In Saint Lucia, the “fig” is a green banana. Cooked with salt cod, it becomes green fig and saltfish, the island’s national dish, where two histories meet: that of salt from the north and that of the export banana.
At the end of a muddy track, in the village of Desrameaux, the villagers gather in a large clearing. It is Jounen Kwéyòl, the Creole festival. Women take turns showing how cassava flour is prepared using traditional methods. On the tables are crayfish, green figs with dumplings in a red bean broth, salt cod with cucumber, and soups served in calabashes. A report published in 2008 describes this scene. It already says the essential about Saint Lucia: a cuisine of roots, bananas and salted fish.
A fig that isn’t a fig
On the island, bananas are called “figs.” “Green figs” are green bananas, picked before they ripen: firm, delicate and unsweetened. Green fig and saltfish pairs them with salt cod, slowly cooked with onions, tomatoes and peppers. On the plate, the banana takes the place the potato holds elsewhere. It provides the substance; the cod provides the salt and the flavor. The dish is eaten at breakfast as well as at lunch. On Saturday mornings, at the market in Castries, where the stalls open around six o’clock, it is served right beside the pot.
Salt cod, from the north
It does not come from Caribbean waters but from the North Atlantic. In the early 19th century, Newfoundland shipped more than 150,000 quintals of salt cod a year to the British colonies of the Caribbean, including Saint Lucia, in 1810 and 1811. Between 1817 and 1833, the annual average remained around 127,000 quintals. Jamaica, Barbados, British Guiana, Trinidad, Grenada, Dominica and Saint Vincent appear on the same list of colonies.
Behind this cod lies the sugar economy, which then relied on enslaved labor. Planters wanted a cheap, long-lasting source of protein. It fed enslaved people first, then free workers. The British colonies even asked for the cheapest grades. Dried and salted, cod travels well, which mattered on islands without refrigeration. The salt crossed the ocean before reaching the pot.
Bananas, an export crop
In the 1950s, the banana became an export crop in Saint Lucia. The island was then billed as the leading producer in the English-speaking Caribbean. The British market was protected by an agreement formalized in 1975 by the first Lomé Convention. In 1992, the island exported 132,000 tonnes of bananas. From 1993, the European Union restricted preferential access to its market, and Chiquita challenged the regime before the WTO. That same year, growers’ strikes left two people dead from gunshots. According to a BBC report, the number of growers fell from 10,000 to 1,800. On the world market, the banana lost ground. In the pot, the green fig stayed.
On the plate, the two histories meet. On one side, a salted fish from a colonial system of provisions. On the other, a fruit that became an export product for Europe. Saint Lucia’s national dish brings them together without explaining them.
Green fig and saltfish, a dish with many faces
The green fig is not confined to a single recipe. In the Desrameaux report, it is served with dumplings in a red bean broth, and the cod arrives on the side, with cucumber. On Friday nights in Gros Islet, green fig salad comes with grilled meats and bakes. Cod fritters and bouyon, a thick soup of red beans, meat and root vegetables, round out the repertoire. Green fig and saltfish is the best-known face of a family of dishes.
See also: Ackee and Saltfish: Jamaican Culinary Treasures, the Caribbean’s other great salt cod dish.
Jounen Kwéyòl, the last Sunday of October
This Sunday, October 25, Saint Lucia celebrates Jounen Kwéyòl. The festival is led by the Folk Research Centre, founded in 1973 by Monsignor Patrick Anthony and young students, in the wake of the Black Power movement. Born in the 1980s, it gives Kwéyòl a public place again, with music, crafts, storytelling and food. Schools, associations and cultural groups take part, and the streets are draped in madras. This year it is held in places including La Clery Playing Field, Dennery South and Vieux Fort.
The language we speak is answered by the one we eat. The banana fields have lost thousands of growers. The green fig, for its part, has stayed in the pot. What the island will put in it tomorrow remains to be seen.
Frequently asked questions about green fig and saltfish
Green fig and saltfish is the national dish of Saint Lucia. It pairs green bananas, called “figs” on the island, with salt cod slowly cooked with onions, tomatoes and peppers. It is eaten at breakfast as well as at lunch.
On the island, bananas are called “figs.” “Green figs” are green bananas, picked before they ripen: firm, delicate and unsweetened. On the plate, they take the place the potato holds elsewhere.
The cod comes from the North Atlantic, not from Caribbean waters. In 1810 and 1811, Newfoundland shipped more than 150,000 quintals a year to the British colonies of the Caribbean, including Saint Lucia, to feed first enslaved people and then free workers. Dried and salted, it travels well, which mattered on islands without refrigeration.
