Siparia eats like the southwest: doubles, roti, aloo pie, and a market that the whole town turns out for on Sunday mornings. And when the festival comes, the whole town eats together.
Published by LocalAxys Editorial Team ·
Siparia eats like the southwest: doubles, roti, aloo pie, and a market that the whole town turns out for on Sunday mornings. And when the festival comes, the whole town eats together.
The Sunday market
The Siparia Market is the town's weekly centerpiece, and Sunday morning is when it's at its best — the stalls open around 5am and the town comes to shop. Produce, spices, fresh fish, prepared food: the full southern lineup.
At the front of the market, look for Gaston Baptiste's stall. He's been there for over 40 years — a market institution in a town that respects its institutions. Ask him what's good this week. He'll tell you, and he'll be right.
The southern menu
Siparia runs the classic south Trinidad food lineup:
Doubles — morning vendors, "two with everything, slight pepper."
Aloo pie — the fried potato pie, a southern staple.
Roti shops — dhalpuri and paratha with curry chicken, goat, beef, shrimp, or pumpkin and bodi.
Pholourie and saheena — fried snacks in paper bags with tamarind chutney.
Corn soup — thick, peppery, non-negotiable.
Festival eating
During the Siparia Fete — Maundy Thursday and Good Friday — the street market and mela outside the La Divina Pastora church becomes a food festival. Thousands of pilgrims need feeding, and the vendors rise to it: doubles, roti, corn soup, sweets, fresh juice, and everything fried. Eating your way through the Fete crowds is half the experience.
The evening lime
When the market packs up, the southwest settles into its evening: bars with chutney and soca on the speakers, cutters on the tables, cold Carib or Stag. It's a small town's lime — everybody knows everybody, and a visitor who buys a round won't stay a stranger for long.
How to eat in Siparia
Sunday morning is market morning. Go early.
Find Gaston Baptiste's stall and ask what's good.
Festival days (the Easter season): eat with the crowds at the Fete.
"Slight pepper" is a complete sentence.
Siparia's food is the southwest on a plate: unpretentious, generous, and best eaten in the middle of a crowd. Come on a Sunday. Come on Good Friday if you can.