Trinidad and Tobago: Cuisine
What do you know about the cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago? Find out more below!
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Pelau
Pelau is often called the national dish of Trinidad and Tobago as it best represents the multi-cultural history of the islands. Pelau is a cousin of the French pilaf and Spanish paella. The main ingredients are meat (chicken, beef, pork), rice and pigeon peas, which are all stewed in caramelised sugar and coconut milk. The caramelising method is of African origin. The peas and type of rice used come from India. Many herbs, spices and vegetables found on the islands are included to give the dish a sweet, savoury and distinctly local flavour. Doubles Doubles are a cheap and delicious street food. They’re a simple curry dish purportedly of Northern Indian origin. Turmeric flavoured dough, called bara, is flattened and fried. Chick pea curry, called channa, is placed onto a fried bara. Channa is then covered with a variety of chutneys before an additional bara is placed on top of everything. The street food was first sold as a single bara dish but over time the number of bara doubled, giving the dish its unusual name of ‘doubles’.  |
  Maracas Bay
Bake & Shark
Bake and shark is a traditional beach food staple. Shark meat is prepared using a marinade of herbs, spices and citrus juices. The shark is next breaded in a well-seasoned flour batter and fried. The fried shark is then sandwiched between a sweet fried flatbread called ‘bake’, and topped with a myriad of condiments including coleslaw, pineapples, garlic sauce, honey mustard, cilantro sauce etc. For the best bake and shark experience, many residents and tourists visit Maracas Bay on the island of Trinidad, where the dish first originated. Crab & Dumplings Crab and dumplings are a popular Tobagonian seafood dish. The main ingredient are blue crabs which are common in the Caribbean. The crabs are cleaned and washed in lime or lemon juice. It is recommended to leave the crabs in their shells to maximize the dish’s taste. They are next seasoned with an array of herbs and spices. They are then cooked in a curry, cumin and coconut milk slurry. The crabs and curry sauce are then poured over special dumplings made from cassava (yucca) flour and served hot with root crops such as yams and sweet potatoes.  |
Which description matches which recipe?
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Pelau
Doubles Shark and Bake Crab and Dumplings |
Made like a sandwich with the meat between a piece of flatbread.
Served with yams or sweet potatoes. Similar to French pilaf and Spanish paella. A sweet and savoury flavour. A kind of curry "street food." The dough is called bara. Made with marinated shark. Stewed in caramelised sugar and coconut milk. Made from crabs washed in lemon or lime. First made in Maracas Bay. |
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