Editor’s note: The World Golf Championships-Barbados World Cup is being played this week at Sandy Lane Resort. While she is there covering the tournament, PGATOUR.com’s Helen Ross will be writing a daily blog.

By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

ST. JAMES, Barbados -- We decided to venture out of the hotel for dinner last night and took a taxi to a Greek taverna called Opa! The food was quite good, but the view was absolutely magnificent. We sat on a wooden deck that extended out over the smooth white sand. The tide was high and the waves lapped under the floor, sometimes loud enough to nearly drown out the conversation. The restaurant had lights shining out onto the shimmering water, which any Martha Stewart-wannabe would have instantly identified as seafoam green in color. It was incredibly peaceful.

You know, I live on a barrier island near Jacksonville, Fla., and nearly every piece of property on the ocean is private housing of some kind -- high-rise condos, hotels or beachfront mansions. I can only think of one or two restaurants on the water, which is a shame. Here in Barbados they are everywhere. I mean, there is even a Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-thru located right on the ocean with a to-die-for view. You can sit on the patio munching on a bucket of extra crispy and look through the palm trees at the ocean. And while we’re talking about KFC, that is the only American fast-food chain found on the island. No McDonalds. No Burger Kings. And I won’t even mention Taco Bell -- the little chihuahua is taking too much heat right now. Bajans generally don’t eat much meat, though, so KFC and a local chain, Cheffette, are the only ones to prosper.

Bajan cuisine has many British and African influences. The abundant fruits and vegetables that grow here -- things like paw paws (papaya), coconuts, yams, sweet potatoes, plaintains and soursop (guanabana) -- invariably find their way into a variety of tasty creations. Flying fish with cou-cou is the Barbadian national dish. Barbados is known as the “land of the flying fish” and the Tourism Authority uses the fish on its emblem. A flying fish has large pectoral fins and a strong tail, and it can glide as much as 100 yards in the air -- which helps it escape predators like swordfish and tuna. Fishermen must be more problematic. They’ve served flying fish several times in the media center, and it’s quite light and moist. Flying fish is the primary component of “cutters,” too -- local sandwiches usually served in beachfront food stands. Cou-cou is a cornmeal and okra mash, and I have to say I’m not quite as fond of that dish, but at least I tried it. Other delicacies include Crane Chubb, which is caught by spear fishermen on Crane Reef, and sea eggs, which is the roe of the sea urchin simmered in broth topped with breadcrumbs. Pepperpot is a popular pork stew in a spicy brown sauce while roti is a spiced meat “tortilla” that reflects Barbados’ Indian influence.

Oh, and I did some research and found a poem that explains how the ubiquitous rum punch is made: “One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong and four of weak.” Rum punch is generally not made in quantities of more than a gallon. The sour is lime juice, sweet is simple syrup, strong is rum and weak is water. Don’t forget some grated nutmeg and bitters, too. Although Marco Polo wrote of “very good wine of sugar” offered to him in the 1400s in what is now Iran, rum as we know it was first made in Barbados. According to Wikipedia, a 1651 document from Barados said “The chief fuddling they make in the island is Rumbullion, alias Kill-Divil, and this made of sugar distilled, a hot, hellish and terrible liquor.” Guess they’ve improved in the last 300 years or so.

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