bar by the beach in mid-day, you can immediately spot three common beers: the Lezarde, which in itself has five types, the Gwada, and the famous Corsaire Biere.
Brewed just on the banks of the River Lezarde, in Vernou, Guadeloupe, the beer of the same name is a craft beer, perhaps the only one brewed on the island. The beer is characterized by a simple taste, chill, and just perfectly smooth.
The Gwada, a brand that is quintessentially Guadeloupean. Apart from the Lezarde Beer, the Gwada is also brewed on the archipelago. The drink comes in three variants, the Gwada Pilsner, Gwada Original, which is an American-style pale lager, and the Gwada Rhum.
Another very Guadelopean beer that you might notice at frequent tables in bars and restaurants is the Corsaire Biere. The pale lager variant is probably its most famous drink, made by a French company but brewed in the Caribbean.
How Much Is a Beer in Guadeloupe?
A bottle of local beer in Guadeloupe can cost around 5.30 to 7 USD or 4.50 to 6 EUR which can be pricey for many. However, any touristy beer-loving place has its perks when it comes to happy hours, so it is best to buy beer during these times.
