Trini Food to Try at Carnival

Eating your way through Carnival

Trinidad's food is as mixed as its people, and the national tourism board calls the island a food lover's paradise.¹ It is right. During Carnival you will eat at odd hours, on your feet, between fetes and on the road, which is exactly how most of these dishes are meant to be eaten.

A few words you will hear at every stall: slight (a little pepper), heavy (a lot of pepper), and chadon beni (the local name for culantro, a herb with a strong coriander flavour, often blended into a green chutney).

Doubles

The undisputed king of Trini street food. Doubles are made with two baras (soft rounds of fried dough) and curried channa (chickpeas), topped with your choice of pepper sauce, kuchela, tamarind, mango, cucumber and chadon beni chutneys.² They are cheap, they are messy and you will want another.

Where: everywhere. The tourism board notes that the smell of doubles greets you as you leave Piarco airport, and names Curepe, Debe, St James, Ariapita Avenue and the Aranguez Savannah among the popular spots.¹ Doubles are one of the most popular breakfast foods on the islands, though people eat them all day.²

Bake and shark at Maracas

A trip to Maracas Bay on the north coast is not complete without bake and shark: fried bread filled with seasoned fried shark, then loaded with vegetables, fruit and condiments that range from sweet to very spicy.¹ The drive from Port of Spain takes about 30 minutes along a winding mountain road with views all the way.¹ Pineapple, cucumber, salad and a row of sauces are all fair game.² Go before or after Carnival weekend, when you have a free afternoon for the beach.

Roti

Roti is the meal that will carry you through a long day of mas. The tourism board describes it as an Indian flatbread wrapped around vegetables or curried meat.¹ Two styles to know:

• Dhalpuri: one of the most common rotis in Trinidad, filled with boiled, ground split peas seasoned with garlic, cumin, chilli, turmeric and culantro, and often wrapped around a curry.³
• Buss-up-shut: the Caribbean take on paratha, a flaky roti made with more oil than other types.⁴

Roti shops list their curries on a board: point, ask questions and order what smells best.

Pelau

Pelau is the dish every Trini family claims to make best. It is a one-pot rice dish made by caramelising sugar and browning the meat, then simmering rice, pigeon peas and coconut milk together.² It turns up at beach limes, river limes, Sunday lunches and in the coolers of masqueraders who plan ahead.

Aloo pie

An aloo pie is a pastry filled with seasoned mashed potato and then fried.⁵ It is usually cut open and filled with curried channa or peas, with chutneys and pepper sauce on top.⁵ You will find aloo pies at most doubles stands.

Pholourie

Golf ball-sized fried balls of dough made from flour and ground split peas with spices, served with a dipping chutney, usually tamarind or mango.⁶ Buy a bag to share; they disappear fast.

Souse

Souse is a sharp, refreshing dish of pig, cow or chicken feet (or cucumbers, for a meat-free version) seasoned with onion, garlic, salt, pimento, scotch bonnet peppers, lemon and chadon beni.² It is usually served warm or slightly chilled, and it is rumoured to cure a hangover, which may come in handy during Carnival.²

Corn soup

Corn soup is one of the island's common street foods.² Look out for it at roadside food stalls, and ask the vendor what goes into theirs.

Coconut water

Nothing beats the heat like an ice-cold coconut, cut open in front of you by a roadside vendor.¹ The tourism board points to the roadside coconut vendors by the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain.¹ Drink the water, then ask the vendor to split the nut so you can scoop out the soft jelly inside.

Sweet treats

Save room for tamarind balls, toolum, sugar cake and snow cones with syrup and condensed milk, all of which the tourism board recommends.¹

Tips for eating well during Carnival

• Buy from badged vendors. The tourism board advises buying food and drinks from vendors with valid food badges.⁷
• Carry small notes. Street food is a cash business. See our money guide.
• Eat before the road. Have a proper meal before J'ouvert and before each parade day. Your band may provide drinks and snacks, but do not rely on them alone.
• Pace the pepper. Trini pepper sauce is serious. "Slight" is a sensible first order.