Trinidad & Tobago Local Dishes
A brief description of some Trinidad & Tobago popular local cuisine dishes.



Benne balls: A delightful (and somewhat jawbreaking) confection made of sesame seeds.
 
Blue food (cf. provision): Dasheen is one of the hearty root vegetables (or ground provisions, as we say) popular in local cuisine. It has a bluish tinge, and is usually eaten boiled. Other common ground provisions include cassava, eddoes, sweet potato, yam and tania.
 
Buljol: Salted codfish shredded and seasoned with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and olive oil, often served in coconut bake.
 
Callaloo: Made from spinach-like dasheen leaves and okra; other ingredients may include coconut, crab and pigtail.
 
Coconut Bake: A type of bread made with grated coconut, often eaten at breakfast with buljol or cheese.
 
Cou-cou: A mixture of cornmeal, okra and butter, boiled and stirred till firm enough to be sliced (similar to polenta). Usually served with steamed fish and callaloo.
 
Crab n’ dumpling: A filling, savoury dish in which the crab is stewed with curry and coconut milk and served over flat flour dumplings.
 
Doubles: Curried channa (chickpeas) sandwiched between two baras (fried flour and split pea bread), usually eaten with a dollop of hot mango kucheela.
 
Oildown: Breadfruit is the main ingredient here, combined with salted meat and boiled down in coconut milk. Called “rundown” in Jamaica.
 
Pacro Water: An aphrodisiac made by boiling a local crustacean. Definitely an acquired taste.
 
Pastelles: Meat-filled corn dumplings cooked in banana leaves. Vegetarian variations are filled with soya or lentil peas.
 
Pelau: Pigeon peas and rice cooked with meat, sometimes flavoured with coconut milk.
 
Phulouri: Small, deep-fried balls made from a mixture of ground split peas and flour, served with spicy chutney.
 
Pigeon peas: Pigeon peas and rice is a popular dish for Christmas and New Year, said to bring luck and prosperity.
 
Roti: A flour wrap, accompanied by curried meat (goat, chicken, lamb, beef, shrimp) or vegetables. Dhalpouri roti made with split peas, is a thin wrap; paratha roti (often called buss-up-shut) is served in fragments, used to scoop up the accompanying dishes; sada roti is slightly stiffer, usually served with choka – vegetables sautéed Indian style.
 
Shark and bake: Fried leavened bread (bake) filled with a well-seasoned shark fillet, dressed with a variety of spicy condiments, including pepper, garlic, and chadon beni (cilantro) sauces.
 
Snow Cone or Sno-cone: Shaved ice, syrups made from guava, pineapple or kola and, if you ask for it, delicious, sinful condensed milk. Not just for kids.
 
Souse: Pig trotters boiled and served cold with a salty sauce of lime, cucumber, pepper and onions.







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