What do Foodies Really Eat for Valentines?

There are so many Foodie Influencers out there and I’m sure you have been wondering: What do they eat for Valentines? or What are their Favourite PLACES to dine out? Well, I was able to chat with a few of them who gave me some insight.

So let’s talk Valentine’s Day. We know it’s a day to show our love and affection to the ones we love, but where did it come from? One belief is that Valentine’s day was named after Saint Valentine, who would marry soldiers in Rome in secret after a law was passed to prevent them from getting married. Eventually, he was found and jailed and was executed on February 14. During his time there, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter, and when he was about to be executed, he wrote a love letter to her and signed it “ From your Valentine.” About 200 years after, the Pope abolished this law and proclaimed February 14 “Saint Valentine’s Day.” Valentine’s Day then became an annual festival to celebrate romantic love by sending messages of love and affection to your partners.

Since then, it has transformed to showing love by sharing a meal together, with that person you love. In Trinidad we do so many different things; some go to restaurants, others cook a romantic meal at home, while some just don’t even bother hyping it. Everyone celebrates differently, but it always involves something to eat! I had a chat with some of my favourite foodies and chefs and they shared some of their food choices when celebrating the day of Love.

Natasha of Trini Cooking with Natasha loves a home cooked meal. One of her favourites is grilled lamb chops or a delectable duck breast, paired with a cranberry wine sauce. Natasha seasons her lamb with the delicious flavours of garlic and rosemary and sears it in a hot pan on the stove before finishing it off in the oven. She loves pairing this with some grilled vegetables or homemade mash potatoes. That sounds absolutely delicious! don’t you think? She actually shows you how to make it on her youtube channel, so head on over there for some other inspirations for your Valentine’s day.

Natasha’s Grilled lamb chops

Lamb is generously seasoned and seared before being finished off in the oven.

Camille is a well-known foodie on social media and is the face behind foodfanatictt on Instagram. She loves to cook and to eat out, so one of her ideal Valentine’s home-cooked meals was an Alfredo Lamb Lasagna or as she calls it “Catch a Man Lasagna.” That’s her exact words and I’m not kidding! LOL….. Instead of your typical red sauce for lasagna, she uses an Alfredo type one and adds minced lamb to it which takes a traditional lasagna to a whole new level. I’m sure some of you out there want this recipe ASAP ;). For Valentine’s day, both she and her husband believes in mixing things up by either going out or just chilling at home.

Brent of Hungry Belly 868 is another foodie who loves eating out just as much as cooking at home. When it comes to going out, Josephs or Angelo’s sets the mood right for him and his wife. But if he decided to stay home, a simple but very romantic White Wine Shrimp Linguini is on the menu. As for dessert, he usually picks up a few things from his favourite dessert place, DP Cakery, because it’s too darn hard to chose just one!!

One of brent’s favourite cakes from DP Cakery.

My girl Reshmi from Taste of Trini is well known for her home-cooked meals and step by step videos. So I wasn’t surprised when she said she is up for Shrimp Fried Rice, Lasagna, Bacon wrapped Scallops, Crab Potato Salad and Oven Barbeque or Jerked Chicken. I think I need to go by Reshmi this Valentine’s yes..lol… She throws it down for sure! Oh and I almost forgot….that’s not all; she finishes it up with a Caramel Flan and New York-style Cheesecake. You can check out all of her recipes on her youtube channel as well if you are planning an extravagant menu like hers.

a delicious HOME-COOKED meal from Reshmi

Including her scrumptious oven bbq chicken.

Zaak from Foodie Tales with Zaak like to do things a bit differently. He opts for a Valentine's breakfast! He loves heading out or staying in for a big breakfast spread. This usually includes omelettes, french toast, pancakes, breakfast potatoes…the works! And he even gave me a little secret- he likes to add a little pink colouring to his batters to make it, even more, flowing with love. I definitely like the sound of that and will be stealing your little secret ....LOL.

Crystal is another one of my favourite foodies and she is the face behind the page I Dream of Foodie. So for her, seafood and Italian food screams romance! She expects lobster, shrimp or mussels doused in a rich sauce or broth. Throw in something Italian and her mood is almost ready. I say almost because no Valentine’s is over without a scrumptious dessert! She believes that Valentine’s is not complete unless chocolate is on the menu. And I must agree with her there for sure because I’m a chocoholic as well. Some of her favourite restaurants which meets all criteria, inclusive of a romantic location are Buzo and Sails.

We all know the well-loved chef, Chef Jason Peru. And you know he is the original bubbling star who is anything but simple when it comes to food. He likes to turn things way up with a delicious mushroom risotto topped with fresh parmesan, accompanied by grilled chicken for a delicious Valentine’s dinner. He also loves to include authentic sushi made with only the freshest ingredients and great quality seafood. And in the chef’s very own words “ the raw appeal of tuna, salmon and other types of fish, fosters thoughts of carnal desire which surely propels aphrodisiac motivations for me.” I think some of you guys out there ought to take some notes here! He loves ending off the evening with a decadent dessert of either a seven-layered chocolate cake or tempura cheesecake with a rum caramel sauce.

Chef jason peru has to include sushi on his Valentine's menu.

For me, my husband and I like to share it with our girls, where he would gift them with something special like a rose and chocolates (which they love), and he would bring home dinner for us to share together. And this must include dessert as well :). During our years of courtship (19 years to be specific), we went from him picking up dinner and us having dinner at home (when we couldn’t afford going out), to us going out for dinner at our favourite restaurants and then to me cooking something delicious like lamb chops with creamy mashed potatoes. We tried it all. Now after so many years and 2 kids later, I prefer to take a little break from cooking for this day so that all of us can more focus on enjoying each other’s company. We also stay away from the restaurants because it’s a time when the restaurants are super packed. This year we are thinking of some delicious sushi from Myle Sushi which we are so hooked on right now.

So as you can see, all of these foodies and chefs like to do different things for the day of love. All in all, it all depends on what you like doing and enjoying together. So this Valentine's, I hope you all can gain some inspiration on what to do for you loved ones and whatever you do, I'm sure will be well worth it 😉.

Oh and before I forget, be sure to follow all these amazing foodies to see what their food adventures are like throughout the year. They will have all of you drooling everyday 😁. You can find them all in facebook and instagram :).