Best Caribbean Street Food

Spicy jerk food was invented on the west coast of Jamaica, and you can get good jerked chicken, pork, fish, and even vegetables from roadside stands and beach huts all around the island. Jerk recipes vary, but always start with a mix of chili peppers, allspice, and thyme.

Jamaican street vendors sell patties -- soft, semisweet half-moons of dough wrapped around pureed beef, chicken, or other heavily spiced ingredients -- but you can also pick them up cheap at several competing takeout shops.

Maracas Beach on Trinidad is the best place to get this famous seafood sandwich -- a hunk of shark meat deep fried and served on a bun with a variety of toppings, from simple to unusual.

Just like it sounds, this is the sweet juice from a freshly cracked coconut. Available at street stands throughout the Caribbean, where a vendor will use a machete to lop off the top of a chilled coconut, insert a straw, and -- voila -- a refreshing, natural treat!

This Indian-Jamaican specialty is a mix of curry, scotch-bonnet peppers, and chopped goat meat, and you can find this aromatic stew not only in Jamaica but throughout the Caribbean. Mind the bones!