Shas­tri Boodan

Cur­ry duck com­pe­ti­tions have been a beloved tra­di­tion in T&T since the late 1990s, par­tic­u­lar­ly in cen­tral Trinidad where the dish is a culi­nary sta­ple. Blend­ing East In­di­an her­itage with the na­tion’s vi­brant com­pet­i­tive spir­it, these events draw large crowds ea­ger for a day of flavour, show­man­ship, and com­mu­ni­ty ca­ma­raderie.

On Sun­day, the Cou­va Point Lisas Cham­ber of Com­merce kept the tra­di­tion siz­zling with its an­nu­al Cur­ry Duck Cook-Out. Thir­teen teams bat­tled for brag­ging rights and the cov­et­ed tro­phy, but it was the School of Prac­ti­cal Ac­count­ing (SPA) that emerged vic­to­ri­ous, amass­ing 396 points. SPA al­so took home the award for sharpest-look­ing team.

For the past five edi­tions—ex­clud­ing the pan­dem­ic years—Metro Ho­tel had been the dom­i­nant force. This year, their team im­pressed once again, com­plete with a spir­it­ed dance rou­tine along­side their cook­ing, but had to set­tle for sec­ond place with 386 points. Old Mac Agro Sup­plies fin­ished close be­hind, scor­ing 381 points and earn­ing the Green Award for eco-friend­ly prac­tices.

Com­pe­ti­tion was fierce from the start, with teams fir­ing up their pots as ear­ly as 10 am. Many ex­per­i­ment­ed with mul­ti­ple cur­ry blends be­fore pre­sent­ing their fi­nal dish to the judges. All en­tries un­der­went a blind tast­ing, en­sur­ing flavour—not rep­u­ta­tion—de­cid­ed the win­ner.

But the day wasn’t just about the cur­ry. Pa­trons en­joyed chut­ney danc­ing, a live­ly game of all-fours, and a Fam­i­ly Feud-style con­test, turn­ing the cook-off in­to a full-scale cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tion.