Can't get any more street than 'round d savannah!

Poui trees abound in the savannah. I remember growing up, my teacher used to say when you see poui trees blooming, you know exams coming! I had a love-hate relationship with poui ever since then...gorgeous delicate blooms, bearing ominous tidings! 

Known locally as "the Savannah," the Queen's Park Savannah is Port of Spain's largest open park and the largest round-about in the world. It occupies about 260 acres of level land. Once sugar-cane land, it was bought by the town council in 1817 from the Peschier family (except for a small parcel near its centre that served as the Peschier cemetery, which remains privately owned).

At first the savannah was used as a vast cattle pasture in what was then the town's suburbs, but by the middle of the 19th century it had become established as a park.

In the early 20th Century it was used as an airstrip when there were no airports. Until the early 1990s, horse racing was held frequently at the Savannah race track, and there are several cricket, football and rugby pitches. 

The Savannah was never formally landscaped, except for the small area in its northwest corner called the Hollows, a former reservoir now drained and is probably the most lush area of the savannah.

But on a Friday and Saturday the Savannah comes alive with food! From boil corn and oysters to coconut water and bake and shark. No need trek down the highway or to Maracas Bay! The food is coming to you. 

I remember "breaking biche" and walking from Belmont to South Quay in my high school days. Breaking biche is a saying originating in Trinidad meaning to miss attendance at school, deliberately and without legitimate excuse. But I had a legitimate excuse. School was boring! The walk around the savannah was seemingly endless but picturesque - out of a story book. I had the company of my two best friends as they broke biche too!

The Debe experience - Part 2 - Sweet

Another aspect of street food in Debe is the wide range of East Indian sweets offered for sale. Debe is also known for its delicious Indian sweets like kurma, goolab jamoon, barfi, jalebi, and even non-Indian sweets like fudge, sugar cake and peanut brittle.

A vendor in Debe smiling and ready to serve

Laddu or laddoo are ball-shaped sweets made of flour and sugar. They are often served at festive or religious occasions but you can find them at any time in Debe!

Ladoo - golden and delicious

Jalebi is made by deep-frying a wheat flour (maida flour) batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup. The deep orange color comes from turmeric include in the flour mixture.

Jalebi

Kurma is made with wheat flour, milk, coconut milk, spices which is combined into a stiff dough then fried and tossed in simple sugar syrup.

Kurma

Goolab jamoon is similar to kurma except that condensed milk is used to keep the dough soft.

Goolab jamoon

Barfi is a powered milk based Indian sweet that is moulded and topped with colored sprinkles. Debe now offers differnt flavours of barfi including soursop and coconut.

Barfi

The Debe experience - Part 1 - Savoury

Travelling to South to visit relatives was an onerous chore for a little child. You’re stuck in a slow-moving car for at least 2 hours with no entertainment, save for singing tunes from Sesame Street and telling lame jokes. The scenes from the country-side quickly merged into one as little tummies grumbled. The only hope was to stop at Debe to buy delicious Indian snacks. That meant continuously asking what the time was in eager anticipation of lunch.

Debe (or Débé) is a town in south Trinidad located in the Penal-Debe Region.

Debe has grown from a small village settlement into a key transit point. Historically, Debe became important as a train depot during the sugar-cane production era. Villagers began selling home-made lunches and sweets to travellers and workers on the train line.

There used to be a long stretch of food stalls erected just in front of the homes of enterprising individuals. In my child’s mind, this meant the food would never run out because they can always go home and make more!

Tripadvisor rated Debe food stalls as a 4.5/5 

(https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147389-d3777463-Reviews-Food_carts-Port_of_Spain_Trinidad_Trinidad_and_Tobago.html#REVIEWS).

Debe as a rural community

Despite the shutdown of the sugar-cane industry in Trinidad, Debe is still widely known for Indian street food and delicacies e.g. saheena, poulourie, baiganee, aloo pie etc.

Baiganee is slices of melongene (baigan) coated in a split pea flour and fried to golden perfection. They can be eaten as is or accompanied by curried mango, mango anchar, or pepper sauce.

Aloo pie is a flour dough shell that is stuffed with spiced potato filling and accompanied by seasonings like pepper sauce, curried mango, curried channa

Kachori is a split peas flour savory concoction that is deep fried and served with a spicy condiment like mango chutney.

Saheena is a simple fried delicacy composed of taro leaves (dasheen bush leaves) folded or rolled in a split peas flour batter and then fried.

Street foods are ready-to-eat foods and beverages prepared and/or sold by vendors represent a significant part of urban food consumption for millions of low-and-middle-income consumers, in urban areas on a daily basis in developing countries according to the FAO. Street foods may be the least expensive and most accessible means of obtaining a nutritionally balanced meal outside the home for many – this is the case with doubles.

I think the Debe experience epitomizes the importance of street food preparation and sales in providing a regular source of income for many of men and women with limited education or skills in an otherwise impoverished area. The outcome is a thriving and bright Debe that looks remarkably different from decades past but whose primary product remains delicious and convenient street food.

Fruit ninja

Driving through Champs Fleurs early one morning I saw a young lady selling small parcels of fruit, expertly weaving her way through the traffic. The small clear plastic bag contained 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple and a peeled orange. That’s breakfast to many Trinis, more so just before carnival. Less and less costume fabric means more and more dieting, running around the Queen's Park savannah for assured carbon monoxide poisoning and grumpiness borne out of hunger - “The Hangry Trini".

The Ministry of Food Production has a lovely poster highlighting some 84 fruits grown in Trinidad, in addition to some of the less well-known more exotic ones. See link below:-

http://www.agriculture.gov.tt/images/tips/Fruits%20grown%20in%20Trinidad%20and%20Tobago.pdf

The younger generation and the more urbanized among us are less familiar with these exotic fruits. This is a shame as these fruits sustained many during times of little. In the country-side, sucking on a borrowed do-dos mango while meandering to school was common back in the day.

Fruit stalls can be found on most corners and by fruit stall, I mean from 4 red bricks upon and a piece of plywood situated on the pavement with the proprietor sitting on a pig tail bucket, to grand establishments along the roadside. I particularly appreciate the neat stacks of pomerac in 3s, mango in 3s, Portugal in 3s, oranges in 3s… 

Slight prompting of how sweet the pawpaw is was required here

Fruit is consumed either as the main meal or as dessert or as a healthy snack during the course of a long workday. One small tip: don’t get into a taxi and start eating portugal unless you want to be cussed out for “smelling up” the car.

Grapefruit, sapodilla, pineapple, bananas, balata, caimite, tipee tamboo, tamarind

Remember the NAR reign in the 80s? The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) was the governing party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1986 and 1991. Christmas without apples and grapes, but we survived it. Now, these and other foreign fruits abound year-round thanks to an astronomically high food import bill. But I digress…

Peewah

Tableland for aromatic pineapples…Manzanilla for the sweetest watermelon. And mango? The National Mango Festival began in 2009 by the Network of Rural Women Producers, Trinidad and Tobago (NRWPTT). NRWPTT was formed in 1995 and is a national umbrella organization comprising a membership of over 60 small businesses and individuals. The network is committed to membership in the Network of Non-Governmental Organizations for the Advancement of Women, (with UN ECOSOC Status) Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) (with ECOSOC UN Status).

The Tableland Pineapple Farmers’ Association also hosts an annual National Fruit Festival in partnership with iTHINK Global Consulting Services.

People are very much into juicing and superfruits now. I think there are hidden treasures in the exotic fruits grown in Trinidad. I mean look at current status of the once humble acai berry, Euterpe oleracea, which is mostly native to Brazil, Trinidad and other parts of Northern regions of South America. It is the superstar of anti-oxidants!

Acai palm with berries

Although fruits in Trinidad are used to make jellies, jams, preserves, chutneys, chow, punches etc. they are eaten and enjoyed in the natural state, juices running down your arm and splashing you in your eye.

Men make better fish broth than women

Th-fronting refers to the pronunciation of the English "th" as "f" or "v". For example, "three" is pronounced as "free" and "bathe" is pronounced as "bave". Th-fronting is a prominent feature of several dialects of English, notably Cockney, Estuary English, some West Country dialects, as well as many foreign accents (though the details differ among those accents). Given our colonial history, I imagine this is why, to my confusion, Trinis pronounce "Fish Broth" as "Fish Brof".

A tasty bowl of Trini fish broth

Why eat fish broth? It is a cure for what ails you apparently. Fish consumption has repeatedly been shown to slow cognitive decline and improve memory; fish stock is often touted as an excellent source of iodine and healthy fats; the stock is rich in calcium, gelatin and thyroid-supporting nutrients; it's a popular remedy for  a hangover in Trinidad.

Grouper and king fish are the main stays of a good Trini broth but, really, any deep water fish will do. And you should include the head…not just for the shock value.

A grouper caught in Mayaro, Trinidad - that will make one massive pot of fish broth!

A fisherman and his King fish catch in Cocorite fishing facility

The broth is very aromatic thanks to numerous seasonings and vegetables cooked to create the consume and the fish itself. Of course, pepper! Can’t escape it. 

18 Feb 1797: Trinidad occupied by Britain.

27 Mar 1802: Spain formally cedes Trinidad to Britain; Trinidad is a British colony.

Sometimes a walk along St. James will bring the delicious scent of the soup on the fire at a bar. I’ve seen some cooks exclude the macaroni in the fish broth and replace it with a small dumplings. Do men make better fish broth than women? …Blasphemy? Let me know...

All I do know is that you make enough fish broth to feed a crowd and it better have at least half a bar of golden ray in it.

Sweet T&T

Trinidad and Tobago have a fantastic array of local sweets and these are for sale everywhere, from the airport as you land to the gorgeous beaches. They are all homemade with recipes passed down from generation to generation. But, let’s focus on Tobago for the moment.

Tobago has been fought over by numerous nations since it was first sighted by Columbus in 1498. You can read more about the island’s history here:
http://www.mytobago.info/history.php

Despite its tumultuous history of repeated invasion and conquest by competing European powers, Tobago is an island paradise and is associated with many sweet treats. One of which is the bene ball.

Bene balls, squares and sticks on the beach in Tobago

Bene or Benne is an African word for Sesame seed. Thus, the sweet is made out of sesame seeds rolled in simple syrup into a ball shape. The dried product is delicious and typically very, ahem, crunchy - to say the least. I would suggest nibbling your way through these nuggets rather than attempting to bite down. Jaw misalignment, and broken teeth are a real possibility. The nouveau shapes like the flat squares and the bene sticks are easier to bite.

I caution you to divulge any intention to visit Tobago because family and friends will pester you to bring back Bene Balls for them. But that’s ok, you can blackmail them later.

Tambran balls

It was believed that India, the Far East or Africa may be the center of origin of the tamarind (Tamarindus indica), but the consensus is that it is Africa. So how did it find its way here in Trinidad and Tobago? Think about it.

The Tamarind tree

Tamarind balls (aka tambran balls in the Caribbean) was the stuff of dreams during recess and lunchtime at primary school. You race to “Miss lady” under the step to buy the 25cent treat which was sweet, salty, tart and peppery all at the same time. So, you bite into it cautiously again and again, savouring the flavours, until you come upon a seed. The seeds were used to make bean bags – the local toy not the chair. I used to scour the school yard picking up all the seeds I could find to make these bags – good for playing catch, sky, scootch, doing tricks like the footballers do. Couldn’t afford a fancy ball in those days!

Tamarind ball to the left; shelled tamarind in the center; tamarind fruit still in the pod to the right

Oh toolum. I know, I know what it looks like and it truly is an acquired taste. Molasses and coconut gives it a chewy or sticky texture and the orange peel and ginger adds more flavour to an otherwise odd taste. Seriously, but look at that sunset!

Toolum

Pawpaw balls were also an acquired taste. Made out of shredded green papaya fruit, the dried shreds were cooked in a simple syrup and lime solution, then cooled and rolled into a ball shape and allowed to set. The ball is then rolled in granulated sugar to finish. The bright green color was due to food coloring and not the green pawpaw.

Pawpaw balls

Coconut Chip Chip is a sweet and delicious candy for all coconut lovers. Chips of coconut are combined in a simple syrup base and allowed to harden into small nuggets.

Coconut chip chip

Jub Jub is a gelatine-based sugar coated candy that comes in a variety of colors thanks to food coloring and flavours thanks to extracts. It is literally just gelatine and sugar. There’s grape, orange, lime, pineapple, cherry flavours to name a few.

Jub Jub

Sugar cake (in pink) is a shredded coconut tossed in a sugar mixture and moulded and cut into squares. Fudge now comes in a variety of flavours ranging from soursop to pistachio to plain milk fudge.

Sugar cake and fudge -milk and chocolate

Now, Ms. Sylvia Hunt is the reason why I know all of these sweets are a part of Trinidad and Tobago culture. My mother got her book decades ago as it was in limited print. It was a coveted treasure. I also faithfully looked at her cooking show on channel TTT when I was a child and sat mesmerized at how easy she prepared her dishes and how patient she seemed. Ms. Hunt is a big part of Trini cuisine.

Still a vital supply!

Do you remember the weekly ummm “talent show” on the then Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) channel? It was called “Scouting for Talent” and it was hosted by the late Holly Betaudier. Yes that one! Where the audience prize was “Crix, crix and more crix!” People flew up on stage pelting cuff and ample bosoms pushing you out of the way to collect this vital supply.

Crix and anything...truly. But some classics bring back sweet memories.

Biscuit and tea - which must be eaten with a teaspoon  - this was breakfast for me

The Bermudez Biscuit Company was founded by Venezuelan brothers Jose Rafael and Jose Angel Bermudez, who migrated to Port of Spain, Trinidad. Jose Rafael travelled to Paris for the 1900 World Fair, where he stumbled upon an innovative wood burning biscuit oven. He returned to Trinidad with the contraption and set about with his brother to produce "salt biscuits". The rest is history. This little cracker has been around for almost 90 years since.

Plain ole crix and butter - a snack at any time of the day and as a youngster, easy to prepare!

Crix and cheese - that's if there was cheese left in the house after making macaroni pie for Sunday's magnificent lunch

Then there was the coveted Crix tin. My grandmother guarded this thing as it was used to store all kinds of precious items. It was a valuable container for boiling Christmas ham too. 

There was an ad in 1973 that promoted crix as part of the Trini lifestyle. Now, crix crackers are sold on Amazon for US $5.62 + $5.49 shipping! No joke, on Amazon.

1973 crix ad

That's right, crix on Amazon!

There was even a Crix Street Food Festival which was the promotion and marketing platform of the Bermudez Biscuit Company hosted for a gala launch of the evolution of the Crix brand with the slogan “Crix Makes It Better” in 2014.