If If you’ve ever visited the Eddie Hart Food Village in Tacarigua during the weekend, you may have noticed a long line at Lourie Land.
Even before the vendors set up for the evening, there’s a crowd of people anticipating their special pholourie, and it’s not just because of its delicious taste, but because of the unique goodness packed inside each one.
The owner of Lourie Land, Wendell Bob, has put a new spin on one of T&T’s traditional snacks, taking it to a whole new level by incorporating a range of fillings, including geera chicken, roast pork, shrimp, plantain, and even a proprietary creation known as the “Loridog”—a chicken sausage encased in pholourie dough, and coated with corn flakes.
The journey to this innovative product began during the pandemic, when Bob and his wife Zita, both self-employed, sought a new way to sustain their livelihoods. Previously involved in selling geera chicken, pies and pepper roti at Santa Rosa Heights, the couple decided to pivot to pholourie.
How they got to stuffed pholourie was a recipe for success born out of necessity and with a sprinkle of creativity.
“One day I came home from work and I was very, very hungry, and when I checked, all it had was pholourie and a geera sauce in a container. So, I decided alright, pholourie and geera sauce it is. And when I ate it, oh my goodness, I couldn’t believe how it tasted. So, I decided, ‘hey you see this, I think I want to make a pholourie with geera.’ And we started experimenting with it from there, until we actually perfected it, with [my wife’s] skills of being able to actually put a piece of geera chicken in the pholourie dough,” Bob said.
The buzz around Lourie Land is palpable. People from all over Trinidad are flocking to try the innovative pholourie creations. Bob said many customers are intrigued and excited to sample what they might initially consider an odd concoction.
“Sometimes people come, and they say, wow, it’s the first time I’m hearing something like this, and I want to try it. So, they just want to know what it is about, and what it tastes like to have geera or roast pork inside a pholourie.”
One such person is Sally, from St Joseph, who was at the Eddie Hart Food Village eager to try the unique creations. She said she first heard about the stuffed pholourie from her niece and had to try it.
Her friend, Jenny, who was also trying it for the first time, described it as a meal in one bite.
Gleeson Job, from Diego Martin, said it was his second time visiting Lourie Land, and he enjoyed it so much that he traversed all the way to the East with his children, just to have it again.
“If you have a business and you’re serving or you’re doing something unique, people will find their way to you,” he said.
Bob said he has a recipe for more innovation up his sleeve. Lourie Land is currently cooking up five new pholourie creations that are in development and coming soon. With these upcoming additions, they’re sure to continue serving up excitement and keeping everyone on their toes.