The Bahamas is an island nation in the Caribbean with a population of around 400,000, and its food culture is richly influenced by British, West African, and Southern US, reflecting the country's history and the majority Afro-Bahamian heritage of its people. The majority of the population is of African descent, with minorities of European and other backgrounds.
In the Bahamas, Old Sour, hot pepper sauce, tropical jams, and island drinks, often in jars and bottles, are the staples you will mostly find in the kitchen, and this article covers four island recipes you can make and store at home, the glass containers that suit them best, and some genuinely fascinating facts about Bahamian food and glass culture.
An Overview of the Bahamas' Food Culture
Traditional Bahamian dishes often include chicken souse, boiled fish, stew fish, peas and rice, crab and rice, macaroni and cheese, and the country’s popular dessert, guava duff.
These food and drinks wouldn’t have their flavour profile without bottled and jarred condiments that are essential to the Bahamians, which include Old Sour, hot pepper sauce, and tropical fruit jams.
Beyond seeing some of these products in supermarkets, in the Bahamian tradition, they are made at home in small batches, personalised, and passed between families and neighbours in different sizes and designs of glass containers.
The Bahamas, as a country, does not have a large domestic glass manufacturing industry, and most glass jars and bottles are imported through wholesale suppliers like Southern Jar Company, serving retailers, food producers, sauce makers, homeowners, and restaurants.
Also, the tradition of reusing glass soda bottles, particularly old Coke bottles, for Old Sour and pepper sauce reflects a functional, resourceful and sustainable culture of using glass.
Old Sour and Hot Pepper Sauce in Glass Bottles
Old Sour is one of the most unique Bahamian things in existence. It is a hot, sour citrus and pepper sauce made from just three ingredients: the juice of some sour oranges or limes, a few hot peppers (bird peppers, habanero, or serrano), and about salt. When prepared, the sauce is stored in a bottle, usually a narrow-neck glass soda bottle, often a reused Coke bottle, where it rests until the flavours meld and deepen. It is then used on chicken souse, fried fish, and Bahamian salads, splashed on straight from the bottle.
Bahamian hot pepper sauce is similar to Old Sour, but it’s thicker and bolder. It is made from scotch bonnet peppers with the stems removed, blended with salt and white distilled vinegar (or vegetable oil) and stored in sterilised glass bottles or pickle glass jars and sealed with airtight lids.
Old Sour (Bahamian Citrus Hot Sauce) Recipe in Glass Bottles
Ingredients
● 10–12 sour oranges or limes
● 5 hot peppers (bird peppers, habanero, or serrano), whole or thinly sliced
● ½ tsp fine salt
Method
● Squeeze the juice from all the sour oranges or limes, removing all seeds carefully as you go. Discard any pulp if you want, or leave it in for extra body.
● Add the salt to the juice and stir until it dissolves completely.
● Place the whole or sliced hot peppers into a sterilised narrow-neck glass bottle using a small funnel or chopstick to guide them in.
● Pour the salted citrus juice over the peppers, filling the bottle to within 1cm of the top.
● Seal tightly with an airtight cap or stopper and shake gently to combine.
● Leave the bottles in a cool, dark cupboard for 2 to 6 weeks. The mixture will ferment, developing an acidic, salty, and fiery flavour. Shake before each use.
● Old Sour can last for up to 3 months refrigerated in a sealed glass bottle. And you can use it on fish, chicken souse, or Bahamian salads.
We have a range of designs and sizes of bottles for Old Sour in our collection.
Bahamian Hot Pepper Sauce Recipe in Glass Bottles or Jars
Ingredients
● 450g Scotch bonnet peppers, washed and stems removed
● 1 tbsp salt
● White distilled vinegar, added gradually to achieve the desired consistency (approximately 100-150ml)
● Garlic or onions (optional)
Method
● Wash the Scotch garlic or onions, and bonnet peppers thoroughly and remove all stems. Handle with gloves; these peppers are extremely hot.
● Place the peppers, garlic or onion, and salt into a blender and pulse several times until the peppers begin to break down into a rough paste.
● With the blender running on low, gradually pour in the white vinegar a little at a time until the sauce reaches your desired consistency, thick and scoopable for jars, slightly thinner and pourable for bottles.
● Blend on high for 30 seconds until smooth, then taste and adjust salt if needed.
● Pour immediately into sterilised glass bottles or glass jars using a funnel, filling to within 1cm of the rim. Seal with airtight lids.
● Let the sauce cure in the refrigerator for at least 5 to 7 days so the flavours can develop.
● The sauce will keep for up to 6 months refrigerated in a sealed glass bottle or jar.
A suitable glass jar for this would be pickle jars and glass bottles we have in our collection. You can find different sizes and designs.
Tropical Jams and Island Preserves in Jam Jars
In the Bahamian food culture, just like in Antigua and Barbuda, tropical fruits are always in abundance. Tropical jams are a popular part of the Tropical Bahamian food culture, celebrated by both local producers and tourism sources as a defining artisan product of the islands.
When you walk into any home in the Bahamas, you will most likely see homemade jams made from coco plum, guava, strawberry, mango, tamarind, and coconut. Glass jars are mostly used because of their food safety; they do not leach chemicals, and their non-porosity.
The Bahamian Guava jam is the backbone of guava duff, one of the Bahamas’ popular desserts, where guava paste or jam is spread through a rolled dough, boiled or steamed, and served with a sweet butter or cream sauce.
Bahamian Guava Jam Recipe in Jam Jars
Ingredients
● 800g ripe guavas, washed and roughly chopped (with the skin and seeds)
● 500g granulated sugar
● Juice of 1 lime
● 200ml water
Method
● Place the chopped guavas in a large saucepan with the water. Boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the fruit is completely soft.
● Press the cooked guava through a fine sieve or food mill to remove the seeds and skin, keeping the smooth, bright-pink pulp.
● Return the guava pulp to the saucepan, add the sugar and lime juice, and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves completely.
● Boil and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the jam thickens and sets. Test by placing a small amount on a cold plate; it should wrinkle when pushed.
● Sterilise your glass jam jars by washing thoroughly and placing upside down in an oven at 140°C for 15 minutes. Keep warm until needed.
● Pour the hot jam immediately into the sterilised jam jars, seal with tight lids, and leave to cool completely. The jam will set further as it cools.
● Guava jam can last for up to 12 months if unopened. Once opened, refrigerate and use within 4 weeks.
You can find various sizes and designs of glass jam jars in our collection.
Bahamian Citrus Rum Punch Base Recipe in Glass Bottles or Big Jars
Ingredients
● 300ml fresh orange juice
● 150ml fresh lime juice
● 100ml simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, dissolved over heat and cooled)
● 150ml light rum (optional; leave for a non-alcoholic citrus base)
● ½ tsp ground allspice
● A few dashes of Angostura bitters (optional)
Method
● Squeeze and strain the orange juice and lime juice to remove all pulp and seeds, keeping only the clean juice.
● Combine the simple syrup and ground allspice in a small saucepan and warm briefly over low heat, stirring to infuse the spice into the syrup. Leave to cool completely.
● Combine the orange juice, lime juice, spiced simple syrup, and rum (if you are adding in a jug and stir well. Add the Angostura bitters if using and stir once more.
● Taste and adjust the sweetness or citrus balance. Add more syrup for sweetness or more lime for tartness.
● Using a funnel, pour the punch base into a sterilised glass bottle or large jar and seal tightly with a cap or stopper.
● Refrigerate immediately and serve chilled over ice, diluting with sparkling water if preferred.
● The citrus base (without rum) can last for up to 5 days refrigerated. With rum added, it can last for up to 2 weeks. Use wine bottles, beer bottles, or alcohol bottles or larger jars in larger batches.
You can find various sizes and designs of glass bottles and large jars in our collection.
The Right Glass Jars and Bottles for Bahamian Food and Drinks
|
Jam/Preserve |
Fits Your Category |
|
Old Sour |
Glass bottles, alcohol bottles, wine bottles, glass jars |
|
Bahamian Hot Pepper Sauce |
Glass bottles, pickle jars |
|
Guava Jam |
Jam jars, glass jars |
|
Coco Plum Jam |
Jam jars, glass jars |
|
Mango Jam |
Jam jars, glass jars |
|
Tamarind Jam |
Jam jars, glass jars |
|
Coconut Preserve |
Glass jars, jam jars |
|
Strawberry Jam |
Jam jars, glass jars |
If you're in the UK and want to recreate these Bahamian flavours, choosing the right glass container is very important. Also, always choose food-grade glass.
● Use airtight lids to enhance the product’s shelf life.
● Always sterilise the jars and bottles before filling by washing in hot soapy water and placing them in an oven at 140°C for 15 minutes.
● For light-sensitive contents (like some spices and drinks), choose amber or green glass.
You can find a full range of glass jars, jam jars, pickle jars, beer bottles, and wine bottles in our collection as a trusted 30+ years glass jars and bottles supplier.
Interesting Facts About Bahamian Food and Glass Containers
1. Old Sour was traditionally stored in reused Coke glass bottles, which is a classic example of Bahamian kitchen resourcefulness that turned everyday glass soda bottles into the perfect condiment dispensers, long before hot sauce bottles became widely known.
2. Bahamian hot pepper sauce is sometimes finished in the sun. The sealed glass bottles filled with freshly made Scotch bonnet sauce are left outside for two to three days after bottling, using the Caribbean heat to ripen the sauce and develop a fuller flavour that indoor storage alone may not amount to. That’s why using glass bottles or jars instead of plastic is recommended.
3. The Bahamas imports the vast majority of its glass jars and bottles from international wholesale suppliers like Southern Jar Company, meaning that Bahamian sauce makers, jam producers, and homeowners are entirely dependent on food-grade glass containers from abroad, making the quality and reliability of those containers especially important.
4. Coco plum jam is one of the most unique Bahamian preserves you can make. It is produced from the small, sweet cocoplum fruit that grows wild across the islands and is rarely found outside the Caribbean.
5. Guava duff, the Bahamian popular dessert, relies on guava jam or paste preserved in glass jars, meaning that glass jam jars are very important in preserving the jam all year round, making guava puff possibly available at anytime of the year.