Settlement patterns and migration trends indicate that the major influences on Bahamian cooking came from Africa, England, America and the West Indies.

While the cooking of peas, beans and okra soup is probably of African origin, Guava duff was made by steaming the indigenous fruit, like an English pudding. Cooking grits was transferred from the American south.

L.D. Powles in "The Land of The Pink Pearl" (1888) wrote: "The principal food of the coloured population is Indian corn, grits, and fish ... The grits sold in Nassau come from the states, and are, as a rule, of the very worst quality ... The people boil it and make with it what is called hominy, but very different from the dish known by that name in the United States. Curry, cod-fish and ackee and roti came from the West Indies.

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