Why Trinidad Doubles Are The Ultimate Hangover Food

Pillowy bara flatbreads pasted together by a creamy channa chickpea base - each bite a harmony of tang, spice and sweetness. The Trinidad double is the world's best breakfast food - and the ultimate hangover cure.

We've all been there. The day after Carnival weekend - the rum and Magnum still pulsing through your veins causing thundering in your head that's louder than the sound systems you partied at the night(s) before. Your growling stomach is begging you to get up and get something filling, but there are few hangover cures that can really satisfy your intense, particular hunger.

You need something doughy, laced with subtle spice that doesn't overwhelm your sensitive state, with a soft, sloppy texture to make for minimal eating effort. Enter the Trini Double.

"It's a traditional street food" says Bernard of Roti Stop, a small Trini food spot in Stoke Newington. He serves Doubles throughout the day - they are one of his highest-selling item. "It's easy to eat, very tasty with condiments, and it's available all over the island."

In Trinidad, Doubles vendors are found in their thousands - propping up carts and vans across towns and cities, in food courts and beaches. Traditionally, they were considered a breakfast food - something to pick up en route to work - but now they're enjoyed throughout the day. Every Trini has their go-to spot - the perfect Double, after all is subjective.

“I go through phases with doubles. It depends on the mood," says Sheliza, the chef behind Trini food pop up, Doubles Kitchen. "The perfect double has soft channa - not grainy. Its creamy when you mush it. Sometimes I like bara thin, other times I like it like a fluffy cloud, so when you bite it, it melts into your mouth" she says.

There's also the taste factor. The Trini Double, which is vegan, packs in many-a-condiment: the Chado Beni sauce (green herbs), pepper sauce, kuchela (spicy mango relish), and tamarind sauce.

"It has to have the [right] combination of the pepper, the sour of the Chado Beni sauce, the sweetness from the mango and tamarind, and the kuchela is a must," confirms Shaliza.

"For people that don't know the culture, they think its a bit of bread and chickpeas. But when they try it, it's a melting pot in the mouth, an explosion."

People unfamiliar to Doubles may find them somewhat a strange combination, only to be totally surprised at the entailing flavour. "It's unassuming," Shaliza continues. "For people that don't know the culture, they think its a bit of bread and chickpeas. But when they try it, it's a melting pot in the mouth, an explosion."

The Trini Double is beloved on the island and across the Caribbean - but it's origins are somewhat recent. Concocted in the 1930s by a family of Indian-Trinidadians, descendants of indentured labourers brought to the island during British colonial rule, they turned to creating a fast, cheap-to-produce snack as a means to escape poverty.

They initially sold fried channa by the roadside, before placing them on the doughy bara base. As the snack rose in popularity, more condiments were introduced - and customers would ask vendors to double up the bara to create a sandwich. Hence, Doubles were born.

The colourful, spicy and varied cuisine of Trinidad is a testament to its multi-cultural identity, where elements of West African cooking interweave with South Asian chutneys and flatbreads, in turn influenced by Indigenous cooking techniques and ingredients. The condiments and toppings of Double attest to this - what is added, how the sauces are prepared, what ingredients are used.

The versatility of the Double is what make it a symbol of Trinidad's rich and complex past, where flavours tell a story of heritage and history. Such examples of culinary staples say much about a nation and its people - proving more enlightening than than skewed colonial narratives still present in today's history books.

Oh, and if you eat one after two days of Carnival revelry - you'll find out why it's also a killer hangover cure.