A wooden crate of dried hibiscus flowers.

Feast Your Eyes on the Food Culture of This Caribbean 'Spice Isle'

For centuries, nutmeg, cacao and cinnamon have shaped the landscapes and livelihoods of people in Grenada. Today, its farmers, chefs and producers are finding new ways to work with the ingredients and culinary traditions they’ve inherited.

Locally farmed aromatics like hibiscus, cinnamon and cacao gave Grenada its nickname of 'Spice Isle'.
Karolina Wiercigroch
Story and photographs byKarolina Wiercigroch
Published November 3, 2026
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
A shore with a sandy beach and houses hiding in between trees.
Grenada may be famed for the powdery sand and turquoise waters of Grand Anse Beach, but some of its most memorable experiences unfold away from the shore.
Karolina Wiercigroch
The exterior of a tropical farm with a simple wooden house.
At Home Hospitality, chef Kennedy Roberts welcomes visitors to his 1.25-acre farm in the hills of Mt Parnassus. Guests harvest ingredients from the garden before learning to make ‘oil down’.
Karolina Wiercigroch
A local man inspecting young breadfruit on a tree in his garden.
A pot of dry stew with breadfruit, runner beans and spices.
Grenada’s national dish is a rich, turmeric-flavoured stew of breadfruit, salt cod, chicken and pigtails. Introduced to the Caribbean in the 18th century as a cheap staple for enslaved workers on British plantations, breadfruit is now central to Grenadian cooking.
Karolina Wiercigroch (Top) (Left) and Karolina Wiercigroch (Bottom) (Right)
A vibrant and lush garden with a breadfruit tree and a small chair in front of it.
Kennedy makes his oil down with coconut milk, plantains and vegetables from his garden, including callaloo (a leafy green), carrots, beans and sweetcorn. “Oil down became a symbol of Grenadian cuisine after independence,” Kennedy says. “It brings African and Caribbean culinary traditions together.”
Karolina Wiercigroch
A small harbour with a hill-side town surrounding it.
At the southern tip of the Windward Islands, Grenada is shaped by its fertile volcanic soil, tropical climate and thriving spice trade. The natural harbour of St George’s has long been a vital trading port, handling cargoes of sugar, molasses, rum and spices. When the sugar trade declined in the 19th century, cacao emerged as a major export.
Karolina Wiercigroch
An elderly woman posing for a portrait in her living room.
Battered and fried aubergine bites on a glass dish with a sauce in the middle.
That legacy lives on at L’Esterre Chocolate, a historic estate in the rainforest-cloaked hills of St Andrew run by Lauren Ramdhanny, a descendant of East Indian immigrants. Grenada’s Indian culinary influence dates to the arrival of indentured workers, whose recipes became woven into the island’s cuisine, from roti to baiganee — aubergine fried in a crisp split-pea batter.
Karolina Wiercigroch (Top) (Left) and Karolina Wiercigroch (Bottom) (Right)
A young banana tree plant on the edge of a hill.
That legacy lives on at L’Esterre Chocolate, a historic estate in the rainforest-cloaked hills of St Andrew run by Lauren Ramdhanny, a descendant of East Indian immigrants. Grenada’s Indian culinary influence dates to the arrival of indentured workers, whose recipes became woven into the island’s cuisine, from roti to baiganee — aubergine fried in a crisp split-pea batter.
Karolina Wiercigroch
A young local farmer with a bear holding up a cocoa nut on his plantation.
A plate of chocolate-dipped fruit.
Agritourism is flourishing across Grenada, with plantation tours and farm-to-table experiences offering travellers a taste of the island’s culinary heritage. At Mt Parnassus Plantation, near Grand Etang National Park, Rendel Griffith introduces visitors to the cultivation of nutmeg and cocoa, with chocolate-covered fruit to sample and cooking classes beneath the cacao trees.
Karolina Wiercigroch (Top) (Left) and Karolina Wiercigroch (Bottom) (Right)
A local woman cooking salt cod in a rural kitchen.
On Saturday mornings, Tricia Simon hosts breakfasts built around produce grown on her family farm. Fried plantains in coconut oil, pumpkin fish cakes scented with fresh nutmeg and lime-cured saltfish souse (broth) reflect the island’s layered culinary history.
Karolina Wiercigroch
A close-up on a handful of cocoa nuts.
Salt cod became embedded in Caribbean cooking through the transatlantic trade as an affordable source of protein. “Grenadian food is such an interesting blend of African, South American, French, British and Indian influences,” says Tricia.
Karolina Wiercigroch
A couple of fishing boats anchored in a shallow harbour.
The scent of spices hangs in the air across Grenada, drifting in from hillsides planted with nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves and from market stalls selling local produce. For generations, nutmeg and mace — the ruby-red covering wrapped around a nutmeg seed — have passed through the harbour of island capital St George’s, with Grenada now one of the world’s leading exporters.
Karolina Wiercigroch
A pool-side cafe with outdoor seating.
A plate of chocolate waffles with syrup and coffee on the side.
Known as ‘the black gold’, nutmeg is a big part of everyday life — grated over glasses of spiced rum punch and made into sweet jams and syrups. These are drizzled over coconut porridge, fluffy pancakes and chocolate waffles, and served everywhere from local cafes to hotel breakfast spreads, such as those at Mount Cinnamon Beach & Wellness Resort, perched above the island’s famous Grand Anse Beach.
Karolina Wiercigroch (Top) (Left) and Karolina Wiercigroch (Bottom) (Right)
Published in the November 2026 issue by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

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