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Eat & Drink

West Indian Day Parade food: Jerk chicken, cou-cou, pudding and souse

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  • The most widely available and popular food along Eastern Parkway is jerk chicken. Clouds of smoke from the smokers can be seen up and down each block.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Jerk chicken getting chopped into parts for serving.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Festivals were being rolled at the Long Island Jamaican restaurant Yardies' stand on Eastern Parkway. The sweet fried dough is served alongside jerk chicken and rice and beans.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Jamaican patties, fried dough filled with cheese or meat and spices, are sold all along the parade route.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Fried whole red snapper fish - tangy and sweet.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Black pudding is the national dish of Barbados and is traditionally served with souse. The pudding is sweet potato and spices encased in pig or cow intestines. Souse is pickled pig parts - typically feet, heads, tails - with chilis.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Cou-cou is a mixture of cornmeal, okra and spices. It is typically eaten with fried fish and gravy.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Stewed chicken in gravy with jerk spices - like jerk chicken except in a stew.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Cassava with peppers and onions is a popular side dish for chicken or oxtail stew. The potato-like consistency of the cassava absorbs any delicious sauces it may come into contact with.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • In Guyana and Trinidad, a dish similar to Chinese lo mein is prepared. It is very similar except in seasoning and in the Caribbean it is called chow mein, not lo mein.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Sugarcane being prepared for eating and being turned into juice.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • A man makes sugarcane juice out of raw sugarcane. Served over ice, the drink was refreshing out on the parkway.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Rasta Pasta- variations can be found all over the Caribbean. This version is by Bev's Caribbean Kitchen, and is her British Virgin Islands take on the dish. It's vegetarian, with black beans, onions, peppers and Parmesan cheese.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Biscuits were frying at the Caribbean Delights stand on Eastern Parkway and Nostrand Avenue.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Fish escabeche - fish served in a sweet and sour sauce.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Fruit juices - necessary for hydration.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Spotted: fried shark. (More on eating shark: amny.com/eat)
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Coconuts (and fresh coconut water) are another familiar site along the parade route.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral
  • Stands serving grilled chicken are located up and down Eastern Parkway.
    Photo Credit: AMNY/ Georgia Kral

The number one reason to attend the West Indian Day Parade: food! All along Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, culinary delights of the West Indies awaits you. There’s Jamaican jerk chicken, curry goat, cou-cou with fried fish and fruit juices. Nutcrackers too, on the down-low.

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