Finally Tech4Agri made it to Tobago, the sister isle of Trinidad. A visit has been in the works for quite some time. However we decided to make the sacrifice..financially…to get there and do as much as we can…. and it paid off.
We covered the #Tobago #Bluefoodfestival and it exceeded expectations!
A unique food festival
Blue food refers to roots and tubers primarily Dasheen (Taro) which when cooked has a bluish type of color.
Other roots include cassava, sweet potato, eddoes and yam which can be grouped with dumplings, plantains or fig (the latter are related crops, the first being ripe and the second green)
These items are all collectively referred to as ‘provision’ then topped with meats of all varieties, particularly ‘wild meat’
Wild meat refers to just that, meats which are not farmed but caught in the wild.
These include hog, conchs (a type of shell fish), iguana, mat (a type of lizard which we learned is called ‘sally’ in Tobago) as well as common ones such as pork,duck, rabbit and chicken.
Not only are meats on the menu but you would find a wide variety of extremely innovative products.
Ever heard of garlic wine? How about sweet potato wine, dasheen ketchup/pepper sauce or avocado ice cream ? For those of you readers who live outside the Caribbean, I’m not joking. I ate a lizard leg and it was delicious!
We were first timers
Blue Food Festival has been around for 18 years and pulls a massive crown each year. As this was our first experience we were impressed with the organization and the unbelievably wide range of products.
Given how difficult it is to capture the wild meats as well as to experiment and create new foods such as dasheen ice cream, the festival is quite the money maker.
This does not stop patrons at all which of course is typical of #Caribbean people to enjoy the massive party it has become.
Makes you wonder what would happen if these products where on local shelves or exporting in a big way.
At the upcoming Caribbean Week of Agriculture, there will be a Marketplace with numerous agripreneurs. We hope to see much of this innovation at the event.
Later on, we intend to create an episode for our web series based on the event. Check out the promo video above and stay dedicated, we will continue to bring you the best of agriculture!
