The personality of Aruba can be appreciated in its idyllic beaches, unique island landmarks and in the faces of its hospitable inhabitants, but it also happens to come bottled, packaged and proudly put on display with authentic island products providing further glimpses into the island's creativity, tastes and distinctive styles.
Aruban-made treasures are perhaps the best souvenirs of the island, with distinctive foods, drinks and gifts providing authentic island mementos
Distinctive Drinks:
Aruba's “Balashi Cocktail”
Although tourism remains the island's chief occupation, other island industries flourish on a variety of levels. Large-scale operations can be appreciated in the industrial skyline readily apparent in Balashi, where the Water and Electricity Bureau of WEB N.V. not only provides the island with power, but its famously pure drinking water, known affectionately as the “Balashi Cocktail”. The desalination process, with water filtered through coral rock, results in a fresh, tasty liquid that flows direct from the tap as well as is bottled by the Tropical Bottling Company and labeled simply as “AWA,” Papiamento for water.
Balashi Beer
State-of-the-art technology is carried out by the Balashi National Brewery in the creation of other well-known, locally made beverages including Balashi Malta, a sweet, non-alcoholic drink and the award-winning Balashi Beer. This local brew combines Scottish malt, German hops and Aruban water and transforms it into golden liquid, marked by a pleasurable tang and short aftertaste. Although it has only been on the market since 1997, Balashi Beer is currently one of the most popular beer choices on the island and has led to its exportation to Curacao and Bonaire.
Palmera Rum
More powerful Aruban beverages can be appreciated in Palmera Rum. The raw materials are imported, but the island's own particular blending process has resulted in a distinctive Aruban rum used in mixed drinks such as the “Aruba Ariba.”
Palmera Quality Products also produces other alcoholic beverages sold throughout the island, including whisky, gin, vodka as well as seven different types of liqueurs, the latter attractively packaged together and decorated with typical island scenes.
Sea Grape Wine
Aruba's low-lying sea grape trees have adapted to the salty breezes, producing a surprisingly sweet, rich purple grape, known locally as “druif”. An enterprising Aruban entrepreneur has taken the humble sea grape to the next level, sending it through the fermentation process and creating a unique Aruban wine. Produced on a small scale, Aruban wine, in both sea grape and “shimaruco” (West Indian cherry) varieties, is most often found during special occasions, sold at stalls set up in local festivals.
“Coecoei”
A local Aruban liquor, “coecoei,” the recipe for which is centuries old, is still sold on the island by the Playa Liquor and Bottling Company. Purportedly first made by Indian tribes, coecoei is a distinctive red color, derived from one of its prime ingredients, the sap from the “kukwisa” or agave plant, which is mixed with rum and cane sugar. Coecoei is often used today in the creation of island cocktails, including the Aruba Sunset which also employs Ponche Crème, Aruba's own potent eggnog mixture.
Distinctive foods:
Hot sauce
Packing its own particular punch is the island's hot sauce, bottled as Hot Delight and found in the island's supermarkets. Mixtures utilizing the locally-grown variety of the scotch-bonnet pepper, called Madame Jeanette, are sold in its straight form or mixed with papaya. Most often used with fish dishes, the hot sauce can complement almost any meal.
Homemade candy
Sweet snacks are also on the Aruba menu with “cocada” coconut candy and tamarind balls found in most supermarkets as well as in a variety of small shops such as pharmacies, called “boticas”.
Dutch Cheeses & Chocolate
Aruba's Dutch ties yield sweet and tasty results with the local supermarkets featuring a wide variety of Holland's distinctive cheeses as well as rich chocolate specialties.
A variety of cheeses is available from the sharp, aged “oud” cheese to the mild “jong” cheese. Cheeses enhanced by ingredients including cumin, pepper, walnut or herbs are also popular choices. Dutch chocolate brands, such as Vergade, as well as Belgium varieties, offer a deliciously decadent snack while on island and are easily transported back home as a sweet memory of Aruba's lasting cultural ties.
Aruban Recipes
Keshi Yena
Pisca den foil
Bolo Ponche Crema
Giambo
Funchi
Distinctive gifts:
Aruba Aloe
One of the most successfully locally-grown crops remains the aloe plant. Although not indigenous to the island, it has thrived on the island since its introduction at the turn of the 20th century. One hundred years ago, it was one of the island's most profitable exports, and as an important part of the island's history, it rightly holds a place of honor in Aruba's national seal.
Aruba's aloe is still prized for its soothing, moisturizing properties. Aloe is still harvested as it was in olden times – by hand with a sharp knife – but is now destined to enhance a variety of products including suntan and sunscreen lotions, moisturizers, hair care products, deodorant products and fragrances.
Jewelry
Available materials have shaped the types of handicrafts found on the island. One of the most creative uses of natural products is in the crafting of “djuco” nuts into unique jewelry pieces. The djuco plant is not grown on Aruba, but the nuts wash up on shore, primarily from Venezuela. They are collected, polished and accented with gold filigree and can be found at some of the locally owned jewelry stores.
Pottery
Aruban-made ornaments for the home are best represented in the numerous pottery crafts that are made by various studios throughout the island. Artful shapes and pottery decorated with Aruban scenes of divi-divi trees and cunucu houses can be found at various souvenir shops and also sold at the weekly Bon Bini Festival in Fort Zoutman.
Miniature Aruban art
Aruban motifs are often also found on painted works at local markets, but also beautifully displayed in the island's stamps series. The island's most respected artists, such as Ludwig de L'Isle, Nigel Matthew and Stan Kuiperi, are often commissioned in the creation of stamp series marking local events, holidays and flora and fauna. The Post Office's Philatelic Section not only sells the most recent editions of stamp series but also maintains past series of these miniature Aruban artworks. For more information, please contact filateliearuba@setarnet.aw
Music CDs
A visit to the local CD shop in Aruba reveals the abundance of music talent found not only on Aruba, but in its sister islands of Curacao and Bonaire. Profiled among imported CDs are music compilations by local artists. A full range of musical styles are presented, with lyrics spoken in Papiamento against modern beats as well as popular Carnival tunes of fast moving Roadmarch rhythms, commentary-laden Calypso, the high impact of brass bands and the soothing sounds of steel drum.
The wide expanse of musical experiences of Aruba is easily apparent, with the island embracing not only its traditional musical roots, founded first in the musical borrowings of European waltzes, but also in the more recently, imported styles from Latin America, the US and Europe. The full cornucopia of Aruban sound remains distinctive for the unique way island musicians are able to blend popular music with their own creative voice.
Cigars
Locally-grown tobacco, hand rolled into “Aruhiba” cigars offers a singular experience for the cigar connoisseur. Grown from Santo Domingo and Cuban strains, Aruban tobacco offers a full, distinctive flavor in both its mild and strong varieties.
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