"Late Night
Munchies"
The above pictures were taken at the WTF lounge and restaurant
in San Fernando (left) and the Point-a-Pierre main road Marabella (right) and
outlines various ways in which Food may be presented in Urban areas at night. Nightlife
in Trinidad has grown over the past years to meet the growing demand of the
cosmopolitan population that have grown more affluent. The owners of Nightclubs
have designed the ‘full package’ of nightlife experience to keep patrons
entertained all night long. Similar to this is the way in which other small
business owners of food establishments have seen the opportunity to open late
night establishments in these urban areas that are set up near to nightclubs.
This type of food catering is geared specifically towards patrons that are out
partying late at night and by extension those that also go out for late night
drives just to obtain food. It is seen as a somewhat urban culture of the
younger generation generally between ages ranging from eighteen to thirty-five.
What people eat is heavily influenced by their families and also their culture.
Different cuisines are connected to different cultures. Urban Social nightlife
can be viewed as a culture and food as a feature of this type of culture is
alive present in Trinidad and Tobago. Some social scientists have even gone as
far as saying that food is the key to anybody’s culture (Macpherson 1999) and
by just identifying what people eat some general assumption can be made about
said persons and even the food, for example if a particular food is spicy, or
if it is eaten separate or shared on the same dish. Food and social nightlife in urban areas are intrinsically linked and these highlighted are just a few of a very broad topic.
References:
Macpherson,
Catherine. Food & culture. Owatonna, MN: Learning Zone Express,
1999.
