Lystra Seepersad
Lystra has spent the past two decades teaching herself to cook the specialties and varied cuisine of the islands and now shares what she’s learned through in-person and virtual classes. Mastering the diversity of Trinidadian and Tobagonian food can take years. Like other Caribbean countries, recipes are rarely written down and instead are passed from generation to generation, much like family heirlooms. Lystra began experimenting with different spices at 19, and when she married, her husband Aftab was her guinea pig for taste testing. He was a gentle reminder that she could always improve. “Aftab might say that needs a little bit of this and that, but if he didn’t like the food he wouldn’t have said much, just not taken more,” she explains. The cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago is “a melting pot formed from an array of cultures including Chinese, Indian, African, Syrian, Lebanese, Guyanese, Italian and Creole. Slaves, indentured servants and colonizers from Spain, France and Great Britain have also influenced the course of its cuisine for centuries.” Lystra, who labels herself an “exquisite entrepreneur,” has done well helping others learn to cook the food of her homeland. Between her private group page and business pages on Facebook she has close to 100,000 followers who keep coming back in part because of the constant stories about food amidst photos
Lystra’s cooking class
51
WINTER 2022
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