Rice and beans (Belize Creole style)

Belize — Creole culinary tradition; combines African rice-and-bean traditions with indigenous Maya coconut use and British colonial introduction of kidney beans

Belizean rice and beans is the national dish of Belize — red kidney beans cooked with fresh coconut milk, thyme, and garlic, then combined with white rice in the same pot to finish cooking together. Unlike Costa Rica's gallo pinto (fried together after), Belizean rice and beans cooks the rice directly in the bean-coconut milk liquid — absorbing all the flavour. The coconut milk gives Belizean rice and beans a richness and creaminess distinct from all other Central American rice and bean traditions.

Coconut-rich, thyme-fragrant, savoury from beans — distinctive creaminess from coconut milk that no other Central American rice and bean tradition has