Roti (snack)
A roti is a snack in Trinidadian cuisine . It consists of a curry that is wrapped in a thin flatbread .
Origin, preparation and distribution
The roti is named after the unleavened flatbread of the same name, which is a staple food in northern India and Pakistan. Almost 40% of the population of Trinidad are of Indian descent. In Trinidad, however, leavened dough is used throughout. The thin flatbread is baked on a heated plate similar to a crepière or in a very shallow pan called a tawa . The basis of the dish is a curry made from meat and potatoes. Chicken is mainly used as a source of meat, while beef and goat as well as occasionally duck, mussels or shrimp are used in larger snack bars . Often the meat still contains bones that must be eliminated by the eater. The curry is wrapped in a roti flatbread and then wrapped in paper. In order to simplify the distinction between the terms for the snack dish on the one hand and the flatbread on the other hand, the flatbreads are often referred to as "roti skins". An alternative form of delivery is the "buss-up-shut" roti, in which the curry is not wrapped in bread, but served as a side dish with torn pieces of bread. The name is a modification of "burst up shirt", because the pieces of bread are reminiscent of pieces of clothing. According to prevailing opinion, the roti was "invented" in the mid-1940s in San Fernando , Trinidad by Sackina Karamath, who also opened the first roti shop there. From San Fernando, the roti spread over large parts of the Caribbean and is now also available outside of some cities with significant numbers of Caribbean emigrants (London and several large cities in the USA and Canada). Most of the sale takes place in roti shops - in cities these are fast food restaurants or snack bars that also have other fast food on offer, while in rural areas they are often just simple food stalls on the roadside. Roti shops are very common in Trinidad, "as common as McDonald's in the United States".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ramin Ganeshram: Sweet Hands. Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago . 2nd Edition. Hippocrene Books, New York 2012, ISBN 0-7818-1125-2 , pp. 139 .
- ↑ Article about Rotis on TriniGourmet.com
- ↑ Dave DeWitt & Mary Jane Wilson: Callaloo, Calypso & Carnival, p. 25. The Crossing Press 1993
- ↑ History of the Rotis
- ↑ memorial Sackina Karamath
- ↑ Dave DeWitt & Mary Jane Wilson: Callaloo, Calypso & Carnival, p. 67.