Bajan cooking is good, honest food with West African, British, and Indian influences. It's not flashy, but it's distinctly its own thing.
The national dish is cou-cou and flying fish. Cou-cou is a firm porridge of cornmeal and okra, similar to polenta — it sounds unglamorous but it's surprisingly good, especially alongside fried or steamed flying fish with a spicy Creole gravy. Flying fish were once so abundant around Barbados that the island was called "the land of flying fish." Stocks have declined but it remains the emblematic fish of the island.
Pudding and souse is a Saturday tradition: pickled pork (the souse) served with spiced sweet potato (the pudding). You'll find it at roadside spots and rum shops on weekend mornings. It's polarising — vinegary, herby, and quite pungent — but worth trying.
Fish cakes — seasoned salt-fish fritters — are the universal snack. You'll find them at rum shops, markets, and street stalls across the island. Cutters are Bajan sandwiches made with salt bread (a dense, chewy roll) stuffed with flying fish or ham.
Macaroni pie is not to be confused with American mac and cheese — it's a baked, firm, sliceable dish more like a pasta bake, and it appears as a side dish at almost every traditional meal.
For seafood beyond flying fish, the Oistins Fish Fry on Friday evenings is essential. The stalls around the fish market sell mahi-mahi, tuna, marlin, and snapper, fried or grilled, with rice and peas and plantain. It's as much a social occasion as a meal — get there early for the best fish.
Rum is the defining drink. Barbados claims to be the birthplace of rum, and it's a claim with some historical basis — the first written record of rum production dates from Barbados in the 1620s. Mount Gay is the most famous brand; Cockspur, Doorly's, and the smaller craft distilleries are also worth exploring. The classic Bajan rum punch follows the "one-two-three-four" ratio: one part lime juice (sour), two parts sugar syrup (sweet), three parts rum (strong), four parts water or juice (weak), finished with grated nutmeg.