About the dish
Green fig and saltfish is the national dish of Saint Lucia. Despite the name there are no figs in it: on the island “green fig” means green, unripe bananas, which are boiled in their skins like potatoes until starchy and tender. They are served with salt cod that has been soaked, flaked and sautéed with onion, garlic, sweet pepper, tomato, thyme, parsley and a little hot pepper. Sometimes the fish and bananas are tossed with cucumber and oil into a kind of warm salad. The dish brings together two pillars of Caribbean cooking – cheap starch from the home garden and salt cod from the old Atlantic trade – and it is eaten for breakfast, lunch and on national holidays.
Main ingredients
- green bananas
- salt cod
- onion
- garlic
- sweet pepper
- tomato
- thyme
St. Lucia: The national dish of Saint Lucia; “green fig” means unripe bananas here.