A little taste of Trinbago
Big Trinbago Flavour. Straight From Your Kitchen.
From Sunday pelau to peppery doubles, discover the recipes, traditions, and flavours that make Trinidad and Tobago unforgettable.
Try: pelau, doubles, curry chicken, callaloo
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Island classics
Popular Trinbago recipes
The dishes that turn up at every lime, fete and family Sunday. Start with any of them.
Trinidad Pelau
Chicken, rice and pigeon peas cooked together in one pot after a bath in dark caramelised sugar. The Sunday-lime, beach-day, feed-everybody dish.
Trinidad Doubles
Two soft, turmeric-gold fried breads (bara) folded around curried chickpeas (channa), finished with tamarind sauce and pepper. A much-loved Trinidad street breakfast.
Buss Up Shut (Paratha Roti)
Flaky, buttery paratha roti, beaten on the griddle until it tears into soft, torn-cloth layers, ready to scoop up curry.
Trinidad Callaloo
Dasheen leaves, okra, pumpkin and coconut milk simmered until silky, then swizzled smooth. A Sunday-lunch essential.
Trinidad Curry Chicken
Chicken marinated in green seasoning, cooked in "burnt" curry until the sauce is thick and dark. Made for roti, rice or dhal.
Curry Crab and Dumplings
Crab cooked in coconut curry with long, chewy flour dumplings for soaking up the sauce. One of Tobago's best-known dishes.
Trinidad Corn Soup
A thick split-pea soup loaded with chunks of corn on the cob, small flour dumplings and vegetables. The late-night fete favourite.
Bake and Shark
Seasoned fried shark in a puffed fried bake, piled with salad, pineapple and sauces. Inspired by the beach stalls at Maracas Bay.
Pholourie
Golden, airy split-pea fritters seasoned with garlic, cumin and pepper, served hot with tamarind sauce.
Trinidad Macaroni Pie
Firm, sliceable baked macaroni and cheese with evaporated milk and a hint of pepper. Sunday lunch is not complete without it.
Tamarind Sauce
Sweet, sour and peppery tamarind sauce for doubles, pholourie and bake and shark.
Saltfish Buljol
Flaked salt cod tossed with tomato, onion, sweet pepper, hot pepper and olive oil. A no-cook breakfast filling for bake.
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Curry Duck
Duck cut small, seasoned overnight and cooked down slowly in burnt curry with geera and hot pepper until tender, in a thick, rich gravy.
Chow Chow
A bright yellow mustard pickle of crunchy cauliflower, carrot, christophene and hot pepper. The condiment that makes ham and hops.
Hops Bread
Small, round Trinidad bread rolls with a thin, crisp crust and a soft, airy inside. Split warm for ham and hops at Christmas.
Christmas Ham
A smoked ham studded with cloves and baked under a sticky glaze of brown sugar, pineapple and mustard. Sliced for ham and hops all season.
Pastelles
Seasoned minced meat with raisins, olives and capers, wrapped in a thin layer of cornmeal dough and banana leaf, then steamed. The Christmas parcel.
Fry Ochro
Thinly sliced ochro fried with onion, garlic and pepper until the slime cooks away and the edges turn brown and crisp.
Our food, our story
More Than Food. It’s Trinbago.
The food of Trinidad and Tobago was built by many peoples, some who came by choice and many who did not. Indigenous ingredients, African cooking, Indian spice, European baking, Chinese technique and Middle Eastern and Venezuelan flavours all ended up in the same pots.
The result is a cuisine where pelau sits next to curry, where Christmas means both sorrel and pastelles, and where every family has its own way with the same dish.
- Indigenous peoplesCassava, corn, hot peppers and many fruits were part of island life long before European arrival.
- African traditionsEnslaved Africans and their descendants shaped Creole cooking: callaloo, coo-coo, provisions and one-pot stews.
- European ruleSpanish, French and British colonial periods left their mark on baking, festive food and the names of dishes.
- Indian arrivalsIndentured labourers who arrived from 1845 brought curry, roti, chutneys and the roots of doubles and pholourie.
- Chinese familiesChinese-Trinidadian cooking grew into a style of its own, from fried rice and chow mein to local twists.
- Portuguese settlersMadeiran arrivals in the 1800s are often linked with garlic pork and salted cod traditions.
- Syrian and Lebanese familiesArriving mostly in the 1900s, they brought kibbeh, hummus and more to the islands’ table.
- Venezuelan neighboursClose ties across the Gulf of Paria show in pastelles, parang season and cocoa-country cooking.
Read and learn
From the kitchen journal
What Is Trinidad Pelau? Ingredients, Flavour, and Cooking Basics
Pelau is rice, pigeon peas and meat cooked together in one pot after a bath in caramelised sugar. Here is what goes in it, what it should taste like, and the one step that matters most. This page contains affiliate links and we may earn a small commission.
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