Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Trinidad and Tobago cuisine is indicative of the blends of Indian

Indian cuisine

Indian cuisine consists of thousands of regional cuisines which date back thousands of years. The dishes of India are characterised by the extensive use of various Indian spices, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Indian cuisine is also known for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society...

, Amerindian, European

European cuisine

European cuisine, or alternatively Western cuisine, is a generalised term collectively referring to the cuisines of Europe and other Western countries...

, African, Creole, Chinese

Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...

and Lebanese

Lebanese cuisine

Lebanese cuisine includes an abundance of starches, fruits, vegetables, fresh fish and seafood; animal fats are consumed sparingly. Poultry is eaten more often than red meat, and when red meat is eaten it is usually lamb on the coast and goat meat in the mountain regions...

gastronomic influences.

Breakfast dishes

Hot Breakfast:
Popular Breakfast Fast Food - D roti which is usually served with:
Bodi (long beans), Baigan choka (roasted eggplant), Tomato Choka (Roasted Tomatoes), Aloo choka (fried potato),fried Plaintain, Stew chicken liver or gizzard, and the popular bake and shark

Fry Bake (a sweet, unleavened bread

Unleavened Bread

Unleavened Bread is a 1900 novel by American writer Robert Grant....

) usually served with: saltfish (dried and salted cod

Dried and salted cod

Dried and salted cod, often called salt cod or clipfish , is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is called stockfish....

),
buljol (saltfish with fresh peppers

Capsicum

Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...

, tomatoes, cucumber

Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...

s and sometimes boiled eggs

Boiled eggs

Boiled eggs are eggs cooked by immersion in boiling water with their shells unbroken. Hard-boiled eggs are either boiled long enough for the egg white and then the egg yolk to...

);Bacon, Fried Plaintain, Stew Chicken, Corn beef corned beef

Corned beef

Corned beef is a type of salt-cured beef products present in many beef-eating cultures. The English term is used interchangeably in modernity to refer to three distinct types of cured beef:...

with onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

s and tomatoes.

Coconut bake (coconut bread) usually served with:fried accra (saltfish fritter

Fritter

A fritter is any kind of food coated in batter and deep fried. Although very similar to a doughnut it differs in the fact that it requires some base ingredient beyond the dough it is cooked with.-Anglo-American fritters:...

s), black pudding, Butter, Cheese paste, tannia cakes (fried dasheen cake) and boiled yucca

Yucca

Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North...

with butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

, fried plantain

Plantain

Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...

and buljol
Cold Breakfast:
Various home-made breads, including:
- roast bake
- coconut bake
- warm hops

Hops

Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...

bread and Cheddar cheese

Cheddar cheese

Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....

;
- or the popular local biscuit

Biscuit

A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....

s (cracker

Cracker (food)

A cracker is a baked good commonly made from grain flour dough and typically made in quantity in various hand-sized or smaller shapes. Flavorings or seasonings, such as salt, herbs, seeds, and/or cheese, may be added to the dough or sprinkled on top before baking...

s), "Crix" with anything.
Bread and Sausage, Cheese or Saltfish.

Lunch and dinner

A nationally well known main dish of Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

is curry chicken

Curry chicken

Curry Chicken is a common South Asian cuisine dish popular in South Asia , Bangladesh, East Asia, Malaysia as well as in the UK, Canada and the Caribbean. A typical curry consists of chicken in an onion, tomato, and yogurt-based sauce, flavoured with ginger, garlic, chillies and a variety of...

and roti

Roti

Roti is generally a South Asian bread made from stoneground wholemeal flour, traditionally known as atta flour, that originated and is consumed in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is also consumed in parts of the Southern Caribbean, particularly in Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and...

. This dish was adopted from indentured labourers from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

in the 19th century, where other favourite local dishes include: curry

Curry

Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...

crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

, curry shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

, curry duck

Duck (food)

Duck refers to the meat of several species of bird in the Anatidae family, found in both fresh and salt water. Duck is eaten in many cuisines around the world.-Types of ducks:The most common duck meat consumed in the United States is the Pekin duck...

, curry aloo (potato). These meals are often served with various rotis such as dalpuri, bus-up-shot, and of course sada. In addition, Trinidadians often add various pepper sauce

Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...

s to their meals, for example, "mother-in-law", as well as curry mango, chataigne (breadnut

Breadnut

Breadnut can refer to* Brosimum alicastrum, also known as "Maya nut" or ramón* Artocarpus camansi, a close relative of the breadfruit...

), channa, pumpkin

Pumpkin

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...

, or mango kuchela.
Another very popular and nationally well known dish with distinctly African roots is callaloo

Callaloo

Callaloo is a popular Caribbean dish served in different variants in across the Caribbean. The main ingredient is a leaf vegetable, traditionally either amaranth , taro or Xanthosoma. Both are known by many names including callaloo, coco, tannia, bhaaji, or dasheen bush...

, a creamy and spicy side dish

Side dish

A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.-Common types:...

made of dasheen

Taro

Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...

leaves, ochro or okra

Okra

Okra is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins...

, crab, pigtails, thyme

Thyme

Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...

, coconut milk

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...

and shado beni

Eryngium foetidum

Eryngium foetidum is a tropical perennial and annual herb in the family Apiaceae. It is native to Mexico and South America but is cultivated worldwide...

(from "chardon bénit," French thistle or Fitweed) or bhandhanya (Hindi bandh dhanya, "closed cilantro") or cilantro. Callaloo

Callaloo

is often served with cornmeal

Cornmeal

Cornmeal is flour ground from dried maize or American corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies. In the United States, the finely ground cornmeal is also referred to as cornflour. However, the word cornflour denotes cornstarch in recipes from the...

coo coo

Coo Coo

Coo Coo may refer to:Film* Princess Coo-Coo, a character in the 1977 John Waters film Desperate LivingLiterature* Coo Coo Comics, a comic book published by Nedor ComicsMusic* "Coo Coo", a 1922 song by Al Jolson...

, plantain, cassava, sweet potato

Sweet potato

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

es, dumplings and curried crab. Pelau

Pilaf

Pilaf is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth . In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown color by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices...

(Hindi pilau), a rice-based dish, is a very popular dish in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as stewed chicken, breadfruit

Breadfruit

Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...

oil down, macaroni pie

Macaroni pie

A macaroni pie mainly known as baked macaroni and cheese is an original dish found in Scottish cuisine and because of the Scottish ancestry of the South United States, it has become a Southern American Traditional Dish....

, pepperpot

Guyana Pepperpot

Not to be confused with the Jamaican name for Callaloo, a soup or stew made with dark greens.Guyanese Pepperpot is an Amerindian derived dish popular in Guyana...

, ox-tails, among many others.

Trinbagonian dishes are often stewed, barbecue

Barbecue

Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...

d, or curried with coconut milk.

An array of fish can be bought at local merchants throughout Trinidad and Tobago, such as flying fish, king fish, carite, sapatay, red fish, bonito

Bonito

Bonito is a name given to various species of medium-sized, predatory fish in the Scombridae family. First, bonito most commonly refers to species in the genus Sarda, including the Atlantic bonito and the Pacific bonito ; second, in Japanese cuisine, bonito refers to the skipjack tuna , which, in...

, lobster

Lobster

Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...

, conch

Conch

A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....

and crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

, tilapia and seasonal cascadura. Tobagonian food is dominated by a wide selection of seafood dishes, most notably, curried crab and dumplings, and Tobago is also known for its sumptuously prepared provisions, soup

Soup

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...

s and stew

Stew

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...

s, also known as blue food across the country.

A popular Trini dish is macaroni pie

Macaroni pie

, a macaroni

Macaroni

Macaroni is a variety of moderately extended, machine-made, dry pasta made with durum wheat. Macaroni noodles do not contain eggs, and are normally cut in short, hollow shapes; however, the term refers not to the shape of the pasta, but to the kind of dough from which the noodle is made...

pasta

Pasta

Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...

bake, with eggs and cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

, and a variety of other potential ingredients according to which of the many recipes you are following.

Another local dish is the rare delicacy cascadu (cascadura),which is a small fresh water fish. There is a local legend in Trinidad that s/he who eats cascadu will return to Trinidad to end their days.

Street foods

Street Food
Street food
Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street food are both finger and fast...

s:
Popular freshly prepared street food

Street food

Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street food are both finger and fast...

s include doubles

Doubles (food)

"Doubles" is a common street food in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a sandwich made with two flat fried "breads", called "bara" filled with curried chick peas or garbanzo beans, commonly called channa...

, phulourie, bake and shark (particularly at a Maracas Bay, a popular beach on the North coast), curried shrimp roti, corn soup

Corn soup

Corn soup is a soup traditionally made of corn It is normally made in corn producing areas of the world, however is now widespread due to greater corn distribution. The basic recipe is some type of soup base with corn added followed by whatever ingredients give it its distinct style...

, geera chicken (Hindi jira, "cumin") and pork

Pork

Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....

, raw oyster

Oyster

The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....

s (usually sold at stalls where there is a lighted kerosene torch or flambeau

Flambeau

Flambeau may refer to:* A burning torch, especially one carried in procession* Flambeau , a character in G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories* The Flambeau River, in northern Wisconsin* Flambeau, Rusk County, Wisconsin...

) with a spicy sweet/hot sauce mainly with cilantro or chadon beni (Eryngium foetidum), saheena, kachori

Kachori

Kachori or Kachauri or Kachodi or Katchuri is a spicy snack popular in various parts India including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bengal and Orissa."-Variations:...

(Hindi kachuri), aloo (Hindi alu, "potato") pies, fish pie

Fish pie

Fish pie is a traditional British dish. The pie is usually made with white fish in a white or béchamel sauce made using the milk the fish was poached in. Prawns and hard boiled eggs are other common additional ingredients...

s, cheese pies, beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

pies (many Trinidadian neighbourhoods boast a local Pie-Man), and pows (Cantonese pao-tzu < baaozi, 'steamed wrapped roll with savoury or sweet filling)- steamed buns filled with meat, typically char siu

Char siu

Char siu , otherwise known as barbecued meat in China or Chinese-flavored barbecued meat outside China, is a popular way to flavor and prepare pork in Cantonese cuisine. It is classified as a type of siu mei, Cantonese roasted meat...

pork.

Cold Street Snack
Snack
A snack is a small portion of food eaten between meals. The food might be snack food—items like potato chips or baby carrots—but could also simply be a smaller amount of any food item.-Snacks and health:...

s:
On hot days, locals enjoy souse, ice-cream, sno-cones (served in various colours, flavours and shapes, often with sweetened condensed milk

Condensed milk

Condensed milk, also known as sweetened condensed milk, is cow's milk from which water has been removed and to which sugar has been added, yielding a very thick, sweet product which when canned can last for years without refrigeration if unopened. The two terms, condensed milk and sweetened...

), ice-pops, freezies, coconut slushies and fresh coconut jelly

Fruit preserves

Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits and sugar, often canned or sealed for long-term storage. The preparation of fruit preserves today often involves adding commercial or natural pectin as a gelling agent, although sugar or honey may be used, as well. Prior to World War II, fruit preserve...

Festival foods

Special Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

foods include pastelles (called hallaca in Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

where they originated), garlic pork (carne vinha-d'alhos, a Portuguese dish), boiled or baked ham

Ham

Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...

, turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, pigeon pea

Pigeon pea

The pigeon pea , also known as tropical green pea, toor dāl or arhar dāl , ತೊಗರಿ ಬೇಳೆ kadios , or Congo pea or gungo pea , pois Congo , gandul , gunga pea, or no-eye pea, [Cajanus...

s, fruit cake

Cake

Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...

(or black cake), ginger beer

Ginger beer

Ginger beer is a carbonated drink that is flavored primarily with ginger and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners.-History:Brewed ginger beer originated in England in the mid-18th century and became popular in Britain, the United States, and Canada, reaching a peak of popularity in the...

, ponche crema

Ponche Crema

Ponche crema is a Venezuelan cream-based liqueur. Recipes vary depending on the region, but main ingredients typically include milk, eggs, sugar, rum, and other minor ingredients such as vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and lemon rind. A variant type is prepared with concentrated liquid coffee or instant...

, egg nog and sorrel

Sorrel

Common sorrel or garden sorrel , often simply called sorrel, is a perennial herb that is cultivated as a garden herb or leaf vegetable...

.

Special Divali foods include mohanboge lapse.

Special Eid

Eid ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting . Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity," while Fiṭr means "breaking the fast"...

foods include sawain, barfi rasgulla, and halwa.

Desserts

The popular local desserts are usually extremely sweet. Local snacks include cassava or coconut pone and stewed guava

Guava

Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...

s, sweetbread

Sweetbread

Sweetbreads or ris are culinary names for the thymus or the pancreas especially of the calf and lamb...

, paw paw

Papaya

The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...

balls, tamarind

Tamarind

Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...

balls, bene balls, toolum, guava

Guava

Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...

cheese (guava paste), jub jub and sugar cake

Sugar cake

Sugar cake is a confection made with coconut and sugar with flavorings and it is put into moulds and baked. It is a popular sweet among schoolchildren in Caribbean countries including Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana....

s, nut cake and brown sugar fudge. Local chocolatiers and confectioners manufacture several different types of sweet treats. Indian delicacies like khurma

Khurma

Khurma is a sweet in Bihar which serves a snack in some households. Khurma is made of paneer and sugar, and it can be stored for about two to three months. It is a popular sweet in the eastern part of Bihar ....

, gulab jamoon, ladoo, jalebi

Jalebi

-Further reading:*Epicure's Delectable Desserts of the World By Asha Khatau ISBN 81-7991-119-5...

, coconut barfi, barfi

Barfi

Barfi, sometimes burfi or burfee , is a sweet confection from the Indian subcontinent. Plain barfi is made from condensed milk, cooked with sugar until it solidifies. There are many varieties of barfi, which include besan barfi , kaaju barfi , and pista barfi...

, bene cake are also popular.

Beverages

There are many different popular beverages in Trinidad. These include, various sweet drinks (Sodas) (Chubby, Solo, Peardrax

Peardrax

Whiteway's Peardrax is a pear-flavoured fizzy soft drink popular in Trinidad and Tobago. It originated in the United Kingdom, and was first manufactured by Whiteway's, a now-defunct cider company founded in Whimple during the 19th century...

), and also Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, Smalta, Shandy

Shandy

Shandy, or shandygaff, is normally a beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, normally half-and-half. There are also non-alcoholic shandy mixes known as “rock shandies”...

, citrus juice, ginger beer

Ginger beer

, Guinness Beer, Peanut punch

Peanut punch

Peanut punch is a beverage popular in the Caribbean and it is made with peanut butter, milk, sugar and sometimes spices. It is also available commercially in supermarkets and grocery stores as well to cater those markets. In Trinidad and Tobago, peanut punch is a popular drink that is often sold...

, channa (chickpea) punch, beet punch, sorrel, mauby

Mauby

Mauby and Dutch Caribbean islands of St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and Saba, is a tree bark-based beverage grown, and widely consumed, in the Caribbean...

, seamoss punch, barbadine punch, and soursop

Soursop

The Soursop is tripti broadleaf, flowering, evergreen tree native to Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America, Colombia and Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Soursop is also native to sub-Saharan African countries that lie within the tropics. Today, it is also grown in some areas...

punch.

Coconut water

Coconut water

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts . As the fruit matures, the coconut water is gradually replaced by the coconut meat and air. A very young coconut has very little meat; the meat that it has is very tender, almost a gel...

can be found throughout the island. Rum was invented in the Caribbean, therefore Trinidad and Tobago boasts rum

Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

shops all over the island, serving local favourites such as ponche-de-crème, puncheon

Puncheon

Puncheon is a tool or instrument for piercing or punching, such as those used for impressing designs onto coin dies. The "barrel" meaning is thought to derive from the fact that it would have been marked by use of a punch to denote its contents....

rum, and home-made wines from local fruits.

Fruits

Fruits available in Trinidad include mangoes (bastapool, button, belly-bef, calabash, cedar, cutlass, doudouce, Graham, ice-cream, Julie, long, pawpaw, Peter, rose, round, starch, teen, turpentine, vert, zabrico), breadfruit

Breadfruit

Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...

, sorrel (roselle

Roselle (plant)

The roselle is a species of Hibiscus native to the Old World tropics, used for the production of bast fibre and as an infusion. It is an annual or perennial herb or woody-based subshrub, growing to tall...

), passion fruit, watermelons, sapodilla

Sapodilla

Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...

(Chikoo - Indian), pomerac (Syzygium samarangense

Syzygium samarangense

Syzygium samarangense is a plant species in the Myrtaceae, native to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and widely cultivated in the tropics...

), guavas, Tahitian apple

Tahitian apple

Spondias dulcis or Ambarella, , Golden apple, is an equatorial or tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit...

(pommecythère or golden apple), caimite (star apple), abiu

Abiu

Pouteria caimito, the abiu, is a tropical fruit tree originated in the Amazonian region of South America. It will grow an average of high, and can grow as high as under good conditions. Its fruit’s shape varies from round to oval with a point. When ripe, it has smooth bright yellow skin and will...

, five fingers (carambola

Carambola

Carambola, also known as starfruit, is the fruit of Averrhoa carambola, a species of tree native to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The fruit is a popular food throughout Southeast Asia, the South Pacific and parts of East Asia...

), cherries, zaboca (avocado

Avocado

The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...

), pawpaw (papaya

Papaya

The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...

), chenette (mamoncillo

Mamoncillo

Melicoccus bijugatus, commonly called Spanish lime, genip, guinep, genipe, quenepa, mamoncillo, or honeyberry, is a fruit-bearing tree in the soapberry family Sapindaceae, native or naturalised over a wide area of the tropics, including South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and parts...

), pineapples, oranges, Portugal (clementines of various genetic breeding), plum (Governor, King and common variety), West Indian (Barbadian) cherry (Acerola), bananas (sikyé, silk, Gros Michel, Lacatan), barbadine (granadilla), balatá

Balatá

Manilkara bidentata is a species of Manilkara native to a large area of northern South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Common names include balatá, ausubo, massaranduba, and "cow-tree"....

, soursop