Compliments of Roti Roti International Roti and Doubles Week

By Stephen Weir

If it were any bigger, the city would have had to widen Albion Road and Islington Avenue. An 8-foot roti takes up a lot of space, even when parked at a major intersection. Last week, as part of Roti Roti International Roti and Doubles Week, Ronnie Ramsewak found a good way to clear the streets of a freshly cooked mammoth roti by cutting it up and feeding it to the contestants and spectators of the Doubles Eating Contest.

The contest and the cooking of the giant roti took place right in the middle of the intersection of two important streets in North West Etobicoke. Dubbed the Albion Islington Square, the area offers a unique and exciting shopping experience featuring the largest concentration of jewellery stores in Toronto and, of course, the home of the Roti Roti restaurant. Ron Ramsewak is the owner of the roti shop and head of the neighbourhood association. He told the Caribbean Camera that because they were making the Record-Breaking World’s Largest Paratha (buss up shot), the street was filled. It was fun to see the Indian-style flatbread cooked on a large, flat open grill while a team of chefs rotated the food with what looked like full-sized canoe paddles!

There was also a stage set up behind the cooks where the Royal Tasa drumming band and the Panache Steelband performed. The annual Doubles Eating Contest was staged on a long table stretching almost all the way across the street. The contest was simple – who could eat the most doubles in the least amount of time. There were some women in the contest, but it was the men who won it all by stuffing 17 doubles into their stomachs in 15 minutes.

Tracey Ramsubagh-Mannette, the Trinidad and Tobago Consul General (Ag.), was one of the judges and took the pictures on this page. Also helping out with the contest was Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.