How to Cook

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Keolian

How to Cook

Post by Keolian »

Hi Everybody,

I'm getting more excited about my trip next month. We'll be touring Tobago by motorbike, dividing our stay between Charlotteville and Castara. I always do prefer cooking my own meals while traveling, but with that said, I realize that grocery is primarily available near the airport. Since we'll be on motorbike, we'll be carrying everything on our back and will not be able to bring much in from the "city".

So, what kind of meals have others been cooking using the ingredients available in these small towns? Fresh daily catch sounds delicious with rice and lentils, but I'm just wondering what people have done and what kind of grocery I will be able to access in these small towns.

Thanks in advance and if anybody has tips on riding in Tobago, I'd love to hear them...
Neill B

Re: How to Cook (and drink..?)

Post by Neill B »

Cooking: I guess that depends on what facilities you have available to work with. Given that the restaurants up the coast don't generally have that wide a choice, hell, most of them don't even run to a written menu, you'll probably be working with in the usual range of chicken, shrimp or fish. And shrimp wasn't available very often when I visited this time last year. (BTW, I see this as part of the appeal of the place, not as a criticism.)

You'll probably want to carry the basics that will keep you going through your stay, which will be interesting on a bike. The store in Castara has a supply of basics foodstuffs and cases of Carib to assist in the creative process and there's also a shop in nearby Parlatuvier (I think - or is it further up the coast?) that will provide all that you will need if not all that you'd want. The fun will be choosing what kind of fish and that will be down to what came in on the boats that morning. My highlight last year was on a boat trip with Porridge from Castara who flagged down a fisherman in another boat and bought two albacore for lunch. While the passengers snorkelled and lounged, Porridge and his mate cleaned and cooked these over a fire on the beach so we were eating it about as fresh as it can get with salad and cold chicken prepared earlier. It doesn't get any better than that.

Biking: I ride in the UK and the surfaces can be interesting here, especially at this time of year when the snow and ice have ripped up the surface. On Tobago they have the rain to do that instead and even the new stretches of tarmac can have troughs across them for no obvious reason. I only drove on 4 wheels last year and even in a small jeep one needs to keep eyes wide open for missing chunks so a biking will be quite a tiring and very focussed activity I expect. I would wear something like mesh trousers with knee pads to protect from the bumps and grinds of low speed ground/body interface as road rash is a) very uncomfortable in salt water and b) rarely a good look. I know it's dull and hot do do so but expect random acts of pothole avoidance onto your side of the road by other road users at every turn. It only has to happen once to turn a holiday in paradise into a nightmare.

I wish you well on both fronts and will keep an eye out for you if you are still going to be biking around at the end of March. Sheena and I will be happy to provide rum SLOBs* at Heavenly Bay for any passing myTobago visitors. As Porridge & Jeanell will attest, these work very well brightening already good moods. I believe the word was a "creeper".

Regards
Neill

* Rum, Seven-up, Lime and Orange Bitters - my contribution to the canon of quick and easy rum cocktails, perfect as a sundowner. One of the best finds in the store at Castara was Angostura Orange Bitters. A shot of that in a glass, lots of ice, a healthy squeeze of half of one of those ugly-beautiful, big, knobbly, sweet Caribbean limes, a generous measure of golden rum (preferably Fernandes) topped up with Seven-up. Enjoy.
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