Yabba: Tobago’s All-in-One Heritage Soup

Food in Tobago is never just sustenance. It is memory, ritual, and storytelling simmered together in a pot.

Among the island’s most evocative dishes is Yabba, a thick, hearty soup that embodies the philosophy of “use what you have.”

It is a dish born from necessity, shaped by creativity, and celebrated as a communal meal that carries the island’s history in every spoonful.

Yabba is not a recipe fixed in stone but a living archive of Tobago’s foodways. Traditionally cooked over coal pots or wood fires, it gathers together whatever the land and sea provide fish fresh from the coast, pigtail salted and smoked for depth, root crops like cassava and dasheen, breadfruit from backyard trees, green bananas, and dumplings to stretch the meal.

Each ingredient tells a story of survival and abundance of ancestors who transformed scarcity into nourishment, and of families who gathered around bubbling pots to share both food and laughter.

This dish reflects Tobago’s culinary resilience. In times when imported goods were scarce, locals turned to their gardens and fishing nets, creating meals that were both practical and celebratory.

Yabba became a symbol of community: everyone contributed something, and the pot welcomed it all.

Today, it remains a beloved comfort food, a reminder that Tobago’s heritage thrives in flavors passed down through generations.

Tobago Yabba Soup

Ingredients (serves 6–8):

1 lb salted pigtail (soaked overnight, cut into pieces)

1 lb fresh fish (kingfish, snapper, or grouper, cleaned and cut into chunks)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 breadfruit wedge (about 2 cups), peeled and cubed

1 cup cassava, peeled and cubed

1 cup dasheen (taro), peeled and cubed

3 green bananas, peeled and sliced

2 cups flour (for dumplings)

1 tsp salt (for dumplings)

Water, as needed

2 sprigs thyme

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 hot pepper (whole, optional for flavor)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

Prepare the dumplings: Mix flour and salt with enough water to form a stiff dough. Roll into small balls or long spinners.

Cook the pigtail: Place the soaked pigtail in a large pot with fresh water. Boil for 20 minutes, then drain and refresh with clean water.

Build the soup base: Add onion, garlic, celery, thyme, and hot pepper to the pot with the pigtail. Cover with water and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add provisions: Stir in potatoes, breadfruit, cassava, dasheen, and green bananas. Cook until tender, about 25–30 minutes.

Add dumplings and fish: Drop dumplings into the simmering soup, then gently add fish chunks. Cook for another 15 minutes until the fish is firm and the dumplings are cooked through.

Season and serve: Adjust salt and pepper. The soup should be thick, hearty, and fragrant. Serve hot, with each bowl carrying a piece of Tobago’s culinary memory.

Serving Tradition

Yabba is best served straight from the pot, ladled generously into bowls. Yabba is more than a recipe.

It is not a dish for solitude; it is meant for sharing, for laughter around the fire, for remembering the hands that stirred before yours.

It is a philosophy of inclusion. Whatever grows in the garden or comes from the sea can find its way into the pot. It’s a living archive of Tobago’s culinary memory.