Grenada’s oil down is a one-pot dish made with breadfruit, salted meat or fish, coconut milk, turmeric, and vegetables.
The name refers to the cooking process: coconut milk is simmered until its oil separates and settles at the bottom of the pot. Breadfruit forms the starchy base, while ingredients such as salted cod, chicken, dumplings, carrots, and green bananas may be added.
Oil down reflects Grenada’s African, Indigenous Caribbean, and European culinary influences. It is especially associated with communal cooking, because the ingredients are layered in a large pot and slowly cooked together rather than prepared as separate components.
Although recipes differ, breadfruit and coconut milk are central markers of the dish. Oil down should not be confused with Trinidadian pelau, which is based on rice and pigeon peas, or with Jamaican rundown, a coconut-based fish preparation.