I’ve just returned from 3 weeks in Trinidad – the place where I grew up – on a joint business and pleasure trip. When I visit the island, one of the main things I look forward to doing is indulging in the array of delicious street food that’s available.
All the images included here were taken either by me, my good friend, Simone or my aunt Coleen who was visiting at the same time – on holiday from Canada.
Doubles
Doubles are probably my favourite of all the street food you can buy in Trinidad – and they’re the messiest to eat! Doubles – an Indian dish – are two bara (hence the name ‘doubles’) with a spoonful of curry channa (chickpeas) in between. You have the option of a sprinkling of kuchela, amchar, tamarind chutney, chopped cucumber and/or pepper sauce. Ask for “no pepper”, “slight pepper” or “plenty pepper” depending on your tolerance for chilli!
Locals have them for breakfast – to set them up for the day – or in the wee hours following a late night out drinking and socialising.
Roti
Ask six people who makes the best roti and you’ll get half a dozen different answers! Roti is another Indian speciality eaten straight out of the wrapper with the hands. It’s a soft, slightly spiced bread – similar to a tortilla – that is stuffed with curried vegetables, meat (chicken, beef, goat, lamb) or seafood (shrimp, conch) and condiments such as curry mango and pepper sauce before being folded and wrapped ready for demolishing.
A couple of the best roti places are Hosein’s on Eastern Main Road, San Juan and Hott Shoppe on Mucurapo Road, St James. The one pictured below – a dhalpuri roti filled with channa, potato and pumpkin – (which was the best one I ate on my visit) was from The Roti Café, Upper Saddle Road, Cantaro, Santa Cruz. I sat down to eat at a table outside, washing my roti down with a Carib from the Roundabout Bar next door – it doesn’t get much better than that!
There are a few different forms of roti from which to choose; the aforementioned dhalpuri, sada, parata/buss-up-shut (busted up shirt) – they’re all good!
Ice cream
As well as doubles and roti, I was most looking forward to becoming reacquainted with B&M ice cream on Western Main Road in St James. The home-made ice cream is available in a variety of flavours – chocolate, coconut, rum & raisin, Guinness, cocopine, peanut, cherry vanilla, barbasop (barbadine and soursop) – and my own personal favourite – soursop (guanábana).
Coconut water
Nothing quenches the thirst in the midday tropical heat of Trinidad like coconut water. There are half a dozen or so coconut vendors to choose from around the Savannah in Port of Spain. Back in the day, they were sold out of the back of old wooden carts. Today, the vendors have fancy chariots sporting colourful wrought ironwork and advertising boards. To find them, head for the west side of the Savannah, opposite the ‘Magnificent Seven‘. When you’ve downed the water, don’t forget to hand the coconut back to the vendor to chop it into segments so you can eat the delicious jelly.
Snow cones
Snowcones comprise of a dome of shaved ice (about the size of a tennis ball); a few squirts of brightly coloured, sweet flavoured syrup and topped with (optional) condensed milk. To be honest, they’re not my favourite, but they’re very popular – especially with young kids!
Gyros
Not everyone is a vegetarian like me. There’s a lot of choice for the carnivore too! The number of gyros stands has exploded in Trinidad, helped by the rise in Syrian immigrants to the country. Ariapita Avenue, or simply ‘The Avenue’, in Woodbrook/St James is Gyros Central.
The Avenue is where many of the capital’s popular bars are located. Often, where you find people drinking alcohol, you’ll find people who crave a kebab (the nearest UK equivalent of a gyro). It’s not just drinkers though, people stop to buy gyros on their way back from work to eat them at home.
Jerk
Another meaty street food to be found in Trinidad is jerk. It arrived fairly recently from Jamaica, further up the Caribbean, and in becoming an increasingly popular choice. The meat – usually chicken – is marinaded in a jerk seasoning and cooked on a barbecue. It’s served with French fries with toppings such as BBQ sauce, tomato ketchup and the ubiquitous pepper sauce.
Bake and shark
Or should that be shark and bake? Whichever way you say it, it’s a must when you visit Maracas Beach. Maracas was the place my friends and I would drive to every Sunday to relax after a hectic weekend of partying.
The ‘bake’ part is a fried bread, the ‘shark’ component is self-explanatory – pan fried, seasoned shark. However, these days, other types of fish such as king fish, grouper and talapia are used as a substitute for shark – mainly due to environmental and availability reasons. The bread is topped with salads, condiments and sauces of all kinds. The bake and shark pictured below is from Uncle Sam & Sons on Maracas Beach.
© Simone De Silva-Gomes
‘Lookout’ stalls
There’s a lookout on the Lady Young Road and another on the North Coast Road en route to beaches at Maracas, Las Cuevas and Blanchisseuse. They’re places to stop the car to take in the stunning, panoramic views. The former overlooks the capital city, Port of Spain and the latter, the verdant coastline tumbling into the Caribbean Sea. Both boast a couple of large food stalls that offer sweet, savoury, salted and pickled snacks and treats to peckish travellers. I especially recommend trying the pineapple chow, salt prunes, red mango, tamarind (pronounced ‘tambran’) balls and sugar cake.
We pulled over, bought some snacks and took a few photos on our way to Las Cuevas.
Debe food strip
Simone drove me to Débé – a town in the South of Trinidad – that’s famous for it’s Indian food stalls. Indian fast food is my all-time favourite – and there’s a huge choice for vegetarians like me!
The photo above is what we bought:
1. Baiganee (aubergine) | 2. Saheena (dasheen and split peas) | 3. Kachourie (channa and/or split peas)
4. Khurma (sugar-coated flour) | 5. Aloo (potato) pie | 6. Baiganee (aubergine)
7. Doubles | 8. Ginger ale | 9. Solo Apple J
