Both bull foot soup and oxtail soup are popular here on our island.

What about bush tea? Very good. All of our old timers have drank it every day of thier lives and most of them are at or near age 100.

Well you know that in JA anything hot is called "tea" right?
Hot chocolate = tea
Hot coffee = tea

Then there's ganja tea...but that's a whole other topic!

I often wonder how all these variations came about in food names.

Leaf of life, cerasee, fevergrass (aka lemongrass) are a few well-known bush teas/medicine teas in Jamaica. Ganja
tea is also given to colicky babies.
Bizzy is a cola nut made into tea.
Sinkle Bible is aloe, used as a tea
and a poultice for wounds, sunburns.

Aloe/ sinkle Bible:-&
I hate that stuff. It's good for you...but still :-&

Thank you Tiverton. I'll have to remember that name. If fact there are some Jamaicans I work with. If I drop that one on them I am sure it will get a laugh.

jacketwatch,

Use this line on them Jamaicans : "Ah need a new grip you know...that old dulcimena that I have...cho man ...it really falling apart!"

JA Girl: Unless they deep=country or over age 50, doubt if they'll pick up
on a dulcimena as a batttered old suitcase or cod cakes.

JAGIRL: If I say that they either laugh AT me or look at me like I'm nuts.

These &quot;strange&quot; names are great...such a fun thread indeed. I have enjoyed it immensely. Hopefully all you well travelled folks here on the Caribbean Board will now know what to order (or what <b>NOT</b> to order!! ) when they come to the islands!

If you get a chance, drink some sea moss. It's made from seaweed &amp; cinnamon &amp; much better than it sounds.

Also, there's a kind of dumpling called foo-foo.

A really popular fish here is called &quot;Ole Wife&quot; because the fish is so ugly.

&quot;Culinaria:The Caribbean&quot;, part of the German series (in English) on world foods -- it's a lavish 10 lb.coffee table book filled with great photos, history, recipes, plus, &quot;Eat Caribbean&quot;, a smaller 5 lb. paperback with many photos by Cookie Kincaid of Jamaica, are both good resources for anyone interested in Caribbean food/drinks. Rosemary Parkinson is now
completing the newest addition to the Culinaria series, this one on Jamaica, and out in about 2 years.

Even though this is a caribbean board, the original post asks for island food. No one has mentioned poi from Maui yet.

Question: My dad is from Trinidad and we were debating about bagie...What is the actual vegetable name? Not just what it's called in Trinidad...