Will you be rolling up the tassa, Bissessar?

My memories of Trinidad are undoubtedly gastronomic.
Trinidadian food is hot- pepper of the scotch bonnet variety is a basic ingredient, and condiments and dishes all have big bold flavours. Kutchela, Anchar and “Mother in Law’ pepper sauce all find their way to my London cupboard. Among the dishes that I love, which include the delectable compactness of a zesty chicken roti and the colourful cacophony of meat and rice that constitute a pelau, there are two dishes in particular that would have me chomping at the bit in a sensory bud orgasm- doubles and souse.

Doubles has been referred to (unaffectionately) by Trinidadian doyenne Rachel Price as “fried flour” but the reality is more subtle. It is essentially a fried sweet bread that is turmeric flavoured, filled with piquant channa (chick peas or garbanzo beans) and tasty dhal (split peas). It is served best topped with chutneys of mango, cucumber and tamarind with a dash of "slight" pepper. Souse, as its name reveals, is a much more robust dish. The unwanted parts of a pig or cow or a chicken (usually their feet or skins or bellies) would be boiled and then pickled in a mixture of wine vinegar or lime juice,  seasoned in salt, garlic and thyme then garnished with peppers and cucumbers and left to marinate. It does not sound it but it is very yummy.

It is often assumed that Doubles evolved from the Indian Dish Chole bhature, Chole (Chana masala) which is cooked spicy chick peas and the Bhature (Poori) being a fried puffy bread, a dish commonly eaten in north India. Souse is an undoubtedly African inspired slave dish; its manner of preparation is very similar to Southern cuisine and it is typical of the curing techniques used on the plantation. Souse is therefore creole or afro in origin and doubles is East Indian. An interesting fact about souse and doubles is that they are each nice on their own, but they do not go together. Likewise, the story of Indian and African cohabitation in the small island of Trinidad is complex.

When slavery was abolished in 1833, almost 200,000 Indians were brought in to Trinidad to service the plantations under a system of legalised indentured labour. Historians such as Hugh Tinker called it a new system of slavery but I would vehemently oppose this categorisation- even if for a pittance, the dignity of working to earn (laborare est orare) already gave the Indian population a head start over the Africans who were by then idle and displaced and left with an aversion for labour. The Afro population were already by then also dispossessed of their language, culture, religions and customs. The Indian population, by contrast, were left culturally intact, and segments of the Indo Trinidadian grouping were sometimes awarded portions of land in lieu of a return passage, to encourage settlement. This led to some uneasiness and resentment on the part of the old Afro population.Indo Trinidadians are now the largest ethnic group- they now make up approximately 40% of the population. Afro Trinidadians make up 37.5%. There are about 40,000 European settlers- smaller groups of Chinese, Lebanese and Arabs and 20% of the population would describe themselves as mixed race (often dougla- the particular mix of Afro and Indian).

Trinidad, like mainland Guyana, has experienced some degree of conflict between its primary ethnic groups. Despite its motto "Together we Aspire Together we Achieve", class structure and political systems are often organised along ethnic lines (Professor Moses Seenarine, Introduction to Caribbean History). This is because, according to Professor Seenarine, racial stereotypes developed early in the two colonies. British planters characterized Africans as physically strong but lazy and irresponsible. East Indians were stereotyped as industrious but clannish and greedy. He notes that these views that are still present today. To feel sleepy after eating is referred to in and around the Caribbean as having "niggeritis", a direct allusion to the laziness of Africans. To some extent, these stereotypes were accepted by the immigrant groups themselves. The stereotypes provided a false explanation of behaviour and justified competition among groups. Africans were described as indolent when they refused to work for low wages or make long-term contracts with the plantations as the Indians had. East Indians were considered selfish when they minimized their expenses to acquire wealth.

This is illustrated, for example,  in the very popular politically incorrect playground ditty "Coolie coolie run for roti all the roti done. Ah nigger man pick up a machine gun an all de coolie run" (coolie being the derogatory word for Indian). My Trinidadian friend confirms that their version went - "coolie man come for roti, roti dun, mash potato, mash potato, half past one, when the nigger pull the trigger, ole man coolie run". Out of the mouths of babes. The stereotype of the violent destructive Afro islander vs the curry-eating greedy Indo islander perpetuated the status quo. Meanwhile, whilst many of the Afro population were becoming “saga boys” laughing at the Indians working on the plantations, many Indo Trinidadians were savvy and astute and established themselves commercially. As a result, many of the land owning Indians were, and still are outperforming their Afro counterparts in business, economic endeavours and education, still inspiring some latent resentment.

In much the same way, support for political parties appear to fall along ethnic lines with the PNM consistently obtaining a majority Afro-Trinidadian vote, and the UNC  gaining a majority of Indo-Trinidadian support. There has, in the past, been a deep racialisation of political consciousness. It first began with the split from the Butler Party (Butler was Afro-Trinidadian) when the PDP (majority Indian) formed their own political organisation. The African populace was fearful of this new Indian formation and Eric Williams then formed the People's National Movement (the PNM) which ruled Trinidad from 1956 to 1986.

Racial issues continued to obfuscate and destroy any lower class solidarity. This continued well into the twenty first century. In fact, Patrick Manning, former Prime Minister, ascribed his 1995 defeat to the rising Indian consciousness stimulated by the 150th anniversary of Indian Arrival. Manning even argued that he had lost support because it was felt that it was time for an Indian Prime Minister. Afro Trinidadians continued to document through calypso and in newspaper columns, Basdeo Panday's hugely charged racial encounters. Under the UNC, it was alleged that black CEOs of companies were routinely fired and replaced with Indian supporters and there was a perceptible Indianization of the public service (Professor Anton Allahar, UWI). Vice versa charges have been fired away at Patrick Manning’s administration. There have been several allegations of anti Indian discrimination.

Therefore it is a bittersweet, nervous occasion for me. On one hand, I am happy that the Trinidad & Tobago electorate saw it fit to elect a woman. I whole heartedly congratulate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, particularly as she was able to rise above the unfair stereotypes targeted at women which would never be used as an indictment against men. The fact that she liked a drink or two (a woman after my own heart, bless) made her a drunk (a man would be deemed merely sociable) and her sympathetic nature was interpreted as vulnerability (a man would be called sensitive). With her victory on Monday, Ms Kamla Persad-Bissessar has now successfully laid a salutary stone in the edifice of female political leadership ably commenced by Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Portia Simpson Miller of Jamaica.

On the other hand, I am wondering if the UNC can really make a definite inroad in healing the racial divide after Patrick Manning did much to exacerbate it. This process had already commenced with its now very fashionable idea of a coalition. It was heartening to see that in these elections it has been reported that persons actually voted across the manufactured lines of race, class and ethnicity. It is a good start. Maybe one day when I go to a certain Trini fete in London, I won’t see a paucity of black people featured in the photos. Maybe I wouldn’t hear comments next time I am in Trinidad that it was surprising to see Indo Trinidadians mixing with the Afro population.

Maybe, just maybe, Kamla will be different.

(Pic compliments guardian.co.tt)