Before the parade starts, I go in search of a snack and find a food stall tucked away from all the crowds.
The man being served ahead of me, Dave, bites into his snack and he’s instantly in heaven.
“When I bite into this, I feel like I’m about to land in Trinidad and I’m looking out of the window at the beauty,” he says, still with his eyes closed, imagining it.
He’s eating “doubles”, a street food snack of flatbreads filled with curried chickpeas.
The woman serving, Christina Bedau, asks if I want to try it. Of course I do. But, hold the extra spice please, as I’m useless with anything too hot.
Christina hands me her creation, and it looks great. When I taste it, I can see what Dave means, although, I think to make it a fair comparison, I should probably fly to Trinidad just to check he’s being accurate.
Christina has been coming to Notting Hill Carnival with her food stall, Sweet Hand Cuisine, for the past seven years. She says she “has to come” because if she didn’t, the regulars who come back every year would be “up in arms”.
She estimates she’ll sell at least 500 doubles this weekend.