Aruban
Dutch thrift meets the Caribbean: cheese stuffed, sun-dried.
Keshi Yena
Aruba's signature 'stuffed cheese' — the hollowed-out red-wax shell of an Edam or Gouda round filled with spiced shredded chicken studded with raisins, olives, capers, and prunes, then baked until the cheese melts into a golden case around the savory-sweet filling. A thrifty, ingenious dish born of leftover Dutch cheese rinds.
View page →Aruban cooking is the food of the arid Dutch ABC island off Venezuela — a Papiamento blend of Dutch, Spanish, African, and South-American traditions, drier and more cheese-and-cornmeal-leaning than the lush Caribbean. The signature is keshi yena ('stuffed cheese'): a hollowed Edam or Gouda shell filled with spiced chicken studded with raisins, olives, and capers, baked until the cheese melts around the filling. Stoba is the everyday goat or beef stew; funchi the cornmeal polenta side; pan bati the cornmeal griddle pancake. Pastechi are fried cheese-or-meat pastries; sopi di pisca the fish soup; pan dushi the sweet raisin bread. Edam, cornmeal, goat, fish, and Dutch trade — that is the Aruban pantry.
The Palate
Start Here
A hollowed Edam shell filled with spiced chicken studded with raisins, olives, capers, and prunes, baked until the cheese melts into a golden case.
Why start here · Aruba's signature 'stuffed cheese' — a thrifty Dutch-Iberian-Caribbean masterpiece born of leftover cheese rinds.
Goat slow-braised in a tomato-and-sweet-pepper sofrito with cumin and nutmeg, served with funchi.
Why start here · The everyday ABC-islands stew, the homestyle Papiamento family dish.
A slightly sweet pastry folded around molten Dutch cheese and deep-fried golden.
Why start here · The everyday Aruban breakfast and snack — a sweet-savory fried hand pie with coffee.
The Pantry
On the Map
Where this cuisine is found
Regional Styles
Oranjestad & the Coast
The capital and coast, home of the signature keshi yena, the fish soup, and the fried pastechi.
Cunucu (Countryside)
The arid inland 'cunucu', home of the goat stoba and the cornmeal staples funchi and pan bati.
How They Cook
Techniques that define this cuisine
