My days here in Trinidad & Tobago
are numbered so it’s time to start packing my things to get ready for the long journey home. Last postcard from the road
comes from Tobago. It’s a quick snap I took from the car on our way to the beach. As of tomorrow all these things will
become sweet, sweet island memories until the sand, sun, surf, and delicious salt fish of my Caribbean mornings and I
should meet once again.
Bake & Saltfish Recipe
Just because I’m way over across the Atlantic doesn’t mean I should be the only one eating good West Indian fare.
Because I care that much about cross-continental experiences and sharing I went searching for a recipe to make my new
favorite dish in your very own home. The McGill Daily has a
short blurb on the nomenclature controversy surrounding the term bake. It’s fascinating and good to feed our minds
with, but the most important info is located at the bottom of the article – the Bake and Saltfish recipe. The recipe for fried bake
serves up to 8 persons and the saltfish serves 6. Should you be in need of an expert taste-tester I’ll be available
upon my return. Happy cooking!
(Photo from TriniSoca)
Trinidad & Tobago Dispatch 6: Delicious West Indian Food
Yesterday my pen pal carried me down south to La Brea
where the famous Tar Pits are located and more importantly her family which I had heard so much about growing up in her
swirling and loopy young girl’s cursive. I only had the opportunity to meet half of when I was in town last time and she
told me her father was looking forward to meeting me and her mother wanted to feed me. Well, never did I imagine the
amount of food waiting for me. I’m certainly not the timid type when it comes to getting up in one’s refrigerator or
down on the local chow, but I also didn’t want to eat them out of house and home. I soon found out that would be nearly
impossible. Her mother had prepared a small West Indian feast and I would be sampling everything on the menu. Oh sweet
joy!
The majority of the food on my trip up to this point had been from Jenny’s, one of the pricier Chinese
restaurants in the area, KFC which somehow worked it’s way into being a local food and I believe the country has the
highest ranking/selling KFC in the world, and local dishes from many different restaurants, but nothing fresh out
someone’s mother’s kitchen. My heart was pounding and my taste-buds ignited and so excited I started to click my tongue
and tried hard to keep from drooling. Bring on the curried goat! Within moments of my arrival that’s just what happened.
Curried goat on my plate and her mother’s watchful eyes on me.
"Is the goat good? Is it too
spicy?"
All questions from her mother, but she really had no clue whom she was dealing with. I’ll eat
just about anything at least once and seeing her small snack was the most delicious of all the West Indian food I had
up until then there was nothing to worry about. After the goat she instantly supplied me with some muffins (Trini
style) and peppered mango. This particular mango was the dry kind and a bit sour at first, but once adjusting I
couldn’t get enough of it. Lici and I decided to take a brief intermission to head down to the La Brea’s beach (nothing
I really suggest seeing) and visit a few of her close friends in the area. Upon our return it was time for dinner. More
curried goat, beef, chicken, paratha roti, curried potatoes and channa, pumpkin, mango chutney, peppered mango
(different from before) and no utensils. It’s safe to say I over did myself during dinner. I was stuffed, but her
mother wanted me to try the peppered plum. For once I had to refuse. Any more consumption beyond that point would have
been a sin.
When I woke up the next day let’s just say I was overwhelmed by the amount of food served for
breakfast. Too avoid babbling any further let’s just say everything, especially the bake and saltfish was absolutely
mouth-watering.
My apologies for not having any photos of the food. I was too busy eating, but feel
free to enjoy this shot of the beach in La Brea.
Postcards from Trinidad: Ten
Since I’ve been getting some pretty
crazy looks from everyone when taking pictures with my handy dandy Lomo Super Sampler I figured I’d mix up the postcards series with a
B&W shot I captured at the Port on the way to Tobago. (I just got some of my film developed.) This shot shows a more
industrial side to the city and is one of my favorite to date. I’ve been playing around with the Super Sampler and
though the manual suggests using at least 400 color ASA I’ve really become attached to using the B&W film with both
the Sampler and the Fisheye. Just thought to mix things up since I’ve been showcasing a number of digital images.
Tobago Dive Destinations
Sometime ago
some curious soul in the world who had read my
blurb on Tobago being featured in Go World Travel was interested in knowing if Tobago had some decent dive spots.
After picking the brains of a few underwater explorers in the area I discovered Tobago is one of the best kept secrets
in all the Caribbean boasting some of the best diving and the world’s largest brain coral. (It evens mentions this
same information here.) Wishing I could find this out first hand and to cross to check I went surfing the web. Yup, I
know. I’m not much of a diver – sorry. I can’t equalize, but word around town is anyone diver would have a great time
in sleepy Tobago. Some of the areas sure to be scuba diving crowd pleasers include: Speyside, Charlotteville, and
Buccoo Reef to name only a few. Seeing I’m nowhere even close to being an expert in this field use this information to
get going and start gathering some additional information at these sites here: