This book is hot – Out of the Doubles Kitchen by Badru Deen
Out of the Doubles Kitchen is a fascinating memoir of the first family of Doubles – the number one street food of Trinidad and Tobago. An informative, educational, and inspiring book that traces the evolution of this business from being “poor-people-food” to a multimillion-dollar industry. The family’s struggles in introducing this new ethnic food to a diverse population are vividly narrated. The author engagingly recounts his family’s experiences with the social hurdles of abject poverty, illiteracy, alcoholism, domestic abuse, shame, race and class. His writing transports the reader back to Trinidad when its plural society was in its infancy and uses Doubles as an example to showcase the triumph of the resilient, innovative, persevering and entrepreneurial human spirit to rise above its circumstances and achieve its dreams.
The book is also a remarkable testament to the extraordinary legacy left by the author’s father. In addition to documenting the history of his family’s creation of Doubles, the book is a deeply personal memoir of the author’s own journey from the Doubles Kitchen to higher education at the University of Manitoba, corporate life and the American Dream. This motivational memoir also leaves the reader salivating for a taste of Doubles.
Out of the Doubles Kitchen continues to receive 5 out of 5 stars’ reviews on Amazon.com where it is available worldwide. The book is archived at the three campuses of UWI in Jamaica, Barbados and T&T as well as at the University of Manitoba. It was selected as required reading for two consecutive years at the Georgia Southern University, Department of Political Science and International Studies for their Development and Multiculturalism course.
Praises for the book:
“I have decided to assign the book [for] the course as required reading. I really think that it does a superb job of personalizing the main themes of the course (Development and Multiculturalism).”
- Dr. Christopher M. Brown, PhD, Department of Political Science and International Studies, Georgia Southern University.
“A spirited defense of the creation of Trinidad Doubles industry interwoven with a personal memoir of the journey from the Doubles kitchen to corporate life.”
- Dr. Ken Boodhoo, PhD. Emeritus Professor, Florida International University. Author of The Elusive Eric Williams: The Man and the Leader
“Out of the Doubles kitchen is an insightful piece of history that is not only valuable to all citizens of Trinidad & Tobago but is also inspirational to any migrant people seeking to find their space in a foreign land.”
- Mr. Lloyd Stanford, radio program host for “Third World Players” on Carleton University Radio CKCU FM where the book was the topic of discussion in a 5-episode series.
“… it’s a much-needed and revealing micro-history of the first generation post-Indenture Indo-Trinidadians. But where the doubles story ends another, more gripping story begins, as hinted in the title Out of the Doubles Kitchen.”
- Dr. Raymond Ramcharitar, Literary columnist, Trinidad Guardian.
“Part family history, part personal memoir, part a study of the evolution of the popular street food which Deen’s parents invented, this book paints an evocative picture of rural Indo-Trinidadian communities in the 1930s to 1950s.”
- Dr. Bridget Brereton, Professor Emerita, The University of the West Indies.
“… by describing how doubles, a common street food, became a delicacy to all Trinbagonians, regardless of race, class or colour, [Out of The] Doubles Kitchen perceives in Mamoo Deen’s life and career, a transcendent example of the birth and growth of Trinbagonian nationality that is almost as beloved as Carnival itself.”
- Dr. Frank Birbalsingh, Professor Emeritus York University, Toronto.
“… as a direct descendant of indentured Indians who came to Trinidad 169 years ago, Mamoo Deen found more than the other side. He found himself in an emerging society desperately searching for people with real intelligence rather than repetitive intelligence… His son, Badru must be commended for sharing the very compelling story of his family and the fact that this iconic creation has now become synonymous with Trinidad and Tobago.”
- Dr. Brinsley Samaroo, Professor Emeritus, The University of the West Indies.
“…The Doubles story (illustrated through wonderful black-and-white photography) … makes for compelling reading…”
– Kirkus Reviews
“I found your tone and style very engaging and your use of language quite masterful. The sentences and paragraphs flow so smoothly that just reading your words is a pleasure. I love your clever turns of phrases and metaphors, which create such vivid images, especially when they leap from a concrete piece of the story to an idea or concept.”
- Joan, Amazon/CreateSpace Editor.
“This is a day of celebration. We celebrate the creation of 256 pages of the personal history of Badru Deen and his family and by extension, our own personal story of life’s challenges, joys, sufferings and vicissitudes, and our colonial history that is at one and the same time an individual journey and the journey of a people.”
– Ms. Jerry Alleyne-Nagee
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