TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: THE FOOD

It’s been a stressful last couple of weeks. I keep thinking of that line in the Hamilton musical, “The world is upside down.” The good news is that the kids are finally out of school, and I’m officially the parent of a new 9th grader and a 6th grader. However, the murder of George Floyd has sparked outrage across the world, including in my own city. People are getting caught up in the riots and looting and forgetting WHY the black community is so livid. My husband is African-American and our kids are biracial, so this is personal to me. In 2020, we shouldn't have to still be teaching white people that black people are exactly that: people. We should’ve never had to have that conversation, period. I’m going to need to have decent white people start stepping up and holding racist trash accountable. I can’t stress enough that we need to educate ourselves and LISTEN. So, perhaps it’s fitting that I’m making food from Trinidad and Tobago today.

All the right stuff.

The first thing I made was Easy Trinidad Hops Bread. I got a large bowl out and mixed together my dry ingredients: 2 c flour, 2 ¼ tsp sugar, 1 ¼ tsp salt, 1 ¼ tsp of yeast, and 2 ¼ tsp of butter. I cut my butter into the dry ingredients as much as I could. Then I added in about ¾ c water to it and mixed well, letting it rest until it was twice its size (about an hour). Then I punched down the dough and formed it into balls about the size of golf balls. On a greased baking sheet, I laid out these dough balls with some space between them and covered them with a damp towel and let rest again for about 20-30 minutes. I baked these at 400ºF for about 20 minutes until they were golden brown on top. When I served them, I sliced them open part way while they were still hot and put a bit of shredded cheese in it so that it melted. My daughter was a huge fan of this. I think it’s normally eaten plain, but I saw a note that the author’s mom used to put a bit of cheese in it, and I thought that sounded fantastic. Who’s gonna argue with mom?

The fresh parsley really brings out the flavors and makes it pretty.

I have two main meals today, it seems. The first one is Trinidadian Chicken Stew. In a large saucepan, I heated my oil over high heat and added in some brown sugar and cooked until it turned dark brown. Then I added in my chicken pieces, ginger, salt, and pepper and stirred until my chicken was browned. Once that was done, I added in two cans of diced tomatoes, thyme, fresh parsley, diced carrots, diced potatoes, and enough hot water to cover it. With the lid on, I let it simmer for about 40-45 minutes until all the veggies were tender. You can adjust the seasoning with a little more salt and pepper at the end and garnish it with more parsley before serving. This was fantastic. I loved how the flavors all melded together -- and it was quite tasty with the bread!

I wanna try this one again because I think it's probably really super good.

The other main dish I made was Trinidad Macaroni Pie. I picked this especially for my son who is a huge macaroni and cheese fan, but he’s been sick to his stomach all weekend (that’s what ¾ lb of blueberries will do to you). I took my elbow macaroni and boiled it in salted water just like normal. When it was done, I drained it and put it back in the pot but set it off the heat to cool. I was supposed to caramelize some onions that were going to be added in the macaroni, but I apparently used my last onion and didn’t realize it. So, in another bowl, I beat some eggs until they were fluffy and then added in some onion powder to make up for it (narrator: it didn’t), some evaporated milk (my husband only bought me one can, so I had to use some whole milk with it), salt, pepper, garlic powder, dry mustard (I had to use a little regular mustard since I didn’t have any dry), dried thyme, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Once I stirred all that together, I poured it over the macaroni and mixed everything together until it was well coated. Now comes for the good part: I stirred in 3c of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. In my greased 9x11 baking dish, I poured all of the cheesy macaroni mix and spread it out, topping it with a bit more cheese, about 1/2c. I baked this dish at 350ºF for about 35-40 minutes until it was golden on top. The important thing to remember is to let it rest about 10 minutes before eating it. I actually thought it was a little bland. I don’t know if I just needed some of my spices, or that I didn’t have the caramelized onions in it. But it also wasn’t terrible. I liked it ok.

Spicy fruit. S P I C Y.

And finally, I made Trinidadian Pineapple Chow. I was happy that my husband was able to find an actual pineapple. I think grocery stores are a little better stocked by now, with the exception of disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. Anyway, I chopped up a bit of fresh pineapple and put it in a bowl. Then I added in a bit of minced garlic, fresh cilantro, salt and pepper, and a bit of lime juice. Now for the interesting part: I added a bit of hot sauce. You can either serve this right away, or put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the flavors mesh. I opted to let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. This one surprised me. It was unexpectedly good and spicier than I thought.

Really good. Especially if you're a fan of cheese.

Whenever I read about Caribbean history, it’s a humbling experience. And I add those lessons to the “things I didn’t learn in high school” folder of my mind. Perhaps we should raise expectations on how our history is taught. Stop watering down events and experiences. There is always a way to teach something in an age-appropriate manner that doesn’t take away from what actually happened. But if teachers aren’t being taught that when they’re going through school themselves, then what do you have? It’s all about educating yourself and learning about experiences that don’t have to do with you. Bottom line: listen and learn.

Up next: Tunisia