Food Trends

Aruban Cuisine Fuses Caribbean Delicacies With Multiple Cultures

In the Caribbean, Arubans are cooking a variety of recipes that combine cultural influences and island ingredients in interesting ways. From soups to sweets, it is island eating at its best.
By John Jacobs

The Caribbean archipelago is home to a number of paradises, and the island of Aruba is one of them. A mere 70 square miles in size, it has a relatively small population. It is a beautiful island in the Caribbean Sea that is currently an autonomous member of the Kingdom of Netherlands, so its approximately 105,000 citizens are Dutch.

However, the Dutch are just one group of people who have had an influence on the foods and recipes that are so deliciously Aruban. Cultural influences include Arawak Indians, the original inhabitants who farmed and fished, and Spanish explorers, the Dutch, and various Europeans who visited the island over the centuries.

At Once Simple and Exotic
Aruba is a Caribbean island with a Caribbean cuisine that has decidedly European influences in a number of national recipes that entice the palate and comfort the soul. Traditional recipes also embrace the island's geography with popular dishes that include items like locally caught red snapper, beef, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. However, many of the dishes are a fusion of multiple cultures that include African, Indian, Dutch, Spanish, French, South American and even Chinese.

Menus are filled with hearty stews and soups, delicate seafood dishes, delicious goat and chicken meals, and a host of desserts that add to the joys of island life. Topping everything from main courses to desserts are delicious sauces to enhance and supplement already delicious foods.

One of the fascinating characteristics of Aruban recipes is that they are simple and exotic at the same time. The exotic is often added via the spices used in most dishes found under the Caribbean sun.

There is also no one specific national or traditional food, but there are several classic national dishes. One is keshi yena which is an unusual recipe. The rind of a four-pound Edam or Gouda cheese wheel is hollowed out and then filled with a unique blend of raisins, peppers, onions, celery, olives, and tomatoes mixed with chicken or minced meat eggs. The concoction is covered with the top of the cheese wheel and baked.

Dish Up a Hearty Bowl of History in Aruba
Main dishes include plenty of meat or fish. Satee is marinated meat on skewers which is best when barbecued. From Spain came arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), and from India came curry goat or chicken.

Eggplant dishes, shrimp, grilled fish and meatloaf are commonly consumed. However, the meatloaf looks nothing like the meatloaf commonly eaten in the U.S. Flank steak is boiled with onion and then shredded, and the cooked meat is then added to a skillet with celery, cilantro, paprika, tomatoes, and garlic.

A bowl of Aruban stew or soup is a bowl of history in that Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch influences are blended together to create filling dishes. Keri keri is a stew made from white-fleshed fish to which a variety of spices are added, like basil and annatto, and all is mixed with bell peppers and tomatoes. Carni stoba is beef stew that is made with tougher meats like beef shoulder or leg. The meat is stewed for many hours, and then vegetables like celery, onions, potatoes and carrots are added as well as spices of choice like cumin, nutmeg and basil.

Island-inspired soups are as tasty as the stews and just as popular. Sopi di pampuna (pumpkin soup) is enriched with annatto which has a peppery, sweet and nutty flavour. Notice that annatto appears over and over again in recipes. It is made from the seeds of the achiote tree and has a vibrant colour. Annatto is used like a food dye or a flavour enhancer.

Aruban stoba (soups) are as hearty as stews, so it is difficult to even separate the two kinds of foods. Calco stoba is a conch soup which is heavenly. Conch meat is firm and white and has a mild but distinctive flavour. The meat is stewed with tomatoes, green peppers, onions and chicken stock. Something hot, like chili pepper, is added for a spark of flavour.

A cold soup called “Cool Island Soup” is made with fresh pineapple, papaya, and cantaloupe plus unsweetened apricot nectar and pineapple juice. There is a traditional Dutch pea soup, the antillean gumbo called giambo, and the soul-food sopi mondongo which is a complex soup made with beef stomach, heel and white bone that are used to make a beef stock to which a cornucopia of items are added that include onion, green bell pepper, celery, sweet potato, plantain, calabas, cumin and basil.

Enjoying Island Life
Many meals, especially soups and stews, are served with pan bati which is a pancake.

Other side dishes include a hot papaya pudding, an herb salad, funchi (a corn meal mush), and arepita di pampunaa (pumpkin pancakes).

Sauces, salsas and dressings turn what would be fairly ordinary foods into island delights. Mango salsa is a tropical sauce used on steak or chicken. There is peanut coco dressing, an oriental satay sauce (peanut sauce), and siboyo tempera used with fried fish and other seafood.

Of course, Arubans have as much of a sweet tooth as others. They regularly enjoy treats like bolo di banana (plantain pudding), bolo di frigidaire (fridge cake made with pineapple and cherries), bolo di tres lechi (three layers of cake, cream and merengue), chateau (chocolate cake), and kesio (a type of flan with caramel syrup).

It makes sense to assume that a small island with such a large number of traditional and popular recipes considers food to be a large factor in Aruba's culture. The assumption is correct. Aruba is proud of its food culture and has every right to feel that way. The food is varied, healthy, flavourful and interesting.

One suggestion: Before dinner, enjoy an Aruban cocktail at a local bar located on the beach. Relax, enjoy the view and appreciate life while preparing to enjoy savory local cuisine. It is Aruba at its finest.

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