Social Research: An International Quarterly

Using data collected from a non-random electronic survey of (N=116) Trinidadian origin men and women and data gleaned from a content analysis of roti shop websites on the Internet (n=80). This paper examines how the Trinidadian diaspora currently residing in places like New York, Toronto or London’s are influenced by their early food socialization which produces a long lasting memory for roti and doubles. Roti and doubles often becomes a linking object associated with significant memories and events that are positive from back “home.” Regular consumption of a store bought or homemade roti and doubles in diaspora locations, often gives Trinidadian migrants a temporary good feeling of all that they are mourning from back “home.” Roti and doubles have also become cultural objects that satisfy a “hunger” and yearning Trinidadians have for a temporary gastronomic passage to back “home”.