Vance River, La Brea, resident Denzil Edwards’ journey is a clear example of a 360-degree turnaround: from being booted out of a youth camp to forging a temporary life in Canada and toiling in agricultural fields, he has learned that a simple life is worth living.
His path may seem straightforward, but it was filled with twists and turns. Today, Edwards has settled into and is enjoying a sustainable trade as a corn vendor.
For more than 12 years, he has supplied the popular treat to locals and visitors alike, using corn from his own garden and from suppliers.
When Guardian Media visited Edwards’ roadside stall along Vance River, La Brea, he was rhythmically fanning the coals in a cold pot, turning golden, buttery kernels into a charred, glazed, mouth-watering delight, finished with a lime-based sauce containing pepper, salt and his secret sour-fruit ingredient.
Edwards said he grew up in the Vance River community among settlers from Grenada, St Vincent and Carriacou.
“They are the people who built my community,” he said, referring to their contribution to agriculture and farming.
Edwards said, “I watched them plant corn fields; that was our staple diet. They were the people who built my village, the farmers and the ones who worked in the oilfield. They were our uncles and grandparents. This was the food back then: we make cornmeal dumplings, chillibibi, parch corn, then we come out with the roast and boil, and then I come and create a pepper corn.”
Now 65, Edwards recalled that in 1979, his mother, in an attempt to provide him with a better life outside Trinidad, moved him to Canada after he was denied entry to a youth boot camp to learn agriculture.
He stayed there long enough to build a family and is now the proud father of five children and four grandchildren.
As the corn-vending industry became saturated, Edwards said he realised he had to improve his game, applying knowledge he had gained from a friend.
“I have a friend from India, and he tell me they does rub a pepper, lime and sprinkle some salt on a corn, so I create a sauce, a pepper lime sauce with a Trinidadian sour fruit, that is my secret, and I does call it the mumbie corn or the spicy corn or pepper corn,” he said.
Edwards shares the business with his wife, Pauline. Together, the duo chop wood and bamboo, prepare the steaming station, light the coals for roasting and wait for customers daily.
He said the trade attracts people from all parts of the country. Corn, he noted, has nutritional benefits, as it is rich in carbohydrates. There is also growing demand for what he calls “corn hair (silk)” for medicinal purposes.
“It is a big demand; they draw the hair in hot water and use it for prostate, dialysis, kidney, and to reduce sugar for people who are diabetic,” he said.
According to Edwards, corn cannot be properly roasted over a gas stove. To produce the best-tasting roast corn, a steady supply of wood is essential.
He started selling near the Point Fortin roundabout but had to relocate because of the highway expansion project. He is now based in the Vance River area, where corn vending has been a custom for 30 years.
“I am a farmer, an agriculture professional, and this is what I do to survive. The rewards are satisfactory, but the setbacks of predial larceny are daunting,” he said.
A devoted member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Edwards provides service at the same location seven days a week, including Sundays, after offering grace.
