On a Barbadian morning at a street-corner stall, small balls of batter bob in the oil as they turn golden. The seller tucks a fresh one into a round bun, lays on cheese, and brushes on a stripe of yellow pepper sauce. Workers on their way carry it off in one hand. At the rum shop it is a snack between games of dominoes, and at weddings and parties it is piled high on platters. These are the fried salt cod balls you find everywhere on the island: Bajan fish cakes.
"Bajan" refers to Barbadian people and things. These are not a pounded fish paste like Japanese satsuma-age; they are fritters in which flaked salt cod is mixed into a flour batter and fried, crisp outside and fluffy within. With a desalted piece of dried cod and time to rest the batter, you can make them just the same in a home kitchen.
The street-stall breakfast: "bread and two"
The Crane Resort in Barbados, which describes itself as the Caribbean's oldest continuously operating hotel, founded in 1887, introduces fish cakes on its blog like this: an island specialty made with salt cod, found wherever people gather. They are sold by the roadside as a morning snack with bread, cheese and a mustard-based pepper sauce, a combination called "bread and two." At rum shops they are also a standard bite while playing dominoes.
The "two" are the two fillings in the bread. The first episode of the Nation News cooking video series "How to Cook Like a Bajan" is also about fish cakes, and the chef Lea Gilkes presents fish cakes and cheese in a salt bread, with a little hot sauce and ketchup, as the "typical bread and two."
The recipe featured by the travel magazine Islands is by Craig Greenidge, twice named Barbados's chef of the year. His batter adds dill, thyme, marjoram, chives, cumin and even curry powder, and it is served with a dip of mayonnaise, mustard and lime juice. Even among fish cakes, the way each cook builds the aroma differs quite a lot.
Salt cod is a preserved food that has long been shipped to the Caribbean islands. It kept in the days before refrigerators and it flavors a lot with a little, so fish cakes, which stretch it by mixing into a flour batter, are also a dish full of everyday wisdom. The Nation News recipe uses 1 cup of salt cod to 2 cups of flour. The star is the saltiness of the fish and the aroma of herbs; the batter is there to hold them.
Ingredients (serves 4, about 24 pieces)
This is the formula of Lea Gilkes's recipe in Nation News, converted to metric measures.
Dried salt cod is sold under the name "bacalao" at import grocers and online. To make the batter smooth, the Nation News recipe chops the salt cod and aromatics fine in a food processor before mixing them into the flour. Chopping finely by knife is fine, but if large strands of fish remain, the batter holds together poorly when fried.
Scotch bonnet is a very hot pepper. Wear disposable gloves when chopping it, and do not touch your eyes or face while working.
How to make Bajan fish cakes
Desalting takes 4 hours or more and resting the batter takes 2 hours. Hands-on time is about 30 minutes of prep and about 20 minutes of frying. You can also start the desalting the night before, make the batter, and rest it in the refrigerator overnight.
Keep the frying oil no more than half the depth of the pot, and lower the batter gently from close to the oil surface with a spoon. If the oil gets too hot, turn off the heat to bring the temperature down, and do not leave the pot.
Tips for fluffy fish cakes
What stands out in the Nation News recipe is the extra step of resting the batter for 2 hours before frying. During the rest the flour absorbs moisture and settles, and the baking powder helps the batter swell. Fried in a hurry, the surface browns while the inside stays heavy.
If the batter is too loose, it spreads flat in the oil. If it flows right off the spoon, add flour 1 tbsp at a time. If it is too stiff, it will not puff when fried.
If the oil is too cool the batter soaks up oil and turns greasy; if too hot, it burns before the middle cooks. If you have no thermometer, drop in a little batter: it should sink once and then rise at once, wrapped in fine bubbles.
A cassava flour version
For a wheat-free version, Lea Gilkes of Nation News also gives a method using 2 cups of coarse cassava flour in place of the flour. Cassava flour makes the surface crisper and the inside chewy. Start with less water than for wheat flour, and bring it to the same plop-off-the-spoon firmness.
As in the Crane Resort recipe, there is also a way to add one beaten egg. An egg helps the batter hold together and makes the fried cakes plumper. Thyme, marjoram and parsley are the basic herbs, but following the Islands recipe and adding a little dill or cumin brings out the aroma further.
How to eat them
The easiest way is to eat them hot, dipped in pepper sauce. For breakfast, cut a round bun in half, fill it with 2 to 3 fish cakes and a slice of cheese for a "bread and two." A little whole-grain mustard stirred into hot sauce gets close to the mustard-based pepper sauce of Barbados.
For another Barbadian dish, try the national dish of cornmeal and okra cou-cou with flying fish, cou-cou and flying fish. For another Caribbean dish that uses salt cod, there is also Jamaica's ackee and saltfish.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make it with lightly salted cod (amashio-dara)?
Yes. Lightly salted cod needs no desalting; remove the skin and bones, boil 10 minutes and flake finely before using. Because it is milder than dried cod, add a pinch of salt to the batter.
Can I make it ahead?
Fried fish cakes go limp when cool, so frying just before eating is recommended. The batter can rest overnight in the refrigerator, so make it the night before and fry in the morning for a quick service. Refrigerate any leftover fried ones and reheat thoroughly in a toaster oven. I cannot give a definite storage period, so eat them soon.
How do I reduce the heat?
Halve the Scotch bonnet or leave it out. Everyone can adjust the heat with the pepper sauce served alongside.
What allergens should I watch for?
It uses cod (fish) and wheat. Wheat can be replaced with cassava flour. A version with egg also contains egg.
Sources
- Sherrylyn Clarke, "How To Cook Like A Bajan Episode 1: Bajan Fishcakes," Nation News, published 8 August 2021. Accessed and checked 22 October 2026. https://nationnews.com/2021/08/08/cook-like-bajan-episode-1-bajan-fishcakes/
- The Crane Resort, "'Bajan' Fish Cake Recipe," published 28 November 2019. Accessed and checked 22 October 2026. https://blog.thecrane.com/bajan-fishcake-recipe
- Ashley Burns, "How To Make Fish Cakes From Barbados," Islands, published 31 July 2020. Accessed and checked 22 October 2026. https://www.islands.com/story/caribbean/how-to-make-fish-cakes-from-barbados/
