Trinidad and Tobago cooking gets much of its character from a short list of seasonings. Learn these, and most recipes on this site will make sense straight away.
Green seasoning
A blended paste of fresh herbs, garlic and mild peppers that most kitchens keep in a jar in the fridge. It is the first thing that goes on chicken, fish or meat, often hours before cooking, and a spoonful goes into stews, soups and rice.
The usual base is chadon beni, chives, thyme and garlic, with additions like Spanish thyme, celery, parsley and pimento peppers. Every family's version is a little different. How to use it: rub about a tablespoon per pound of meat or fish and leave it at least 30 minutes. Make your own with our green seasoning recipe.
Chadon beni (culantro)
Also spelled shado beni, and known elsewhere as culantro or long coriander. It has long, serrated leaves and tastes like a stronger, earthier cilantro. It goes into green seasoning, is chopped over finished dishes, and is the base of the bright green sauce served with bake and shark.
Substitute: cilantro, used generously.
Trinidad-style curry powder
Local curry powders are typically heavy on turmeric, coriander and cumin, and are made to be "burnt": mixed to a paste and fried in hot oil before the meat goes in. That step cooks out the raw taste of the spices and gives Trinidad curries their deep, toasty flavour.
How to use it: always cook it in oil first. If you can't find a Trinidad brand, use a mild Madras-style curry powder with a little extra cumin.
Geera (cumin)
Geera is the local name for cumin, used whole, ground, or roasted and ground until dark. Roasted geera has a nutty, almost smoky flavour and goes into curries, channa and chutneys.
Tip: toast whole seeds in a dry pan until they darken a shade, then grind.
Scotch bonnet and pepper sauce
The hot peppers of Trinidad and Tobago are serious. Cooks often add a whole pepper to a pot and lift it out before serving, which gives fragrance without much heat, as long as it doesn't burst. Pepper sauce, made from blended hot peppers with vinegar or lime and often mustard, sits on almost every table.
How to use it: add heat at the table rather than in the pot when cooking for a mixed crowd.
Browning
Sugar cooked in oil until very dark, used to colour and flavour pelau and stewed meats. It is also sold ready-made in bottles.
Pimento (seasoning) peppers
Small, wrinkled peppers that look fiery but are mild, with a floral flavour. They go into green seasoning and stews. They are not the same as Jamaican pimento, which is allspice.
Putting it together
Most savoury dishes on this site follow the same order: marinate in green seasoning, build the base with onion and garlic, burn the curry or the sugar, cook the main ingredient, and finish with fresh chadon beni. Once that pattern feels natural, you can cook almost anything in the Trinbago repertoire.
