Food & Drinking Culture

Grenada's national dish is called oildown, and it pairs well with a glass of rum punch. In a large pot, salted meat, breadfruit, onions, carrots, celery, dasheen, and dumplings simmer in coconut milk until the liquid cooks down and the dish practically sits in its own oil, hence the name. The result is rich, salty, and mildly sweet all at once.

A meal like that calls for something fresh, and that's where the punch comes in. A Grenada rum punch combines lime, orange, pineapple, and grenadine, and its signature touch is freshly grated nutmeg on top. It smells of wood and clove and ties the drink back to the dish, which also features nutmeg and spice.

Rum is also drunk on Grenada at the rumshop, a small bar with a handful of stools where neighbors chat, play dominoes, and empty their glasses. The rumshop is a village gathering place rather than a tourist spot. There, people order whichever rum happens to be on hand, often one of the island's three brands.

Rum also turns up at carnival, called Spicemas on Grenada and celebrated in August. That's when the Jab Jab appear, figures who smear themselves with black oil and drag chains. Tradition traces the Jab Molassie, the molasses devil, back to the sugar plantations of the slavery era. The raw material of rum and the carnival share the same root.

Anyone wanting to recreate this at home can try an oildown with potato instead of breadfruit, and mix a mild rum with juice and freshly grated nutmeg. A punch like this doesn't need sunshine, but it does need time and good nutmeg. Spiced rums from the region are their own category, covered in the article on Spiced Rum.