When you go to an event in Tobago, “Walk with your belly in your hand.” That means “Come hungry!” Sage advice for the Blue Food Festival, because the array of traditional dishes is a challenge.

Is the food really blue? Well, yes and no. We refer to root vegetables such as dasheen, tannia, eddoes, yams and sweet potatoes as “blue food”, when in fact, it’s only the dasheen that turns blue when cooked. But humour us, okay?

Sample creamy “oil down”, made from assorted root vegetables, dasheen leaves and coconut milk, often with pickled pigs’ tails thrown in for flavour. Add a fillet of steamed red fish, a herbed marlin steak, curried crabs or a heap of “fry dry” … sardines so crunchy it’s like munching on seasoned fries. Cooks vie for top honors, but the real winner will be you.

https://tobagofestivalscommission.com/

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