Gone are the days of clamouring for currants rolls and coconut tarts at the local bakery.Now Trini dessert lovers have acquired a strong desire for international gourmet treats with a local twist.This changing taste of the local dessert palette is evidenced by the growing number of gourmet cafes nationwide and a wider selection of sinful, sweet pastry treats at supermarkets and bakeries.
One of the most popular treats, cheesecake is being infused with local flavours like soursop, pumpkin, barbadine and even avocado to match the changing tastes of the dessert-loving public.The prices to match this changing palette are also wide and can range from $20 per slice to $65 per cupcake, or from $125 to $500 per cake.
For pastry chef Jineal Chichester, of gourmet cafe–Chi Cafe at Bamboo Junction, La Romain, this change in taste is welcomed and refreshing."Trinidadians are not the regular Trinidadians as before. We have gone gourmet, we are starting to enjoy foods from different parts of the world.
Before, you would go to a regular bakery and you would get the turnovers and the currants rolls, pone and paime and all of that, and it was traditional and it was lovely. But, it was somewhat plain," she said.Now, Chichester said, pastry shops and gourmet shops are offering beautiful, irresistible desserts similar to those seen in magazines or those only found in countries where Trinbagonians frequent.
"When you travel, either you go to America or to Europe and when you go to cafes you see all these pastries there. Now you are seeing it here in Trinidad with a local twist, and I think that is what makes it special," she said.Chichester, who resigned her job as a naval officer with the T&T Coast Guard last year to open her cafe, said she was enjoying the resurgence of interest in desserts in T&T since it is a key element of meals internationally.
"I definitely think it is an enhancement," she said.Her cheesecakes are made with Philadelphia cream cheese and imported chocolates and are mouth-watering and moist.Chichester said it was her love for baking and her desire to have dessert lovers experience delicious international treats that led her to leave her stable job and pursue her dream.
"I always noticed that I had a knack for baking and a natural talent and even when I was in the military, sometimes I would run out and go in the galley (kitchen) and help make a cake or something, and this was when I was training at Dartmouth (England). When I came back to Trinidad I realised baking was something that I should follow up because it was something that I loved, and it did not make sense to stay in a career that you are not extremely passionate about," she said.
She added that her boyfriend and business partner Analdo Ramjitsingh, as well as her mother, Jeniffer, supported her and pushed her to follow her dreams.
Local flavours importantto preserve T&T culture
Chichester said her innate love of travel to New York and different parts of the world fuelled her drive to offer something new to the Trinidadian palette. She also has an obsession with cheesecakes.She said while her cafe will have paime, pones, bread pudding and turnovers, she wants to incorporate local flavours with international flavours.
Chichester explained that as a former history student she believes it is important to have local culture in cuisine."If we do not incorporate our culture we will lose it. Even though we are creating something new, a new Trinbago culture, it is important to remember where we came from. I think the bakers that we had before and the bakers we have now and the products we have now are not the same, but it is important to remember where we come from," she said.
Chichester said she wants her cheesecake shop to be similar to an ice cream shop where customers can come in and select their favourite from her 61 flavours and enjoy it immediately. She said she has a strong team in the kitchen with chef Yashimo Walcott and pastry chef Matthew Jones at her side.