[sizzling]
Customer: It's, like, so flavorful, and best of all,
it reminds you of being in Trinidad,
eating it on a beach.
But yet, you're getting it right here in Queens.
Doyinsola Oladipo: We're on the beach. Just pretend.
Kamara Williams: Just pretend. [laughs]
Doyin: Wind in our hair. Kamara: Yep.
Doyin: We don't smell New York anymore.
We're on a beach.
I'm Doyin, and I'm here with Kamara.
We are on our way to South Ozone Park.
She's taking me to try bake and shark
for the very first time.
I'm so excited.
I'm so excited. Kamara: Me too.
We're gonna go to Trinciti Roti Shop and Restaurant.
I grew up eating bake and shark,
so it's always, like, a fun time
to carry people to try it for the first time.
And I can't wait for her to taste it,
like, all the textures,
all the sauces.
Doyin: Bake and shark, not bacon shark,
is Trinidad and Tobago's most
popular fast-food sandwich.
The breakfast food, street food, snack, and appetizer
is popular all over the dual-island nation,
but was popularized as a beach food
on Maracas Bay, a beach in Trinidad,
by Richard's Bake and Shark.
Trinbagonian cuisine is a mixture of,
to name a few,
Amerindian, West African, Indian, Chinese,
and European influences.
Amit Maheepat: It's so refreshing that
people used to eat that — well, they still do —
eat it at the beach.
Hands down, we got the best bake and shark,
no doubt.
Here we get people from Brooklyn, Long Island,
all over New York.
Michael Persaud: Out of states.
Amit: We got people from Trinidad coming here,
and they got the actual bake and shark back home.
It took us, like,
almost a whole decade to perfect this recipe.
Michael: We have some of the greatest chefs here.
Amit: Sometimes we have people call in, like,
during the week to place orders
for Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
We sell, like, almost 1,000 pounds.
Michael: Yeah, pretty much 1,000 pounds of shark. Yeah.
Amit: A week.
Michael: That's a lot of shark.
Doyin: To make Trinciti's bake and shark,
fresh shark is cleaned, skinned, seasoned,
breaded, and deep fried.
[sizzling]
The bake, or flatbread,
is made by deep-frying unleavened bread dough
until the center puffs up
and the outside is golden brown.
Trinbagonians typically top
their food off with condiments,
and bake and shark is no different.
Tamarind, mayo, honey mustard, garlic,
pepper, and chadon beni
are some of the sauces layered
directly onto the shark.
Fresh cucumber, cabbage, coleslaw, tomato,
and pineapple usually top it off.
Customer: I tasted it here at Trinciti first,
and then I had it in Trinidad as well,
and it tastes better here, so...[laughs]
Which is really surprising.
They build, like, a tower of stuff
with pineapple, coleslaw, all different sauces.
It's really, really good,
so I think everybody should try it.
Customer: Bake and shark is different.
The texture of the bake is nice and soft.
The shark is lean,
but soft at the same time.
Customer: It's worth the trip to come into
Queens, New York, to get the bake and shark.
Doyin: I'm so hungry.
Kamara: Me too.
Doyin: Let's do this.
Kamara: Finally.
Doyin: OK. Do you wanna...?
Kamara: You go first,
since it's your first time. Doyin: Me go first?
Off of the first bite alone,
I'm getting sweetness. Kamara: Yes.
Doyin: I'm getting spiciness, Kamara: Yes.
Doyin: The shark is, like,
the perfect canvas for all of these toppings.
It's crispy. Kamara: Yep.
Doyin: It's juicy.
Hold on, let me take another bite.
Let me take another bite.
Kamara: Me too, me too.
See?
I told you it wasn't too much, right?
Doyin: This is so good.
Kamara: I'm so happy you like it.
Doyin: And who knew shark was so good?
Kamara: It's just like, you know, regular fish.
You would never know.
Doyin: The way they breaded it is so good,
so you're getting even a crunchiness.
Kamara: Mm-hmm.
Doyin: And then the bake,
it's so fluffy.
There are so many things on here, right?
Let's talk about the sauces alone.
Tamarind sauce, mayonnaise, honey mustard,
a spicy sauce.
Kamara: Chadon beni.
Doyin: And chadon beni, which is a cilantro sauce?
Kamara: Yeah.
Doyin: It's like, you can't taste the sauces separately.
They kind of all, like, merge. Kamara: All in one.
It's like sweet and sour.
Doyin: To this perfect sauce.
And people eat this on the beach.
Kamara: Mm-hmm.
And the waves,
and the sun.
Doyin: We're on the beach. Just pretend.
Kamara: Just pretend. [laughs]
Doyin: Wind in our hair. Kamara: Yep.
Doyin: We don't smell New York anymore.
We're on a beach.
We're on the beach. Kamara: Exactly.
It's Carnival.
Doyin: Kamara, thank you so much
for bringing me here to Trinciti.
Like, having bake and shark for the first time,
I can't believe I've gone 23 years
without eating this sandwich.
Thank you.
Kamara: You're welcome.