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.