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New Day Cafe: Trinidad and Tobago [1]
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Date: 2022-07-15
An adult shell of the queen conch Lobatus gigas, from Trinidad and Tobago (h/t strawbale)
The islands have always captured my imagination. Cool ocean breezes. Drinks with little umbrellas — ah, who am I kidding? more likely the local beer — and bacalao fritters under a beach umbrella. Steel drums playing calypso...you get the idea.
Trinidad and Tobago [...] officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated 130 kilometres (81 miles) south of Grenada and 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) off the coast of northeastern Venezuela.[10] en.wikipedia.org/...
Did I mention palm trees and glorious sunsets?
Those steel drums are part of the culture.
The islands are known for steel-band and calypso music and for the dance known as the limbo. Derived from African music and dance forms, these are important features of the annual Carnival celebration, which to many represents the ultimate creative expression of the islands. www.britannica.com/...
If you’ve never seen a steel drum band tune up, you should try. They tap the drums with hammers to get just the right notes. [5:12]
Sweet and spicy red mango. From the YouTube description:
A true Trini delicacy and a must try! Sweet, spicy and oh so savory! I remember the days when sometimes I would go to Tobago just to buy this :)
[3:33]
🌴 🌴 🌴
If not exactly a melting pot, the culture of Trinidad and Tobago is certainly a tossed salad.
Trinidad and Tobago has a diverse culture mixing Indian, African, Creole, European, Chinese, Indigenous, Latino-Hispanic, and Arab influences, reflecting the various communities who have migrated to the islands over the centuries. The island is particularly renowned for its annual Carnival celebrations.[10] en.wikipedia.org/...
Have you ever been to a Carnival celebration?
And what to eat during Carnival? Why, Trinidad’s most popular street food, Doubles:
Doubles is considered the ultimate street food in Trinidad and Tobago. With humble beginnings, Mr. Emamool "MamooDeen" sold doubles from his freight bike in Princes Town in 1936. Mostly consumed by hungry indian indentured laborers on the sugar cane estate, it was considered "poor people food". Now, it’s a successful industry and doubles is enjoyed by people all around the globe! From the YT description
Recipe is in the description. [15:19]
🍹 🍹 🍹
Cultural differences may express themselves in the villages, but all in all it’s a peaceful bunch. Americans would do well to learn from them.
Kinship tends to be the important structural element in the life of the traditional East Indian village in Trinidad; caste may also have a localized influence. Traditionally, multiple generations of a family tended to live together or in close proximity, although the extended-family system began giving way to a nuclear-family structure in the late 20th century. ✂️ A somewhat different lifestyle prevails in villages inhabited by people predominantly of African descent, though many villages have both East Indian and African characteristics. The family unit is nuclear rather than extended and may be based upon marriage or upon a stable extralegal relationship. Families headed by women are common. These different rural cultural streams converge on the capital, Port of Spain. www.britannica.com/...
Port of Spain at sunset:
x Daubs of candy pink on a steel grey night and beneath it, our city #PortOfSpain where a new world people made up of strands of old world continents percolate, create. This place continuously offers its inhabitants the wine of astonishment’ #TrinidadandTobago pic.twitter.com/YRcUxSstCb — Ira Mathur (@irasroom) March 31, 2022
Everyone seems to have a version of chicken stew. Trinidad is no exception.
Trinidad Stew Chicken [5:39]:
🐔 🐔 🐔
I first saw mud volcanoes in Yellowstone Park on a family trip when I was a kid. Those, however, are small and friendly looking. And yes, I’m aware that there’s a supervolcano under Yellowstone. Let’s hope it won’t erupt...the way the Trinidadian one did.
On the southern edge of Trinidad’s Central Range lies the small village of Piparo, which boasts a few claims to fame [….] [It] was the site of a bizarre, hugely destructive mud volcano eruption that took place on February 22, 1997. Thanks to tremors and rumbling that gave precious little warning of the devastating eruption to come, villagers were able to flee at the last minute before magmatic mud flooded their homes from floor to ceiling. Cars and homes were buried under a square mile of mud that quickly hardened into a concrete-like clay. Though no one was killed, 31 families were permanently displaced from their homes. www.atlasobscura.com/...
Traveling in the Alps, on a tour with my mother, we saw pink Saharan sand on the snow. That Saharan dust goes everywhere!
x Dust dust dust....Sahara dust in yuh face. Worst I’ve ever ever seen. Surreal atmosphere today in #portofspain #TrinidadandTobago pic.twitter.com/uELQ6tsriV — Maria Nunes (@Nunesie) June 21, 2020
Macaroni Pie is Trinidad’s version of mac & cheese.
A popular Trini dish is macaroni pie, a macaroni pasta bake, with eggs and cheese, and a variety of other potential ingredients that can change according to the recipe being used. en.wikipedia.org/...
The recipe is in the description, but he doesn’t specify what kind of pasta to use. Another video recommended bucatini. [5:04]
🌺 🌺 🌺
What fun is a tropical isle if it doesn’t have its mysteries?
Tobago is the smaller island of the twin republic of Trinidad & Tobago, and not without its own unique wonders and secrets. One of the old mysteries of Plymouth is the tomb of Betty Stiven, who died in the 18th century. On her tomb is inscribed the strange epitaph: Beneath these walls are deposited the body of Mrs. Betty Stiven and her child. She was the beloved wife of Alex B Stiven. To the end of his days will deplore her death, which happened upon the 25th November 1783 in the 23rd year of her age. What was remarkable of her, she was a mother without knowing it, and a wife without letting her husband know it except by her kind indulgence to him. www.atlasobscura.com/...
Gotta love those dinosaurs:
And what of the food of Tobago?
Tobagonian food is dominated by a wide selection of seafood dishes, most notably, curried crab and dumplings… en.wikipedia.org/...
Recipe is in the description. [22:37]
🐲 🐲 🐲
So c’mon into the cafe and grab a cuppa…
..and a nice nosh…
x Sunday Brunch Peche Patisserie, my go to place for French pastries in #Trinidad @TriniTweets @gotrinbago #foodporn pic.twitter.com/4WSL6FVSve — Explore TNT (@STrinbago) March 22, 2015
..and join us!
New Day Cafe is an open thread. What do you want to talk about today?
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