Curry, Callaloo & Calypso - Macmillan Caribbean

It would be remiss of me not to speak briefly about the cooking methods that were used in
the early days. The slaves would cook for the plantation owners, much of the cooking taking
place in a building away from the great house. In these buildings the slaves usually cooked on an
open fire contained by large stones. The fire was made in the centre and the pots placed upon
the frame of the stones. If baking was done on this fire the pot was placed over the fire, and the
bread dough placed in the pot. The pot was then covered with a sheet of metal and some heat
was placed on top of this metal sheet so as to give heat at both ends. This method was used to
make what we know as ‘pot bake’. Meats were spit-roasted on an open spit. Other baked items
were cooked in a dirt oven, and many areas had a communal oven where anyone could go to
bake their breads and cakes.
By 1797 the English had conquered the islands, also bringing their own slaves, and a
distinctively different type of cooking began to surface. English expertise was shown in the
making of jams and jellies, and beverages like mauby, sorrel and ginger beer.
In 1834 the slaves were emancipated, and from then they refused to work on the plantations.
The skilled cooks amongst them set up shop on street corners, selling dishes they had learned
to cook, such as souse and black pudding, and hence the parlour or shop-front refreshment
stand was born. The land-owners then began to import workers from Barbados, who brought
their own form of recipes such as float and accras and heavy coconut sweet bread. These were
sold under rum shops and in some instances on the street corner. Workers also began to arrive
from China, Portugal and Madeira, all leaving their mark on our culinary map. The largest group
amongst these was the Chinese, whose cooking was changed considerably to suit the palates
of the locals. Their cuisine is very popular as is evident by the number of Trinidad-Chinese
restaurants that exist today.
East Indian immigrants began to arrive between 1845 and 1917, and were registered under
the indenture-ship system to Trinidad. They
brought with them spices like coriander, also
called dhannia, cumin seed (geera), turmeric
or saffron powder, fenugreek, dried legumes
such as channa (chickpeas), rice, and two
sorts of animal: the water buffalo for hard
labour and a type of humped cattle that
provided milk for their beloved yogurt and
butter which was made into ghee. The spices
were ground by hand on what was called
a sill and made into curries, which have
evolved through the years to the distinctively
delicious curry that has become indigenous
to our country.
The East Indians brought not only
ingredients but their own specific methods of
cooking. When they first arrived they began
to cook on a chulla, or mud stove, made with
a combination of river mud, leaves and sticks,
and cow dung. Water was used to smooth
the mud to get a finished look, a process
called leepay. The fire burned from the base
of the chulla. After the chulla came the coal
pot, and then the oil stove followed by the
gasoline stove and, of course, the electric
stove.
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Indentured labourer certificate
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