What started as a conversation about Stephanie’s This is Doubles Instagram, turned into a conversation about ancestral memory in the kitchen, the stories that are told about Caribbean food, and how powerful a united Caribbean could be.

Stephanie Ramlogan, a Trinidadian writer based in New York City, explains why doubles is more than bara and channa: it is memory, migration, identity, and a fight over who gets to define a culture in public. She shares her thoughts on cooking being passed down through observation, sound, and smell versus just steps in a cookbook, and how the full lived experience cannot be documented in the copy of a book.

Stephanie also shares a bit of her personal journey, moving to NYC from Trinidad later in life and how living abroad reshaped her connection to her Trinidadian-ness.

Bio

Stephanie Ramlogan is a Trinidadian writer based in New York City whose work, in fiction, articles and essays, focuses on Caribbean culture, especially food.

Stephanie has won several prizes and recognitions for her short stories and novel manuscript, such as the Iowa Review Award and The Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival Elizabeth Nunez Writer's Prize. She also teaches expository and creative writing at the City University of New York.

Connect with Stephanie

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stephanieramlogan

Email stephanieramlogan@gmail.com

This is Doubles on IG https://www.instagram.com/thisisdoubles

Article: Saving Doubles: A Plea for Preservation https://www.bestdressedplate.com/saving-doubles-a-plea-for-preservation

Episodes Referenced:

The Origin of Doubles with Vinay Harrichan

The Caribbean Cookbook with Rawlston Williams

Culinary Colonialism with Keja Valens

What is moreish? | more·​ish ˈmōrish | informal, of food, causing a desire for more

Join us on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to continue the conversation.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!) https://uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/jerk-sauce