Dr Rita Pemberton

Tobago's society was organised, like any other plantation society in the British Caribbean possessions, into tiers. Social positioning was determined by colour, with whites, as the owners of all the accessible arable property, and holders of administrative positions who determined the rules and regulations under which the colony was governed, on the top rung of the social ladder.

Uprooted from their homeland in Africa, and forcibly relocated to the Caribbean, the Africans, who were considered and expected to remain a permanent labour force, were positioned at the bottom.

The appearance of a mixed-race population created a middle group between the two main groups, which was itself subdivided. The wealthier and more privileged coloureds were used to provide services to support the small white population as managers, small planters and petty officials, and offset the imbalance between the large black and small white population.

The larger segment of the coloured population was enslaved.

While the social organisation of plantation societies is well known, there is less awareness of the nature and consequences of its impact on food and foodways in the colonies, which is an important dimension of the history of the region.

The guiding principle behind the colonial plantation operations was that it was more remunerative to use colonial land resources to cultivate the export crop, and import cheap food to sustain the population.

In Tobago, the ruling class sought to maintain its European lifestyle as far as was practically possible, which was reflected in its consumption patterns. The white community's lifestyle revolved around importing food considered best suited to a European palate, which was not necessarily cheap. This meant there was a heavy emphasis on food imports, which constituted an important part of the island's trade.

There was also an initial unfavourable reaction to locally produced food, and hence the food with which they were familiar was imported. This was supplemented with local exotica - delicacies such as the green turtles and wildlife which abound on the island.

Thus there was a marked distinction between upper-class food and that for the other groups.

The imported items included wines, hams, bacon, cuts of beef and pork, turkey, butter, cheeses, rice, flour, pickled meats, onions, garlic, vegetables, olive oil, mayonnaise, capers, croutons, mushrooms and raisins. These were purchased through agents in London. Their costs were based on the estimated returns from the sale of the sugar crop, themselves based on the annual returns from previous, more profitable years. While the outgoing trade carried sugar and its by-products, the incoming was stocked with imported food and other essential items, the cost of which was not covered by the value of the exports when these declined across the 19th century.

Despite the cost overruns, planters maintained their lofty lifestyle, because their food habits were considered emblematic of their social position, and