Trinindad's street food abounds with Indian names like sahina, aloo pie and baghani.
"Trinny's," as Trinidadians call themselves, are born nibblers.
Eating on the street is a way of life, and at times, it seems as though everyone is munching away on a snack,
sipping from a coconut, or lined up awaiting the next tidbit.
Visiting a local stand, Debra (Chef Debra Sardinha-Metivier) treats Steve (Jilleba) to a range of Trinidadian street food.
[Chef Debra] All right, so Steve, here we have a Sahina, which is basically the
callaloo, that was basically flattened, and in between there, we have the split peas,
as a fritter. And what we've done is we've opened it up and filled it with a little
bit of mango - a little mango chutney - sweet and sour with a little bit of spice, so you get
a balance. This is gonna be salty, so I want you to tear off a little piece.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] So this is done raw. The callaloo. [Chef Debra] And then fried.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] And just fried.
[Chef Debra] It's blanched. [Chef Steve Jilleba] Oh, it is blanched first.
[Chef Debra] So that allows it to be pliable.
And you taste a little bit of the sweetness of the paprika and the mango?
[Chef Steve Jilleba] I got more of the green, than the mango. But very....
[Chef Debra] Pull another piece. [Chef Steve Jilleba] Oh, I keep eating?! [Laughs]
[Chef Steve Jilleba] Very good, though.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] Now, I get the mango. [Chef Debra] A little sweetness, it comes out.
Now, we put a little bit. Traditionally they put a little bit more, you may even have a little bit of
a chickpea. So, you're going to have an Aloo, or potato pie, next with a little bit of the
chana in it, so you get to see the difference. [Chef Steve Jilleba] Aw, that's excellent.
[Chef Debra] This is called Sahina. [Chef Steve Jilleba] Sahina.
[Chef Debra] Okay, this one.... By the time you finish, you're going to get full. This is a Aloo Pie, which is basically
a light dough that is fried, with potato in it. And because we also have a lot of vegetarians....
to make it a complete meal, the options are for you put it with a little bit of a Chana filling. And we also
put a little bit of hot sauce to give you a little kick, and the sweetness to counterbalance - a little bit of mango salsa.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] So there they kind of customize it, what you ask for. [Chef Debra] Yes. You have the basics.
Then you can also make it a complete meal. [Chef Steve Jilleba] And the potato is right in the dough.
[Chef Debra] No, it's in the base. No, it's actually filled in, but on the bottom.
If you look right here, you'll see a little bit of potato.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] That's really good, too. [Chef Debra] Nice and light.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] A little spice. I don't know if that's the hot sauce. [Chef Debra] Yeah, yes.
I told you, we put a little bit of the hot sauce, and then you're going to get a little sweetness with the mango.
You're kind of - you're kind of getting a little bit of, you know - Sweet/Sour.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] And this is a breakfast food? [Chef Debra] This would be a breakfast or a mid-morning snack.
Now you want something just before .... And some people will probably have two or three of these and that's it. But then, if you're not a heavy lunch person -
with a nice cold beverage, and you're good to go.
But it's a complete meal in the sense of having a protein, if you're vegetarian, it's nice and hot. So.......
[Chef Steve Jilleba] Really nicely done.
Now we have another fritter.
This is an eggplant base - or Baiganee. But an eggplant based fritter.
What you squirt into it is just a little bit of hot sauce, and a little bit of a sweet mango sauce, so you can get a real essence of the eggplant.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] So they're filling this afterwards with the explant? [Chef Debra] Yeah.
No, the eggplant is in the fritter and then you add the various condiments and relish. So, like any kind of sauce, any pepper sauce.....
[Chef Steve Jilleba] Also, it's the same dough that they're using for both. [Chef Debra] It's a base dough. For the fritters. Yeah.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] So, one had potato, one had eggplant, and....
[Chef Debra] Right. But this one is different. More split peas, more of a lentil base. [Chef Steve Jilleba] More liquid.
[Chef Debra] More of a lentil base. (Whereas) this is more flour based.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] I see some in the back. The eggplant, there.
[Chef Debra] See the eggplant? Yeah.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] I really like this one.
[Chef Debra] Okay. This is "doubles," which I would call the official breakfast food of Trinidad and Tobago.
This is a bara. So you can basically show them. Very light. Fried. And basically filled with
basically filled with... traditionally would be the channa, some sort of sweet sauce or hot sauce,
Could be tamarind or could be cucumber relish. We have a little pepper sauce.
Some people go heavy on the pepper, some people say, "no pepper."
But the idea is to put the next one you top, and then this is really like.... Just get in there, and pull it.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] And make a mess! [Chef Debra] Yeah.
So you got to hold it. And you gotta pull it. [Chef Steve Jilleba] Okay, let me try this.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] Oh, oh, yeah, this is messy. [Chef Debra] Take your hand and.... yeah.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] You gotta train me on how to eat this!
[Chef Debra] Kinda....Dip it, and scoop it in there, and get some of that channa.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] They're all really good. This one had a little more sweetness. [Chef Debra] Yes.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] The dough?
[Chef Debra] It's a little bit of the sauce that you put on here.
The channa just kind of melts in your mouth.
Really nice and soft.
That's kind of, like, you know, you put that in, you just kind of dig in, and Mmmmm! [laughs]
[Chef Steve Jilleba] That's the hard part. Well, the hard part to get used to. You know?
[Chef Debra] Yes, there you go!