“Mom” drizzling a rum sauce over a large rum cake we purchased

By Jennifer

Throughout the Bahamas, bakeries are run out of people’s homes. On any given day you can walk up to the designated house, knock on the door, and pick up loaves of white bread. If you are lucky, you will run into small operations like “Mom’s Bakery” in Great Exuma, south of George Town, where she fires up her king-sized Viking double ovens and bakes white, wheat, raisin, banana, and coconut breads; rum cakes (my fav); and dinner rolls. We bought a large rum cake (among other things) that she drenched in a butter and rum sauce. We lingered over it for four to five days.

Point of interest: Next to Mom’s Bakery is Santana’s restaurant. After visiting the bakery we stopped for lunch — fried grouper. This small establishment boasts a connection to Johnny Depp. While we waited for our food, the owner pulled out her personal photo album and showed us dozens of pictures of a younger Johnny Depp at Santana’s during the filming of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The film crew, according to the owners, built a wooden dock to the restaurant so they could access the place during filming.