How To Make Fish Cakes From Barbados
Award-winning Chef Creig Greenridge and Cruise Barbados share an easy recipe for this local favorite.
Let's face it: Packing up and moving to Barbados for a year of the best remote work situation imaginable is easier said than done. As much as we'd all love to bring a laptop and portable hotspot to Hastings Beach to answer emails and update JIRA tickets between swims, we will have to settle for living vicariously through people who actually get to do it (and if that's you, email us and let us know all about it).
The good news is you can still bring a delicious piece of Barbados into your home without having to get your dusty luggage out of the garage. Barbados is well-known for a variety of delicacies and must-try street foods, including cassava pone, conkie and macaroni pie. So, when we asked for one of the most beloved dishes on the island, the generous team at Cruise Barbados delivered with this recipe for fish cakes.
This particular recipe comes from a true master of Bajan culinary delights, as Chef Creig Greenridge of CM Catering has twice been named Barbados Chef of the Year and was selected as the Caribbean Tourism Organization's Rum & Rhythm People's Choice Chef of the Year in 2018 and 2019. And when the people speak, we listen... and then eat the fish cakes.
Barbadian Fish Cakes Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs salted cod
- 1 oz dill, chopped
- 1 oz thyme, chopped
- 1 oz Marjoram
- 1 oz chives, chopped
- 3 oz onion, chopped
- 1 oz scotch bonnet pepper, chopped
- 1 tbsp pepper sauce
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 lb white flour
- 1 ltr cooking oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp curry powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 16 oz water (plus extra if needed)
How to Make It:
- Boil cod twice for 30 minutes each time and submerge in water to cool before removing and shredding finely. Keep the salted cod water to add to the batter later.
- Mix dry ingredients together.
- Gradually add salted water from cod and mix gently with a spoon, or by hand, to form a thick batter. Add more water as needed.
- Add oil to saucepan and heat until it reaches 350°F.
- Coat a teaspoon in oil and scoop batter into balls.
- Drop formed batter into hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Fry at medium heat until golden brown.
Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
- 12 oz mayonnaise
- 3 oz mustard
- 20 oz lime juice
- 2 oz brown sugar
- 2 oz sweet chili sauce
- 1 oz Bajan pepper sauce
- 1 tsp dill, chopped
How to Make It:
- Add ingredients to bowl and whisk or stir until emulsified.