Green Fig and Saltfish

History

Green fig and saltfish is Saint Lucia’s national dish, pairing boiled unripe green banana, locally called “fig,” with salted cod that has been soaked, poached, and flaked, then folded into a creole sauce of tomatoes, onion, and peppers. The pairing of a local starch with imported salted fish reflects the island’s colonial history, when dried cod served as an easily shipped and long-lasting source of protein.

Traditionally served at breakfast or Sunday brunch, this dish remains a point of pride in Saint Lucia, where it’s held up as a defining example of the Lesser Antilles’ creole cooking.

Ingredients — serves 4

• 14 oz (400g) salted cod
• 4 green bananas (“figs”)
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• Thyme, oil, lime

Green Fig and Saltfish, step by step

1. Soak the salted cod in cold water for several hours, ideally overnight, changing the water regularly to remove the salt.
2. Poach the desalted cod in simmering water until it flakes easily.
3. Peel the green bananas and boil them in salted water until tender.
4. Sauté the sliced onion, garlic, pepper, and tomatoes in oil with the thyme.
5. Fold the flaked cod into this creole sauce and let it simmer for a few minutes.
6. Slice the cooked green bananas into rounds, drizzle with lime juice, and serve alongside the saucy cod.

Cooking method

Technique: a long soak followed by gentle poaching of the dried cod, paired with simply boiled green banana, then brought together in a sautéed creole sauce.

Traditional equipment: a large pot for soaking and boiling, a skillet for the creole sauce.

Signs it’s ready: the cod should flake easily without excess residual salt; the green banana should stay firm, never mushy.

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided by four servings.

Dried salted cod is unusually concentrated in protein. Because the fish has had most of its water removed during salting and drying, its protein content per 100 g is far higher than fresh fish, which is why 66 g of protein per serving stands out here against a genuinely low 8 g of total fat. The green banana supplies most of the carbohydrate, in a starchier, less sweet form than a ripe dessert banana.

Economic context

Saint Lucia’s figure sits toward the higher end for the Caribbean, a common pattern for smaller island economies with a heavy reliance on imported staples — salted cod itself being a historical example of exactly that kind of import. Green banana, tomatoes, and peppers, by contrast, are locally grown and comparatively inexpensive.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Saint Lucia generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

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