A love match introduced South African cadet Bridget van Dongen to Trinidad’s favorite street food. And it was an affair to remember. Some 15 years later, she and her husband Trini opened their own couples stable – in Antigua! Shelly-Ann Inniss learns more
It’s a familiar refrain in couples’ stands around Trinidad and Tobago: “Pepper?” the salesman will ask. “Easy,” “moderate,” “a lot” or “none,” customers respond. This call-and-response is now also becoming popular in Antigua—at least, among the growing clientele at Slight Pepper, co-founded by South African Bridget van Dongen and her Trinidadian husband Sheldon Cadet.
Located on Old Parham Road – one of the busiest roads in St John’s – hot doubles (two warm, fried, chickpea-floured patties) and alo pies (filled with roasted potatoes) are the attractions. star.
Of course, there are differences between the Antiguan and Trini configurations. For starters, you won’t find the traditional “box” that serves as storage and workspace for Trini vendors. Instead, the Slight Pepper team uses warming trays and serves the duos on paper. They also don’t wrap the doubles expertly with the characteristic twist and flip of the wrist like the Trini sellers. “Every time we’ve tried, we’ve ended up with channa all over the walls!” jokes Bridget. Apple J is the drink of choice to wash the duo down in Trinidad; in Antigua, it’s pineapple or ginger juice.
Bridget – a former member of Caribbean Beat team—recalls her start in doubles outside the Long Circular Mall on a visit to Trinidad for a wedding in 2005. “They found me messy but delicious,” she says. On her return to Antigua that year, she failed miserably in her attempts to do them. However, she wouldn’t have to go long without the right pair.
In 2010, she and Sheldon – who had been living in Antigua, where they met – moved to Trinidad. “We would have it twice a week, if not more, when we lived there,” she says. She loved them on the corner of Agra Road in St James, especially for their roasted chilli – pre-orders were required! Although these were her favorites, she says the pair sold from the back of a truck on the way to Mayaro were the best she had.
When the cadets returned to Antigua a year before the pandemic, Bridget was once again forced to do her doubles when cravings spread. With Sheldon’s restaurant management experience, the couple had long dreamed of opening their own restaurant. The economic pressures of Covid presented the perfect opportunity to begin.
The couple had long admired the organization of the couple’s vendors in Trinidad and how hard they worked, making the process seem remarkably simple. But as many Trinis also learned when they started making doubles at home during the tighter pandemic restrictions, it can be a much messier and more complicated process. Slight Pepper learned very early on to cook the grass outside their house after a grease fire (luckily an extinguisher came in handy). “There are some great recipes on YouTube,” advises Bridget. “Herbs can be a little tricky, but make sure your oil is many hot.”
The lights come on in the cadet house from 5.30am and the workflow begins with preparing the bag and potatoes for the alo pies; followed by dough at 6:00 a.m. (some ladies help with bara); and cadets setting up the hut to officially open at 7:45am. By noon everything is sold. Sheldon does the sales while Bridget works behind the scenes – her chili sauce is considered one of the best.
Many Antiguans have never heard of doubles, so Slight Pepper’s biggest market is people who have visited Trinidad and tried the street food, and of course Trinis who live in Antigua. “The number of Trinis we have who are happy to finally have real twins in Antigua is amazing,” she gushes. Word of mouth is working and newbies are becoming regulars.
Pepper?
