As with many Caribbean islands, Barbados has its share of Indian-originating products, introduced by workers imported during the British colonial era, whose culture is now an inextricable part of the traditional island mélange. This cross-continental transference is also the force, in my opinion, behind the very-Bajan snack food known as Sugar Daddies, which seem to have an ostensible origin in Indian jalebi, not to mention the wider category of sweets and savories combining a fried dough base with nuts and seeds. It’s pretty hard to find a direct link confirming this transference, and I may have already jeopardized my current employment with a search for “Barbados Sugar Daddies” on company time. Still, there’s evidence, specifically Trinidadian Kurma, a recognized Indian import and cousin of Guyanese Mithia, which tellingly also go by the name “goolab jamun.” The question of how these crunchy fritters became nominally associated with a syrup-soaked milk ball presents yet another mystery, but whatever the case, these things are delicious, sort of a condensed churro with frosted sugar overtones. The brand is BiBi’s, which doesn’t offer much in the way of packaging design or online presence, but at least has an affable Facebook account. The souvenir package which gifted me these sticks also resulted, courtesy of the same company, in a bag of Tamarind Balls, another Pan-Caribbean favorite which I’ve also tasted in Cuban, Mexican and Colombian iterations. These are part of a wide tradition of poppable desserts (also common to India, come to think of it), which preserve once-perishable fruits by sugaring them into submission. The Bajan version, however, perhaps in keeping with the island’s taste for piquant orange hot pepper sauces, is the spiciest one I’ve had yet. As another reminder of how far the tradition of candying sour fruits by surrounding them with sugar and spices extends, I was able to acquire these nance candies at an El Salvadorian bakery in Nassau County. Nance is a tropical fruit which, while edible in its natural form, seems far more commonly utilized as a flavoring agent, a complement to desserts or in modified forms, as part of a fruit salad or served in its own sweetened juice. Dulce de Nance, as this candy is known, appears to take a wide variety of forms itself, ranging from the spiced, sugar-dusted version I purchased (closely resembling a chocolate Munchkin, at least to my eye) to far more syrupy incarnations.
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The coded language of snacks, sandwiches and seasonings, in NYC and beyond.
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