Hi Everyone,
If there is one thing that you must have when you make a trip to the land of the humming bird, Trinidad and Tobago, it is bake and shark.
Bake and Shark is a famous Trini street food. It is a fried bake (aka float), cut in half, and sandwiched in between the bake, is a meaty piece of fried shark. To enjoy it, you load it up with condiments from chandon beni sauce to tarter sauce to pepper sauce to garlic sauce, mustard, cucumbers… seriously, load it up with as many condiments as you like.
Always one to immerse herself in the food culture of any place I visit, it was without a doubt that I must have Bake and Shark. I was in Trinidad last weekend to promote my book. One morning I arrived well in advance of my scheduled time for one of the morning television shows. The taxi driver suggested that we get some breakfast since I had some time to kill. We went to a shop around the corner from the television station but it was locked up. Dale (that’s the name of the driver) got out of the vehicle and proceeded to rap on the door of the shop (clearly he knew the owners and this was one of his regular eating places.)
A woman opened one half of the door and said to him that she was not yet opened, Dale seemed unperturbed by this but by now I had sharpened my mouth for this Bake and Shark. I wondered how much longer it would be before she opened up. The next thing I knew, Dale was at my side of the vehicle asking me if I want my shark with fried bake or roast bake. Without missing a beat I said fried. I shouted at Dale’s back, “And I want mauby!” A few minutes later Dale emerged from the shop with two packages and two cups of beverages.
I tore into the bag with my Bake and Shark, oh goodness gracious, the bake was still very warm from being fried and so was the fish. On top of the fried shark were some cucumbers, chandon beni sauce and a little tarter sauce. I bit into the sandwich. Ohhhh, the bake was fluffy, tender and flavourful, the shark was fried perfectly, it was meaty and not dry at all. By themselves, the bake and the shark both tasted great, the condiments, there was just enough to elevate the eating pleasure; they did not smother or overtake the bake or the shark.
Later in the day as I was telling friends about the Bake and Shark, everyone said that I have to go to Maracas Beach to have top-notch Bake and Shark.
I planned with some friends that we would leave home early on the Sunday morning to head down to Maracas Beach to get some Bake and Shark and then be off to the airport to catch my flight back to Barbados. I was so obsessed with getting this Bake and Shark, I even bought a container in which I planned to put the extra Bake and Shark I was planning to buy to take back home to Barbados. I could have one for dinner, refrigerate the others and have it during the week whenever I felt like it.
We arrived at Maracas. There was a line and I knew immediately that that was the line to the Bake and Shark Shop. I was giddy with excitement. The line moved quickly and soon, I was placing my order for Bake and Shark. Armed with my tray full of Bake and Shark Sandwiches, I turned and found myself gawking at a table of 13 condiments and sauces, not to mention the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and coleslaw. Here’s how it works. Once you pay for your Bake and Shark, you collect it on a tray and then you make your way to the top of the table, and then start adding sauces and condiments of your choice onto your sandwich, you do this walking around the table until you reach the top of the table again. At this time, the nice gentleman, closes your sandwich, wraps it in more wax paper, places it in a box and you’re on your way. Feel free to leave him a tip.
The trek back to the car seemed long; it wasn’t, I was just excited to tuck into my Bake and Shark. I bit into it and chewed, I immediately started to frown. I bit into it again and chewed. I repeated the action several times and each time my frown became more pronounced. My Bake and Shark had no taste. I mean the bake itself tasted good but the shark – nothing, it looked appetizing but it lack the basic seasoning of salt. I sat in the backseat of the vehicle praying that my friends would not ask me how I am enjoying the bake and shark. What would I say? What could I say? Luckily, they didn’t ask.
I was so disappointed. How could so many people have been so very wrong about this famous Bake and Shark? The one thing that kept playing in my mind is that perhaps I did not take as many condiments as was necessary. I had only taken the chadon beni sauce, a drizzle of pepper sauce and a couple slices of cucumbers.
Now let me state upfront that I am the type of person that thinks certain things should taste good on their own, the addition of a sauce or condiment should be there to enhance, elevate to another realm of tasting pleasure. Given this stance, I had only put on some chadon beni and pepper sauce and a couple slices of cucumbers. I wondered if the lack of taste to this particular Bake and Shark was because I did not put on enough of the condiments and sauces to give it taste. You know what, I was right. I needed to add more of the sauces and condiments.
As soon as I got back to Barbados, I sent off emails to several of my friends in Trinidad asking them to explain to me how Bake and Shark is supposed to be eaten – are the condiments and sauces key or should the Bake and Shark be able to stand alone. Let me tell you, I was frightened like hell that they would be angry by my questions, I am still worried that some Trinbagonians will read this column and get real mad with me.
My learned friends responded immediately, they were not angry at all, not upset in any way. One of them explained that, “The Bake and Shark combination is like a blank canvas… I am sure that you would have seen the sandwiches piled high with salad and pineapple and overflowing with sauces.”
The author of Caribbean Street Food – Trinidad & Tobago, Anu Lakhan describes the addition of sauces and condiments as “…the canvas on which the real individual artistry will take place through the extraordinary medium of condiments… everyone has a favourite blend, but garlic and chadon beni sauces seem to bring out the best in the shark without overwhelming it.” Anu goes on to say that though you may get scornful stares from onlookers, one should not be afraid to be a minimalist.
Well, I did the minimalist thing and it didn’t work. Another friend consoled me, “The Bake and Shark that you had at the shop around the corner in Port-of-Spain was more of a ‘taste like home’ experience. The Bake and Shark you had at Maracas was the commercial version.”
So I learnt two important things. One, that the bake and shark is a canvas upon which you can create your own taste; and two, that some of the best food is still being made by the small shops around the corner in many Caribbean countries.
Cynthia
