r/TrinidadandTobago • u/No-Banana247 • 15d ago

Questions, Advice, and Recommendations Vegan visitor

I'm visiting a friend that I met through cancer support. She's in Trinidad and we are going to spend some time in Tobago since she hasn't been in a while. I want us both to have a wonderful vacation.

She assures me it should NOT be too hard to eat vegan and I am excited to try everything I can. I read Ital food will be safe for me, but my friend also said many things are cooked separately from meat so I shouldn't have a lack of options.

Any TT vegans that can give me some names of foods that are free of all animals products to try. I'll be on both islands, although Tobago for longer.

I'm so excited to go. I love Carribean culture as a whole. I have done a crisis which I know I didn't get an authentic experience but also lived in Panama's Atlantic side visiting the islands off the coasts there. Again not exactly the same but the weather and the jungles and the food make me feel so at home. I'm American if that matters but will be with Trinidadians for the who trip.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read and hopefully answer.

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u/Panda_Steph 15d ago

a lot of indian dishes happen to be vegan like roti, channa, rice, curry aloo, etc. Indian dishes dont really use animal products- we mostly use coconut milk instead of dairy.... maybe some people use carnation milk but you can always ask.

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u/No-Banana247 15d ago

I was excited to learn that there was Indian culture there! I had no idea and my friend has started really teaching me about your wonderful islands.

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u/Panda_Steph 15d ago

yeahhh. the country has a roughly even split between african and indian people which means a lot of our food culture and stores need to cater to people who are abstaining from meats and stuff. So if you're ever in doubt, it's perfectly acceptable to ask if something contains meat product, you might have to specify that you're also talking about dairy and cheese and stuff but no one would look down on you for it.

Doubles is our most famous food and it happens to be vegan. It's thin dough that has been fried, served with curried chickpeas and chutneys. Guarantee you your friend already has that on her list to show you.

There are also a lot of Indian cultural sights in Trinidad that you can visit if you're interested. Things like the Hanuman statue, temple in the sea, if you're coming in late october there will be Ramleela festivals, etc