Guest blog by Christopher Henley

When I’m in the UK I’m always asked “do you know where I can get some good, authentic Caribbean food from?” I normally sigh and say maybe back in London. The fact of the matter is that, so much Caribbean food is in fact Jamaican within the UK.

Grenada, St. Lucia, and Trinidad & Tobago are all unique tropical Caribbean islands inevitably with their own wonderful cuisine. I’ve been lucky enough to try street food from several different islands, but my favourite has to be ‘doubles’.

Doubles is a common street food from Trinidad and Tobago, which is the southernmost Caribbean island. It’s the ultimate street food as it’s cheap, usually hot/warm and hearty and filling. It's a sandwich made with two baras (flat fried bread) filled with channa (curried chickpeas or garbanzo beans). This is then topped with a variety of spicy chutneys, such as mango, cucumber, coconut, tamarind and extra pepper sauce. Doubles is a delicacy and the most popular fast food in Trinidad & Tobago. It's usually eaten for breakfast and sometimes lunch, but can also be a late night snack when liming!

The name originated in 1937 when the Dean family (Mamudeen) started the business. The food sold was fried channa wrapped in a cone shaped pack with all the ingredients and sauces. One of the first customers asked him to double the bara, hence the name ‘doubles’.

Personally when I have doubles I have it relatively plain. Kuchela (air dried mango), tamarind sauce and shado beni (a West Indian herb) are all popular additions to the dish. Hot pepper is then usually slathered over everything so if you ever visit a doubles vendor there are two things you need to remember:

1. No matter how much hot pepper you are accustomed to eating, you don’t want any pepper!

2. Doubles vendors don’t know the meaning of slight pepper, so you don’t want ANY pepper!

If you’re ever in Trinidad make sure you try this fabulous delicacy. Hot pepper is, of course, optional.

You can follow Chris and his food/footie musings on Twitter; @gastrohenley