We welcomed back Chef Marlena Joseph for her third Trinidadian Chow on April 19 &20!
Flame-Roasted Tomato Choka
This dish highlights the heavy influence of Indian culture onTrinidad and Tobago. “Choka” is a Trinidadian cooking method where vegetables are fire roasted, before mashing and combining with salt, onion and other fresh herbs. This process allows the Caribbean spices to infuse the vegetable’s natural oils creating a stew/sauce hybrid. Chef Marlena will be showcasing this technique with vine ripened tomato with garlic, onion and mild chili peppers!
Vegan. Gluten-Free.
Jackfruit Chips
Jackfruit originated in Southeast Asia and has made its way to Trinidad. The island’s climate is perfect for the fruit to grow and it can be prepared in a number of ways including desserts, smoothies, and simply cut and fried into chips for snacking. Jackfruit boasts a multitude of health benefits that may help to control blood sugar levels and inflammation. These air-fried jackfruit crisps will add a crunch to each bite of choka. The extra crunch of the air-fried jackfruit crisps compliment the stew/sauce texture of the Tomato Choka.
Vegan. Gluten-Free.
TNT Bake-N-Shark
Maracas! Las Cuevas! Pigeon Point! If you ever find yourself on one of TNT’s breathtaking beaches, you’ll most likely find long lines for the hard sought after, Bake-N-Shark. This is the most anticipated food for beach day and no visit is complete without it! It starts with a pillowy soft, buttery, fry bread layered with island-style coleslaw, sauteed garlic, sweet tamarind sauce, mild pickled cucumbers, and vine-ripened tomatoes. The piece de resistance of this sandwich is delicately fried shark meat, dusted with TNT spices and kissed with our special pepper sauce.
This dish is gluten-free (made with cassava flour)
Vegan Option: Bake-N-Oyster Mushroom
“Buss up Shut” with Trini-Style Smoked Chicken Skewers
This Trinidadian paratha roti is called “buss up shut” because it resembles a torn — busted up — shirt after the flaky layers of paratha roti are shredded during the cooking process. This dish is traditionally cooked on a tawa (cast iron sheet) and “clapped” in between a pair of dablas (wooden spatulas). The clapping helps to reveal the flaky layers of the roti, while allowing the heat to steam through those layers, creating a soft and silky texture. This rip and dip dish is incredibly popular because of how well it soaks up flavors and sauces.
Gluten-free (made with cassava flour). Vegan option: Tofu Skewers
GF soy sauce, watch out for
Spiced Ground Provisions
In the Caribbean, the word “provisions” describes both a store of food and the diverse array of starch fruits and root vegetables native to the area, such as plantains, cassava, yams, and taro. For these ground provisions, Marlena is combining aloo (potato) with nutty channa (chickpeas), curry, masala, and roasted cumin
Vegetarian and Gluten-free
Pumpkin Talkari
Pumpkin talkari is traditionally eaten in Trinidad for breakfast with sada roti and served at religious functions and weddings. Pumpkin is first roasted, then sautéed in oil and seasoned with curry, turmeric, and other spice, resulting in a velvety pumpkin mash.
Vegetarian and Gluten-free
Slow-Cooked Pelau
Pelau is a Creole dish – a West Indian take on paella, which was brought to the region by Spanish colonizers. The fluffy, coconut milk-infused rice holds freshly shelled green pigeon peas, chopped carrots, toasted garlic, and a number of Caribbean spices.
Gluten-free. Vegan.
Rasmalai Chiffon Cake w/ Rose Water Ponche de Crème Drizzle
This cake is a play on Rasmalai, a Bengali dessert that’s popular in Trinidad. The traditional version is balls paneer (cheese) soaked in sweetened milk, pistachios, and spices. Chef Marlena is taking the ingredients of Rasmalai and transforming them into a spongy chiffon cake. And, for an extra taste of the island she’s adding rum! The cake is topped with a rose water ponche de crème drizzle.
Vegan (coconut milk) and gluten-free (gluten-free baking flour)
About the Chef
Chef Marlena Joseph's family hails from the gorgeous island of Trinidad. Trinidad hosts a variety of different backgrounds and ethnicities including Indian, African, European, Chinese and Arab-Trinidadians which make the island rich with culture and the foods bursting with flavor! Her wonderful lessons in cooking interestingly started with her beloved grandmother telling her, “Do not come in the kitchen.” At the tender age of 6 and a mind full of curiosity, she’d routinely find a blanket and set-up a makeshift bed in the kitchen doorway. Here, she could safely watch as her grandmother magically created dishes, swiftly maneuvering through every aspect of the kitchen from stove, to countertop, to refrigerator and so on.
Her cuisine was so unique and wholesome, it left family and even neighbors clamoring and stumbling over one another to get their own portion. Grandma Edna’s delectable culinary fare and overwhelmingly positive responses from those who partook in devouring it, inspired Marlena. Yet, her journey didn’t start in a fancy culinary institute... Defying her grandmother’s banishment from the kitchen out of safety concerns, young Marlena pulled out every pot and pan she remembered her grandmother using from previous cooking adventures. “I’d parked a chair at the stove so that I could start prepping. I could hear my grandmother in the background yelling, but I kept going,” Marlena joked. Realizing on that day that she was steadfastly driven and determined to recreate the same level culinary fanfare, Grandma Edna took her under her wing. “I fell in love with blending seasonings to make different flavor profiles, but seeing the reactions of the people that ate my food was priceless.”
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