The mouth-watering aroma of curried crab wafted through the kitchen window from next door; Philip was cooking up a storm of fresh crab and dumpling, Trini style! This conjured up happy images of Tobago by Miss Jean’s in Store Bay. I also have a memory of sitting on a beach in Toco, leaning against a coconut tree after a Hash, and eating crab and dumpling like no other. The crab meat was actually inside the dumpling, so no fighting up with a skinny crab leg, and the curry sauce was … divine. I savoured each bite in gastronomic ecstasy! I am also reminded of the first and best Lobster Thermidor that I have ever experienced which I ate many years ago while seated on a wooden bench outside a modest roadside eatery in Tobago. That chef sure had a ‘sweet hand’. I compare every lobster dish since then to that perfect dish, and none match up.
I honestly think that Trinidad (and Tobago) has the best food on earth! When I’m travelling, I like to try local foods (within reason) and sometimes I find myself wishing for a good plate of coo coo and callaloo while sitting in a fancy restaurant somewhere in the world. These days I am vegetarian and most other countries do not put much emphasis on cooking a variety of interesting greens. Mind you, T&T is not backward with its meaty renditions of delicious stew chicken, pelau, goat curry, garlic pork, fry fish, etc., and many adopted dishes from the rest of the Caribbean, such as jerk (Jamaican) and pepper pot (Guyanese). Not to mention hearty soups like sancoche, pig foot souse, and ever popular corn soup.
We are fortunate to be a melting pot of peoples from a wide section of the world, all of whom brought their unique cultures and foods to combine and evolve to form our distinctive cuisine. If you pass by a food court or a fast food strip, you would no doubt see a KFC or Royal Castle Chicken outlet with long lines, as somehow our fried chicken arguably tastes better here than anywhere else in the world. Alongside this, you’re bound to have a Chinese or some kind of oriental fusion restaurant/take away and most likely, a roti shop. I just love a good Trini curry of channa or dhal, pumpkin, bodi, potato, mango and ‘buss-up-shut’. These days, we are seeing more fancy Indian restaurants offering tandoori and tikka dishes, which I think of as ‘English’ Indian food (also delicious). Invariably, you would also be tempted by a Syrian/Lebanese food stall or restaurant offering lamb kebabs, gyros, etc.
But what I probably would choose is good old creole food – definitely callaloo and something from the big choice of other local vegetables (like breadfruit oil down – yumm) and the wide variety of meats (if I was a carnivore), plus macaroni pie and salad dishes. Oh, I almost forgot to praise our unique and unforgettable doubles, now sometimes served with veggies such as cucumber, or even meat! They are getting to be like a Maracas shark and bake (also known as bake and shark and dubbed as THE best fish sandwich anywhere by at least one international food guide).
Of course, we are blessed with foreign restaurants too – Italian, French, Japanese, Thai, Korean, etc. So eating good food is an expected part of life here.
This is making me hungry so I’m off to eat my lunch!
Love all those foods you mentioned….Yup, we are lucky to live in a society with so many cultures, all of whom love to cook and eat.