Doubles from Trinidad and Summer Desserts

I thought I’d seen (and tasted) most of the key dishes from the Caribbean over the years. In Jamaica, I’ve devoured jerk chicken, festival and breadfruit, not to mention plantains and beef patties. But I had no idea the food from Trinidad was equally as impressive. Maybe not as spicy (unless you douse your food in the provided bottles of scotch bonnet-laced hot sauce) as Jamaican food is, but beguiling nonetheless. Chicago’s own Heather Headley, a Grammy and Tony Award-winning singer and actress (The Lion King, Aida, The Bodyguard) happens to be from Trinidad, and on Friday, she met me at Cafe Trinidad in Bronzeville, to introduce me to her beloved Doubles.

Headley got positively giddy when they arrived on our table. Looking like an obese quesadilla, the term “doubles” comes from the fact that you essentially have two symmetrical discs of saffron-hued dough that’s been quickly deep-fried in corn oil, sandwiching a filling of garbanzos, sliced chilies and pickled vegetables. You place your hands around the top disc, grab some of the filling – not unlike taking a piece of injera at an Ethiopian restaurant – and then either sprinkle it with hot sauce or just pop it into your mouth in a few bites. If you’re still hungry (or you have a friend with you), there’s a bottom half and some more of the filling, essentially “doubling” your pleasure.

The restaurant is a lot smaller than its original incarnation further south, but the neighborhood seems to be really supporting it. We also dug into giant roti (split pea-embedded crepes) wrapped around both curried chicken and goat. After a few glasses of sorrel (think jamaica/hibiscus) I was ready for a nap, and Headley was more than happy to cart off a few more roti skins for the ride home, along with a couple of extra doubles.

Then yesterday I went over to Fat Rice, where I’ve been wanting to try their weekend brunch. The Macanese restaurant was relatively calm at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, and I ordered a couple of items from the menu – sweet and sour eggplant and tofu skins, stuffed with fish mousse; a couple of chive-stuffed dumplings draped with spring onions; a minced hash of beef and pork with a fried egg, bok choy and a heaping mound of coconut rice. But it was the dessert that haunted me for the rest of the day. I just love fruit-based desserts (with the exception of Barbara Lynch’s affogato at Sportello in Boston) and the almond-enriched pudding pieces, scattered like a Pollock painting across bits of strawberry, rhubarb, Lilliputian blackberries, Thai basil seeds and fresh mint, was one of the most creative, refreshing and delicious summer desserts I’ve had in some time. I can’t wait to go back again for brunch to see what else they have up their sleeves.