Ackee and saltfish
Jamaica's best-known dish: salt-cured cod desalted and flaked, then folded through ackee arils with onion, tomato, sweet pepper, thyme and Scotch bonnet.
Modern adaptation
Bajan salt bread
Barbadian salt bread
A lightly salted, yeast-raised Barbadian roll, baked in a dozen-roll home batch and often split for cutters.
A Barbadian roll for cutters
Bajan salt bread is a large, yeast-raised roll. The recipe source describes it as one of the island's less-sweet breads, which explains the name without suggesting that the roll is unusually salty. It makes twelve rolls, usually large enough to slice into smaller portions.
The official Visit Barbados guide describes a cutter as salt bread split around a filling, commonly cheese or smoked ham, and also names marlin and flying fish. Barbados Pocket Guide documents bread-and-two: two fish cakes in the roll, commonly sold at small shops and rum shops. It notes that white and whole-wheat versions are used; the source recipe below follows its white-flour version. Neither source dates the bread's first attestation or identifies one parish as its birthplace.
Build and bake the dough
The formula uses white flour, warm water, yeast, a little sugar, salt and vegetable oil. Add water gradually while bringing together half the flour with the yeast and salt; the remainder is sifted in until the dough can be kneaded. Ten minutes of kneading develops a smooth, elastic dough. The source gives no yeast type, packet size, or water temperature, so those details remain unspecified.
The first covered rise lasts 40–50 minutes, until doubled, followed by dividing and rounding twelve portions and a second warm rise of about 40 minutes or until doubled. The source provides a touch cue for the first rise and no proof temperature. Bake the rolls in a 425°F (220°C) oven for 25–30 minutes. The source's hollow-sound cue is retained only as a quality description, not as a safety test.
Food handling
Flour is raw and may carry harmful bacteria. Do not taste raw dough. Keep it away from ready-to-eat foods and wash hands, utensils and work surfaces after handling it. Bake the rolls through before eating; the source gives no internal bread temperature.
History
A contemporary Barbados recipe source calls salt bread a traditional roll and explains that it is less sweet than most bread on the island. Visit Barbados describes the larger roll as the bread used for a cutter, split around fillings such as ham, cheese, marlin or flying fish. The consulted sources do not date its first attestation. Barbados Pocket Guide describes bread-and-two—two fish cakes in salt bread—as a Bajan shop and rum-shop food and notes that both white and whole-wheat versions are used; its mention of Oistins is not a claim of origin.
Ingredients
Yield 12 rolls · Scaling: source batch only
White wheat flourSift; use half at first, then add the rest as needed to make a kneadable dough.
1.54 L6½ cup as recorded
The source gives volume only.9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Vegetable oilFor greasing the bowl and baking sheet.
30 mL2 tbsp as recorded
The source lists vegetable oil but does not divide its use.Yeast
2 packet
The source says two packs and does not state packet size or yeast type.WaterWarm.
532 mL2¼ cup as recorded
The source gives volume only and does not specify a temperature.Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour and dough
Flour is a raw food and may carry harmful bacteria; the rolls must be baked before tasting.
Hazard sourceDo not taste raw flour or dough. Keep flour and dough away from ready-to-eat foods, wash hands, utensils and work surfaces after handling, and bake the rolls through before eating.
Control sourceThe recipe gives no internal bread temperature. The hollow-sound cue is a source quality cue, not proof of safety.
- Sift the flour. Put half in a large mixing bowl with the salt and yeast. Slowly add the warm water while mixing, then add more sifted flour until the dough is stiff enough to knead.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Lightly oil a bowl. Put in the dough, cover it and leave it in a warm place for 40–50 minutes, until doubled. The source's proof cue is that an indentation remains when the dough is poked with a finger.
- Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll each into a ball. Arrange the rolls on a greased baking sheet.
- Cover the rolls and leave them in a warm place for about 40 minutes, or until doubled.
- Bake on the oven's center rack for 25–30 minutes, until golden brown. The source also gives a hollow sound when tapped as a quality cue; this is not a food-safety test.
Conditions
Yield12 rolls
Fermentation1.33–1.5 h
Places
Barbados
Documented preparation · Country evidenceA Barbados recipe source documents the roll, and the official tourism site describes it as the bread used for Bajan cutters. No specific parish of origin is claimed.
Related
More from Barbados
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Bajan pepper sauce is a Barbadian hot sauce that blends Scotch bonnet peppers with mustard and vinegar, often with onion, turmeric and oil. Its heat and sharpness come from both the chile and the mustard, which sets it apart from a plain pepper vinegar.
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Sources
Totally BarbadosInspiration · Method · History
Bajan Salt Bread RecipeThe source names salt bread as a traditional Barbadian roll and says it is less sweet than most bread in Barbados.
Ingredients: 6 1/2 cups white flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, two packs yeast and 2 1/4 cups warm water.
Method sequence, 10-minute knead, 40–50-minute first rise, twelve portions, second rise of about 40 minutes, 425°F (220°C) oven and 25–30-minute bake.
The source recommends slicing the large rolls for small sandwiches or toast.
Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.; Visit BarbadosHistory · Geography
Barbados Street Food & Popular BitesThe official tourism site describes salt bread as the roll used for a Bajan cutter and names fillings including ham, cheese, fried marlin and flying fish.
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowFlour may contain harmful bacteria; do not taste raw flour or dough, keep it separate from ready-to-eat food, and clean hands, utensils and surfaces after handling.
Barbados Pocket GuideHistory · Geography
Bread & TwoBread & Two is two fish cakes in Bajan salt bread, commonly sold at small shops and rum shops.
The page describes Bajan salt bread as a lightly golden bun and says it can be white or whole wheat; it names Oistins as one place to find a fish-cake stall but does not claim it as the bread's birthplace.