* A Yankee sitting down to breakfast in
Trinidad usually looks for cereal or bacon and eggs, or a Danish
and coffee. Sorry Toto, you're not in Kansas anymore! What you
will get when you are called to "drink tea" in the morning
is "bake" (a buiscuit made with coconut milk, nutmeg,
cinnamon), fried eggs, or sweetbread (almost a fruit cake with
raisins, currents and other fruits with a sugar glaze) washed
down with tea or hot cocoa. Another breakfast favorite is accra
(also called bull jhol), salt fish fried with tomatoes, onions
and peppers and served with bake, hops bread or zaboca (avocado).
* You'll be in a land where the national
snack food is not hamburgers, but the roti. A roti is sort of
like an East Indian burrito; potatoes, vegetables, channa, curry
and meat (chicken, shrimp, goat or beef) wrapped in a soft flattened
dough (roti skin). They're delicious, don't miss out on your chance
to try them! Buss up shut (lit. torn up shirt) is a roti with
a shredded roti skin served on the side; doubles is sort of a
mini roti.
* Another Not-In-Kansas-Anymore alert; Trini
meat dishes generally are not de-boned; they contain bones that
have sometimes been chopped in mid-bone, leaving a sharp, splintery
surprise for the tourist who bites too hard into his or her roti.
The food is delicious, but take it easy and chew meat dishes carefully.
* Trini pepper sauce has to be tasted to
be believed! It's delicious, but let me offer a word of warning;
those of you used to slathering your food with Tobasco will die
a painful death when your tongue swells up after trying the same
thing with Trini pepper sauce! (I'm only joking, but Trini pepper
sauce makes halapeno sauce taste like Tobasco.) Put one or two
drops on your food and stir it throughout the entire dish. If
it's still not the hottest thing you've ever tasted, try one or
two drops more.
* Other tasty local dishes you should try:
Callalloo is a thick soup made of dasheen leaves, okra, coconut
milk, crab and seasonings; a Trini favorite. Curried crab and
curried shark use local seafood spiced with curry power. (I know
you saw Jaws six times, but try the shark, it's delicious! Don't
turn up your nose; the truth is that millions of sharks are eaten
by people every year for every person eaten by sharks).
* Sorrell is one of my favorite Trini delights; a punch made with the juice of a tangy berry. The taste is unique; make sure you sample a glass of cold sorrell during your trip. Ginger beer is a non-alcoholic drink made with ginger root (like old fashioned root beer). Malta is a malt drink that tastes like a non-alcoholic beer, and comes in what looks like a beer bottle. Mauby is another delicious Trini concoction made to order for parched dry throats. Solo is the local soft drink bottler, so instead of a soda ask for a Solo (Solo red is a popular favorite). Don't miss the chance to sample Rum ice cream or my favorite, coconut ice cream. Peanut punch is a thick drink made from peanut butter and cream (delicious!).
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