Enjoyed my vacations! Without a doubt had a great time away from home and it was a great break from life’s routine at work and on the island. But it’s impossible to take away home from the heart and mind, especially when you get used to a product or service. My Belizean blood asks for Marie Sharp Hot Sauce on everything (I forgot to take my travel bottle to Vegas), that Rice and Beans prepared perfectly that only our Belizean spices can do it justice or that savory taste of Caribbean Rum that goes so well with everything. Am I right? Yeah!
I kept craving for ceviche at the bars, mistakenly asked the bartender for a Lighthouse, cringed at the site of Tabasco Sauce (where is my Marie Sharp) and after all that American food, I craved for some Rice and Beans. Belize is stuck with me wherever I travel. So here is my list of Belizean products I Can’t Live Without!
Marie Sharp Habanero Sauce on Everything!
Not one single hot sauce product can beat the taste of my Marie Sharp Habanero Hot Sauce. I LOVE IT, LOVE IT! Marie Sharp is great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and even dessert (have you tired it with molten chocolate). Everything tastes better with Marie Sharp Hot Sauce; no doubt about that. Did I mention already that I LOVE IT!?
Fried Jacks
The diet goes out the door once these hit the table at my house! It’s torture when I’m watching what I eat, but cannot say NO to Fried Jacks. Deliciousness flour tortilla mixture that is fried and not baked. Once you start you just can’t stop. Oh, and they are excellent with lots of refried beans and Marie Sharp Habanero Sauce!
Manelly’s Ice Cream
Manelly’s Ice Cream Shop has become a staple for island life on Ambergris Caye. We stock our fridge with it, restaurants order by the buckets and we all run to Manelly’s Ice Cream Shop on hot day to enjoy their amazingly delicious and sweet ice cream. My all time favorites: Sour Sap, Craboo and Coconut – Belizean flavors at their best!
Ceviche
We go to Chetumal all the time and ask for ceviche to enjoy with the Mexican beer, but I am sorry to say that no other ceviche compares to the ones prepared in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye! It’s hard to replicate the flavor and I believe the freshness of the product has to do a lot with its excellent taste. Island ceviche is the best!
Rice and Beans
The spices, seasoning and flavor cannot be matched anywhere else, unless they import our Belizean flavors that make the Rice and Beans so delicious! It’s the Recado in the stew chicken, the salad cream for the potato salad and the coconut milk in the rice that make this dish so heavenly. 🙂 It’s the staple food of Belize known around the world for its great flavor.
Belikin/Lighthouse Beer
After a few Coronas, Tecates and Bud Lights, you tend to start craving your Belizean Beer. Heck! It’s renowned worldwide for its incredible taste and I have never heard a tourist saying he does not like it. In fact, we see them carrying Belikin by the cases from the distribution centers to their hotel rooms. I love seeing that. So be it Belikin Beer or Lighthouse Beer (my preference) Belizean Beer gets my vote for great taste!
Mixed Fruit Jam (Marie Sharp)
The Jam of all jams! The Mixed Fruit Jam goes with everything, much like the pepper sauce, for me! Spread it on toast, waffles, mix it into a fruit shake, make it an ingredient for food or as a sweet topping for dessert. My next favorite jam is the Guava flavor, but there are so many to choose from that there is gotta be one you love the most. Which is it?
Meat Pies
This is another fantastic staple food for Belizeans. It dominates the breakfast menu at most fast food delis, gas stations and grocery shops around the country. Heck there is even a factory in Belize City that rolls them out by the hundreds – Dario’s Meatpies delivers countrywide. But there are so many other homemade meat pies just as delicious that make breakfast or snacking in Belize so much better.
Belizean Rum – One Barrel & Caribbean
Two outstanding rums produced in Belize. Travellers Liquors Distillery produces one of Belize’s most popular rums, One Barrel Refined Old Rum. One Barrel has won numerous gold medals in the “dark and light 80 proof” category at the annual International Rum Festival. One Barrel continually surpasses other rums throughout the Caribbean in taste and quality. And Caribbean White rum is one of the oldest rums produced in Belize. It is made from the finest sugar cane cultivated in northern Belize and is amongst the most popular Belizean rums.
