Roasted Breadfruit and My Birthmark

Piece Titled: 'Roasting Breadfruit' Artist: Tricia Trotman Maraj Size: 120cm x 100 cm Material: Acrylic on Canvas It's finished! After many busy weeks and a trip to Nigeria, the land of some of my ancestors, "Roasting Breadfruit" is finally completed. Breadfruit was the food of slaves brought to the Caribbean from the Western coast of Africa. This is what we Trini's call 'heavy food'. It fills you up quickly and provides lots of energy which is what was needed in order to work from sun up to sun down on colonial plantations in the Caribbean. The fireside is what slaves used to cook this vegetable and today the tradition carries on in many Caribbean islands. My mother said when she was pregnant with me that she craved for roasted breadfruit but by the time my father brought it to her it was too late and she threw it all up. As a result, and this is a Trinbagonian belief, I now sport a large birthmark on my left arm that looks like the skin of a crushed roasted breadfruit. I am not sure how many other cultures believe this but I am interested to read your feedback. Share the blog post and lets see what other cultures believe.

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