A list of intriguing things
One: The hot new thing in street food in New York, London and Sydney is the Trini roti. This is the Caribbean version of the Indian bread—a culinary legacy of Indian indentured labour sent by the British to Trinidad in the 19th century. Ramin Ganeshram writes:
Today, nearly half of the population on the island claims Indian roots. In both its people and its cuisine, Trinidad is an organic fusion. Here, the flavours from the subcontinent have married with those from West Africa, China and Syria and of the Indigenous people.
If curry is the staple of the Trinidadian diet, so are the Trini rotis—which come in three basic varieties—all of which will be familiar to us. There is the sada roti, dhal puri, rotis stuffed with potatoes and peppers and the ‘buss up shut’ roti—which sounds a lot like a lachha paratha. And at least in the West, they are wrapped around fillings like chana masala, aloo or chicken like a burrito—or layered on top (see below). Or even with a side of Trini mac pie, aka baked mac and cheese (?!).
Two: These days, machines can write essays, make videos, create music etc. So why not play amateur shrink and interpret our dreams? The DreamInterpreter tool is pretty straightforward. Type in a description of your dream, and wait for the AI Sigmund Freud to tell you what it means. We greatly enjoyed making up entirely silly dreams—for example: “I was chasing a teddy bear through a forest made of candy cane.” The AI’s verdict:
This dream could symbolize a desire for childhood innocence or a need for comfort. The teddy bear may represent something that brings you happiness, while the forest made of candy cane could represent something that is appealing but potentially dangerous.
Take it for a spin here.
Three: It’s not too late for you to give a very special V-Day present by naming a Madagascar hissing cockroach after your bae—over at Name A Roach. After all, $15 is a small price to pay for the perfect symbol of eternal love. After all, roaches can survive anything, including a nuclear apocalypse. As the Bronx Zoo reminds you: “You don’t always have the right words, but you can still give them goosebumps. Name a Roach for your Valentine, because roaches are forever.”
Not feeling the love this Valentine’s day? How about opting for San Antonio Zoo’s ‘Cry Me A Cockroach’ campaign. You can name a cockroach, rodent or veggie after anyone you loathe—and the zoo will helpfully feed it to an animal. If you feel like splurging, $150 will buy you “an individualised video message of your cockroach, rodent, or veggie being fed to one of our animals for you to send to your not-so-special someone.” FYI: as your BFF, we did not embed this promo vid—to protect you from the sight of lots of big, nasty roaches. So make us your Valentine already:)
