Taste of Trini -Rivers Deep and Mountains High (with food.....)
andromeda of plymouth
Susan and Andrew Wilson
Wed 9 Nov 2011 19:03
Trinidad is a very fascinating country. There is such a mix of cultures
here all co-existing quite happily and we have seen much of this over the
last few weeks.
Our first trip out of Chagauramas since our return was on a ‘Taste of
Trini’ tour run by Jesse James the local taxi, maxi cab driver and guide.
Jesse came along in his lovely air-conditioned minibus at 9’oclock in the
morning, picking up the various members of our party from outside our
different marinas and boat yards. It was a full house and within 10
minutes we had made our first stop for some smoked herring, swordfish and
coconut bread – delicious....we were off on our adventure crossing
Trinidad and taking in a brilliant 36 different ‘tastes’. Jesse has been
running these tours for some time but each one is slightly different
reflecting the interests of folk on board the bus and the local
availability of various foods– we were lucky enough to be on the one that
broke all previous records for different foods to try (the previous one
managed 23).
As we toured the island with a running commentary from Jesse all the time
we stopped at various small vendors along the way and our 2nd stop was for
the local product called doubles. These are two delicious small pancakes
filled to bursting with a mixture of cooked chickpeas in a lovely spicy
sauce....we picked up 3 different sorts of peanuts from a guy walking in
the traffic as well as some freshly cooked plantain chips (very like
banana chips).
We made our way down to the village of Valencia which is island famous for
their speciality – pigtails – not the hairstyle but barbequed in a great
sticky sauce and accompanied by a multicoloured slush puppy (first of
these that we have had – led a sheltered life really). Jesse took us
across the road to pick up some Geera Pork and we were back on the road
again. We stopped for some boiled peewaa as Jesse spotted some just as he
was telling us about it and we had a little break from eating as we made
our way through the countryside past old sugar cane fields and on to the
next place at the side of the road at Sangre Grande where some more tasty
Indian food was tried. We had potato pies, kitchori, baiganee (egg plant
rolls) and saheena and at another spot, a Roti house, Jesse picked up a
pineapple and our lunch.
We had now made our way to the east coast and the beach resort of
Manzanilla. Again we were the lucky ones as the water was calm enough and
clean enough for us to race into the very warm sea for a lovely refreshing
dip in the ocean before a shower and lunch. Whilst everyone was getting
changed after their dip Jesse was busy cutting up the pineapple into small
pieces and then seasoning it with garlic, salt and a coriander type herb
which he then left to marinade. In the meantime we had the savoury part
of lunch and it was so tasty. We had curried chicken gizzards, curried
mango, curried beef, curried pumpkin and curried goat along with
mother-in-law sauce(very hot) and two different types of roti – parata and
dhalparee. All were very, very, tasty and it was followed by the fresh
pineapple chow..... our mouths were in shock from all the different
tastes.
After lunch we travelled south down the east coast to where the river that
drains the main swamp in these parts meets the sea and stopped again at
the roadside for thirst quenching slices of watermelon and some pumchetti,
and picked up some sugar cane to try later.
Our route now took us into the middle of the island, crossing the central
hills and we made our way to a big water park where we tried duck curry
and another mango curry. We passed a stall selling live lobster but, as
it wasn’t cooked and we had nothing to keep it fresh in, we didn’t stop
($20TT per pound!- £2 a pound), but did further along when a bread van was
spotted and we had some coconut drops and cassava pone.
After this there was yet another roadside stall where we had some coconut
water and coconut jelly before stopping at one of Jesse’s relatives and
tasting some fresh cocoa beans from a plantation that Jesse’s uncle
manages. Next stop was another road side stall selling various hot and
peppery sauces – we bought two. Now we were on our way back to Port of
Spain and two more stops. One was for chickenfoot sous, complete with
chicken’s feet, several of them, and the last was at the local ice cream
booth where homemade ice cream was served - Andrew had Rum and Raisin and
Susan had Coconut Cherry, both were delicious.
Arriving in Chagauramus again the bus slowly emptied of its very full
passengers as Jesse dropped us back after our 10 hour tour of the
island......needless to say no-one needed anything else to eat that night.
Jesse’s aim with the tour was to show that there is really great food all
over the island and he has a thing about imported fast food chains such as
KFC, which is everywhere. The road-side food is virtually cooked to order
and plays a great part of the Indian heritage on the island. Long may the
local food continue!
Susan And Andrew
S/V Andromeda of Plymouth
Trinidad
