An inside look at Trinidad and Tobago food culture with culinary creatives sharing and preserving culture, techniques and traditions.
As a self-professed island girl, I love Caribbean cuisine just as much as the next person. Trinidadian food culture has been a long-time favorite of mine. My countless trips to New York City to see friends from college or weekend getaways to enjoy shows on Broadway were punctuated by visits to Brooklyn to get doubles or pelau.
Doubles are two fried flatbreads filled with curried chickpeas served with a pepper sauce, tamarind sauce or a spicy mango relish called kuchela. Pelau is a one-pot chicken dish with pigeon peas, coconut milk and brown sugar. Both are traditional dishes from Trinidad & Tobago, a duo-island nation located northeast of Venezuela and northwest of Guyana.
Caribbean cuisine tells a story of the recipes and traditions that have remained intact despite the interruption of colonization. Nneka Nurse, an entrepreneur in New York with Trinidadian roots, is the founder of Best Dressed Plate, the curator of the Caribbean Tradishon dinner series and a cultural tastemaker sharing some key names with those curious about the food culture in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Education and experiences are my approach. Through my dinner series Caribbean Tradishon and other initiatives, I create opportunities for people to learn about our food practices and their origins, then experience them firsthand. That’s why I focus on storytelling, festivals, and my Caribbean Tradishon dinner series so people can taste, learn, and appreciate our food in its entirety.”
By Margo Gabriel
