Triniglish|Trinididioms Spoken and Explained #10
Yuh is ah Trini if yuh know what Toolum, Sugar Cake and Coconut drops are...
There was a time when donkey carts roamed the villages with a drum on the back of the cart. The guy riding the cart voice bellowed throughout the neighborhood with the sound Moloassseeeeeeesssssss. Yes he was selling molasses and the people in the neighborhood would come out with their Cydrax, Peardrax and Old Oak rum bottles to buy the black gold he was selling - molasses. Gone are the days of the donkey carts and the men pushing the carts with palettes but the delightful treats still leave lasting memories for those of us who were fortunate to have experienced life in the islands during the 60's, 70's, 80's and early 90's period.
Toolum:
Now I would go to that cart and he would put some in my palm that I licked off delightfully. My mother purchased molasses for us to eat "because it was good fuh yuh" said my mother. However Miss Mod, out neighbor, used the molasses to make the best toolum on the Island (that is how I felt about it). She made two types the hard ones that you had to literally suck to finish off and the soft chewy ones. I like the hard ones because they lasted a while. For those of you still wondering about tolum it us a local treat (you will refer to it as a candy) that was made with grated coconut and molasses. The finished product looked like small tennis balls when rolled properly. They were and still are a delicious treat.
Sugar Cake:
Every child and even the adults loved eating sugar cakes. Small round lumps of grated coconut and brown sugar boiled and hardened into 2-3 inch lumps were so delicious and depending on the person making them had different consistencies and taste. Some were the color of the brown sugar while some had coconut chunks while others were white or pink in color. The various spices used to make the sugar cakes made the difference in the items moving quickly or remaining in glass cases for some days. In the end the outcome was always the same nothing remained - all Trinis have "ah sweet tooth oui".
Coconut drops:
Well it looks like the common denominator is the coconut here. This one is a real treat and a favorite of this blogger. Coconut drops are crazy nice indeed. Here is the deal with this treat it is a combination of butter, sugar, eggs, Angostura bitters and vanilla for flavoring, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, raisons and the secret ingredient.... grated coconut (use the finest section of the grater eh). This mixture is then baked with the outcome being coconut drops - fuss ah love dem.
There you have it, as a Trini these treats are known by all and if you ever visit the island you should try each of these tasty delights. So if you knew these names then "Yuh is ah Trini" or you spent some time on the island and will have to return to try them again. Hmmm... That should have been about the cascadura. In any case that is what we talking about... Trini 2D Bone.
