May 2017 CentralBeat / IndianArrivalDay Page 17
Doubles: From Indentureship to Innovation
By Vikash Supersad
Do you honestly know any Trinbagonian, or any visitor to our shores for that matter, who has never sunk their teeth into a piping hot doubles? Stop and think about it for a second... from my expatriate boss in my upscale office around the Queen’ s Park Savannah, to my yard-boy in Central Trinidad who dropped out of school in Form 3 … from my 5- year old daughter( whom I have tried to ban from eating fried fast foods) to my cousins in England and Canada, and their non-Trini spouses with foreign accents. Literally everyone I know who has set foot in this country has eaten a doubles.
Now where and how you eat it might be another question. If you are a sawatee( big shot) from the West, it is likely you would have eaten it sandwichstyle because someone brought“ take-away” doubles into the office on a Friday morning. Some may have even used a knife and fork – believe it as I have seen it! However, if you are a commoner like me, you probably enjoy“ eating here” i. e. standing on the roadside on a Saturday in Chaguanas, juggling that scorching combination of channa and bara in your palm while the top of your head begins to sweat from even the slightest of“ slight” pepper.
The origin of doubles, the most popular Trinbagonian fastfood, has been debated, however. Despite a book by Mr. Badru Deen who credits his father Mr. Emamool Deen of Princes Town with this creation, doubles in fact bears a striking resemblance to the Indian street
Lata with Kes at the Doubles Factory.
food“ Chole Bhature” – spicy split peas eaten with fried dough and served with a variety of chutneys. Mr. Badru Deen, however, accurately captures how this delicacy, once frowned upon by the upper class as a poor man’ s food, has now become the most sought-after Trinidad dish, regardless of one’ s social status, ethnicity or even nationality.
Now enter Lata Dass – head of the famous“ Doubles Factory”.
Lata is the grand-daughter of Seecharan Dass – a Ramayanreading sadhu from south Trinidad who was known for riding around shouting“ Get Hungry” as he sold doubles from a make-shift box atop his bicycle. Lata’ s grandmother would prepare the channa and bara on a chulha( fireside oven) for Seecharan to sell.
Years later the family moved to Boundary Road in El Socorro and as the business expanded, Seecharan asked his daughterin-law( Lata’ s mom) to assist in the preparation while Lata herself started at a very young age in the kitchen. The young entrepreneur, who turns 26 in May, took over the Dass Doubles dynasty when her parents passed away – she was only 17 at the time!
Today the Doubles Factory, nestled in the heart of El Socorro, supplies a number of doubles-men along the East-West Corridor and Port-of-Spain who buy wholesale channa, bara and a choice of 2 toppings( pepper, chadon beni or sweet sauce). So yes, that great-tasting doubles that you were eating may not have been prepared by the doubles-man from whom you bought it! Lata and her staff begin preparatory work in the evening, and by midnight production gets into full-swing.
What is particularly unique about the Doubles Factory is that while cooking is underway, members of the public are invited to dine-in, and are served at their table. On weekends particularly, the Doubles Factory is a hive of activity as late-night limers look for a‘ sumptuous’ meal, especially if you need some spicy‘ bun pepper’ to sober you up quickly.
Countless celebrities have made the journey to this holy grail of doubles, witnessing for themselves this modest fourperson operation nestled along a quiet back street in El Socorro. Lata’ s wall boasts a slew of photos with the likes of Rupee, Kerwyn Dubois, Raymond Ramnarine, Kees, KI, Ravi B, Junior Gong and many more.
Lata herself is a certified‘ bara thrower’. Okay … there is no certification – but she is indeed in a class by herself when it comes to frying bara. Instead of stretching out the rolled dough onto a table before it is put into the fryer, she can extract it from the ball of dough, stretch and throw it into the fryer in a single move. Now if this isn’ t talent then I don’ t know what is!
According to Lata, you can tell a great tasting doubles when you yearn to eat the channa and bara alone without any pepper or additional toppings. And with her trusted employee Chan John, who has been with Lata’ s family for over 20 years, you can be assured that you are getting just that – arguably one of the best combinations of channa and bara that you have ever eaten! I asked Lata what she would change about her business, and before she could even answer, Chan responded,“ not a thing!” Lata agreed.
I vaguely recall first visiting them in my earlier years on the way home from some random fete in west Trinidad. However it is only when I returned recently did I truly appreciate what a fantastic experience the Doubles Factory offered. Not only was it a new and innovative way to sit and enjoy a doubles, but despite their commercially-focussed operation, you were still met with a warm and friendly ambiance, where strangers from all walks of life sit together loving a delicacy that is uniquely Trinidadian.
They love what they do at the Doubles Factory and you feel like family from the moment you enter. Lata has successfully innovated and converted her grandfather’ s once-upon-a-time bicycle business into a must-visit culinary hotspot, built on top of a thriving wholesale business. She is a bit concerned about the younger generation though, and feels that they are not willing to put in the hard work and long hours required to keep the tradition alive as the Dass family, and several other families have done for generations.
The doubles as we know it in Trinidad was borne out of culinary experiences brought by our forefathers from India, and these have evolved over the greater part of the last century into a multi-million dollar industry today. I think Lata has just only started getting the ball rolling … and that there is much more in store for Trinidad’ s most beloved street food!