last wednesday i made my way back to trinidad for the christmas holiday and the first thing on my agenda was a doubles.
my ride from the airport was another friend who had been away for a while and understood the craving for a good doubles. so off we went, first stop without forethought was curepe.
we braved the traffic and lo and behold, not a single doubles man. now bear in mind on any given night there are at least four guys selling doubles. at there of them bearing the name ‘sauce.’ that night nothing. bearing in mind it was a little after 8pm we were more than a little puzzled and traumatised but we rallied on.
next stop barataria, the doubles men there used to be out until late, but they’ve either gotten more middle class or just afraid of being robbed and they were long gone by the time we got there.
we skipped port of spain entirely, there were probably doubles men/women/persons out, but the doubles that you get late at night in port of spain reek. the barra is either too thick or too thin, the channa is also either too hard or too soft and the pepper is just a waste of time.
at this point, it’s closer to nine and we can’t think of anywhere else in the vicinity to get good doubles so we gave up and headed into st. james to get burgers.
as we crawled in the st. james traffic, we spotted a lone woman selling doubles, the steam from the hot channa, rising forth from the box. we’d never seen this woman before, but at this point we’re willing to give her a try.
i don’t know if it’s not having any for about six weeks but those doubles were damn near perfect. right temperature, soft barra and channa cooked just right, with pepper and chadon beni.
it’s the little things that make life complete.
