Tapado (Honduran/Caribbean coconut seafood stew)

Honduran Caribbean coast and Belize — Garifuna Afro-indigenous tradition; also widely eaten in the Bay Islands and coastal Guatemala

Tapado is a coconut milk seafood stew from Honduras's Caribbean coast and the Garifuna communities — a rich, fragrant broth of whole fish, shrimp, blue crab, and plantain (green and ripe) in fresh coconut milk, seasoned with culantro, garlic, and scotch bonnet pepper. The Garifuna (Afro-indigenous people of the Caribbean coast) developed this dish through the fusion of indigenous fishing techniques and West African coconut traditions. A communal dish eaten with rice and cassava bread (ereba).

Coconut-rich, oceanic, tropical sweetness from plantain, floral heat from scotch bonnet — the Caribbean coast flavour profile distinct from highland Central American cooking