Quick Facts about Belize

Food in Belize
While it is hard to pin down any specific Belizean cuisine, food in Belize is a mix of Caribbean, Mexican, African, Spanish, and Mayan culinary influences. You'll also find burgers, pizzas, Chinese food, and even Indian restaurants.

Belize's strongest suit is its seafood. Fresh fish, lobster, shrimp, and conch are widely available, especially in the beach and island destinations.

Rice and beans is a major staple, often served as an accompaniment to almost any main dish. A slight difference is to be inferred between "rice and beans," which are usually cooked (sometimes in coconut milk) and served together, and "beans and rice," which are usually cooked and served separately. Belizeans tend to use a small red bean, but black beans are sometimes used.

Aside from rice and beans, if there was such a thing as a national dish it would be stew chicken, and its close cousins stew beef and stew fish. These Kriol-based recipes are dark stews that get their color from a broad mix of spices, as well as red recado, which is made from annatto seed or achiote. A similar and related stew commonly found around Belize is chimole, which is sometimes called black gumbo.
Perhaps the most distinctive element of Belizean cuisine and dining is Marie Sharp's Hot Sauce. The original Marie Sharp's is a very spicy sauce made from a base of habanero peppers, carrots, and onions. Currently, Marie Sharp's has a wide range of different hot sauces, jams, and chutneys.

Breakfast -- The typical breakfast in Belize is quite simple, usually anchored by some scrambled eggs and refried red or black beans. However, instead of toast, you will often have a choice of tortillas, johnnycakes, or fry jacks to accompany them. Johnnycakes are a semidry, baked round flour biscuit, served with butter or stuffed with ham and/or cheese. Fry jacks are a similar batter and shape, but deep-fried, and either served as is or dusted with confectioner's sugar.

Appetizers -- Conch fritters are by far the country's most popular and tastiest appetizer. Deep-fried balls of flour batter and chopped conch meat are on most bar and restaurant menus in the country, particularly on the cayes and along the coast.
Sandwiches & Snacks -- Belize's light menus show a heavy Mexican and American influence. Many simple eateries and roadside carts will feature simple tacos, tamales, or garnaches. Popular stuffed pastries include meat pies and panades, small, deep-fried empanadas.

Meat, Poultry & Wild Game -- Belizeans also eat a fair amount of meat and poultry, as well as some more interesting game. Because Belize only recently began to raise its own beef, the country relied for a long time on wild game. Some of the more interesting game items you might see on a Belizean menu include gibnut (paca) and iguana.

Another popular wild animal found in restaurants is the sea turtle, endangered all over the world, including in Belize. It's not yet illegal to sell sea turtle within Belize, but international agreements prohibit its export.

Seafood -- Seafood is the basic staple of most of the country's coastal and island destinations. It is fresh and plentiful. Shrimp, conch, lobster (in season), and a variety of fish are almost always on the menu.

Hudut, a fish stew or whole fish preparation served in a coconut-milk broth, often accompanied by mashed fried green plantains. Sere is a very similar Kriol dish that seems more like a traditional fish or seafood stew, but again, based on a coconut-milk broth.
Ceviche, a cold marinade of fish, conch, and/or shrimp cooked in lime juice and seasoned, is a great treat for lunch or as an appetizer.

Fruits -- Belize has a wealth of delicious tropical fruits. The most common are mangoes (the season begins in May), papayas, pineapples, melons, and bananas. Other fruits include the fruit of the cashew tree, which has orange or yellow glossy skin, and carambola (star fruit), a tart fruit, whose cross-sections form perfect stars.

Desserts -- You can usually find homemade coconut pie, chocolate pie, or bread pudding on most menus. Flan, an egg-and-condensed-milk custard imported from Mexico, is also popular.

Drink Beverages -- Most major brands of soft drinks are available, as are fresh lime juice (limeade) and orange juice.

One of the most unique drinks is a seaweed shake, a cooling concoction made of dried seaweed, evaporated and condensed milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and blended with ice. Seaweed shakes are sometimes kicked up with a shot of rum or brandy.

Source: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/belize/3284020880.html