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Thursday July 26, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN IN COLOR

Eating goes beyond taste

 Summertime, when the 
livin’ is easy.
 The perfect description 
of my time in Trinidad for 
a week of warm air, freshly 
picked 
mangoes 
and 
curried chicken. Adding 
in the wedding festivities 
with steel drums beating 
in 
the 
background 
of 
a barbeque where the 
twinkle lights hung low 
from the pink house whose 
warm yellow light glowed 
from the kitchen. White 
teeth grinning as the next 
pina colada is pouring into 
a glass and the bellowing 
laughter bouncing off the 
side of the white fence 
resting on the greenest 
grass I have ever seen. 
“Good night everyone!” 
someone bellows from the 
steps of the lit porch. 
 Trinidad and Tobago, 
much like America, were 
colonized by Christopher 
Columbus, who sought 
to exploit the people who 
had lived there as well 
as utilize the land and 
its rich soil for monetary 
gain. What you might not 
know is that these islands 
were originally inhabited 
by the indigenous Carib 
and Arawak Indians. It 
wasn’t until slavery was 
introduced that Africans 
taken from their native 
homelands were forced 
to work Trinidad’s land 
for the British whose 
slave trade started in 1797, 
and the country became 
predominantly 
African. 
It was then in 1845 that 
indentured laborers from 
India were also brought 
into the mix — bringing 
with them their religious 
customs. In 1866 laborers 
from China immigrated to 
Trinidad and merchants 
from Lebanon and Syria 
later came in the 1900s. 
Though the history is 
dark and unmistakably 
horrendous, Trinidad has 
one of the most diverse 
populations 
of 
people, 
food, festivals and holidays 
all over the world.

 Looking from the outside 
as a resident of the United 
States, I think it’s easy to 
think that America is one 
of the only places that face 
a history of exploitation 
and injustice. However, 
anyone willing to look a 
bit deeper into the history 
of 
many 
modern-day 
countries can see that 
systems 
of 
oppression 
were used to mobilize 
those who had guns in 
their hands and identified 
themselves as superior. If 
there is one thing I think 
many of us suffer from, it’s 
that we think there aren’t 
other people who share 
our experiences of being 
abused by people who had 
power, 
simply 
because 
our experiences occurred 
in a different way than 
the experiences of those 
who came before we did. 
I want to draw attention 
to the fact that there is 
much more to unite these 
atrocities 
that 
many 
of us faced than what 
creates division between 
us in America and with 
colonized countries across 
the face of the Earth.
 
Despite 
this 
terrible 
past, one of the amazing 
things that resulted from 
these atrocities is the 
food. 
Knowing 
there 
is such a rich cultural 
element 
within 
the 
country’s history, there 
is no surprise that its 
food would reflect these 
features, from the curried 
chicken served to me at 
the 
wedding 
barbeque 
to the roti I scooped up 
my collard greens with 
and 
then 
dipped 
into 
my 
sweet 
yams. 
Roti 
andcurried chicken are 
both traditionally a part 
of Indian cuisine, and 
because these dishes are 
such an integrative part 
of Trinidad and Tobago’s 
African 
heritage, 
these 
dishes reflect the history of 
India and Africa. Doubles, 
or the Caribbean street-
food 
sandwich 
made 
with a flatbread called 
bara and then filled with 
curried chickpeas, was 

one of the most popular 
foods 
that 
everyone 
raved about during my 
time in Trinidad. In fact, 
doubles are so popular in 
Trinidad that the bride 
and groom arranged for 
the “Doubles man” to 
make an appearance at 
their wedding to hand 
the delicious treat out 
to their wedding guests! 
I have to admit: Upon 
trying one, I wasn’t sure 
what I was in store for 
and I was definitely not 
disappointed.
 Trinidad and Tobago 
also have some of the 
best Chinese restaurants 
because, like their Indian 
roots, they also have a 
rich history of Chinese 
immigrants who brought 
their food over to the 
country. This is combined 
with the mangoes growing 
on every tree that were so 
juicy that if they fell from 
a tree, they would most 
likely splatter over the hot 
pavement. The cuisine of 
any country is a direct 
reflection of its history and 
culture, and Trinidad’s 
food 
is 
definitely 
an 
unforgettable experience 
that reveals how much 
history can truly affect the 
composition of a country.
 There is no doubt that 
food is a reflection of 
tradition and culture, but 
if there one is an event 
that ties together food 
and tradition, it is the 
celebration of a wedding. 
My 
family’s 
friendship 
with the groom is what 
brought 
us 
down 
to 
Trinidad in the first place, 
and getting to know the 
place where one of our 
oldest friends grew up was 
really breathtaking. Much 
of the ceremony was taken 
from traditions found here 
in America; just as we took 
from English tradition, so 
does Trinidad. However, 
some 
things 
that 
are 
unique to Trinidad were 
in the details of the 
reception.

Read more online at 
michigandaily.com

 I remember my dad 
pulling me aside at a 
family gathering to a 
plethora of Jordanian 
food including mansaf, 
kanafeh and tabbouleh. 
As every other one of 
my 40 cousins piled food 
onto their plates, I stuck 
with the chicken tenders 
placed 
on 
the 
table 
almost entirely because 
of me. I had recently 
arrived in Jordan from 
America and definitely 
wasn’t used to the local 
cuisine. Instead, I was 
content 
with 
playing 
on my Grandpa’s swing 
with the soda I had 
snuck from the kitchen.
 I have always been 
the stubborn kid at the 
dinner table. I was a 
messy eater growing up 
and my mother even took 
me to etiquette classes. 
Along with this, I was a 
picky eater. I spent my 
adolescence being often 
told to eat my chicken 
or reminded not to play 
with my food. At an early 
age my family started 
flying me to Jordan to 
spend summers with my 
grandparents. 
Though 
I was in a different 
country, 
I 
was 
still 
constantly told at the 
dinner table not to eat 
with my hands or to try 
some of the local cuisine. 
Like most kids, I rebelled 
and often tried to sleep 
through breakfast. At 
dinnertime, I would sit 
by and fill up on tea and 
salad 
before 
running 
off to play soccer with 
my cousins in the local 
streets. To this day, I 
still do not like most 
Arabic food. However, 

just as most kids are 
taught 
to 
eat 
their 
vegetables, I was taught 
to begrudgingly eat the 
food my grandparents 
made.
 My dad, who was not 
having my whitewashed 
taste buds, picked me 
up from the swing at 
that family gathering 
and dragged me over to 
the mansaf. Mansaf is 
usually rice and lamb 
served with fermented 
dried yogurt as a type 
of sauce. As I whined 
on the way to the meal, 
I noticed everyone for 
some reason was walking 
up to the huge piping 
hot plate of mansaf had 
just been placed on the 
kitchen counter. I was 
even 
more 
surprised 
when every single person 
began picking up balls of 
rice and lamb and eating 
it with their bare hands. 
As we approached the 
plate, I was sure there 
was no way my civilized 
father would do the 
same, but he did! All of 
the Arab men who had 
nagged me for being a 
messy child were now 
eating rice with their 
bare hands. Of course, I 
immediately began to eat 
the mysterious food. And 
though I hated every 
single bite, I had a great 
time. Eating mansaf that 
day was just fun. It was 
the first time I really 
remember 
connecting 
with my culture because 
it was as childish as I 
was.
 This past summer, I 
did a study-abroad trip 
in China and had my 
first swing at chopsticks. 

Needless to say it was 
a mess and I probably 
looked 
pretty 
dumb 
to 
the 
locals 
sitting 
at the table next to 
me. 
However, 
once 
again, it was a time of 
enjoyment 
because 
I 
was trying to acclimate 
to this new cultural 
norm. 
Meanwhile, 
a 
lot of people on my trip 
asked the waiter for 
forks. The issue with 
asking for a fork in a 
Chinese restaurant for 
me is it showed a clear 
disingenuous connection 
to the process of eating. 
We went to China to eat 
an 
authentic 
Chinese 
meal, yet we were still 
trying to have little bits 
of 
America 
infiltrate 
our 
meal. 
Though 
I 
may have looked dumb 
while I learned to use 
chopsticks, it was all part 
of the fun of traveling to 
this country.
 A country’s food is 
so much more to me 
than just something to 
fill your daily intake of 
calories. Every authentic 
meal is placed on that 
menu because it holds 
some type of significance 
to that country. That day, 
my dad really taught me 
to enjoy food for more 
than just the flavor. Food 
is a piece of a country’s 
past and a telling trait 
of its people. Of course, 
nobody can like every 
single food out there. 
However, 
I 
implore 
everyone to let yourself 
taste something awful 
— because while the 
aftertaste may not be the 
best, you’re sure to feel 
better later. 

By KAREEM SHUNNAR

MiC EDITOR

 Weddings, colonialism and food: 
 
 My trip to Trinidad

By LORNA BROWN

MiC MANAGING EDITOR

LEVANT FOODS

