The Master Chef of Listra's Soup Corner

 by Onica Dick (The Poetess Neki)

Meet Listra Douglas Charles of Listra's Soup Corner 

It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon with fine weather, and I am at the location of Listra's Soup Corner on the main road in the village of Black Rock. There are a number of customers making their Saturday soup purchase. Many of them are eager and happy to be here. I am told that numerous customers from "all over" come to buy the soup. I even see many familiar faces while I am there and people who I have not seen in years.

Listra's Soup Corner at Black Rock Main Road, Tobago 

Listra Douglas Charles, a resident of Black Rock has been in the business of cooking and selling soup for the last seven years. As we speak, I ask her what inspired her to start the business. She humbly states, "Well, it was really based on the fact that I was in the business of selling Barbeque. A lot of guys used to lime here and they started giving me the advice that soup might be a better seller, so I decided to try it and that is how the selling of the soup took off. The name also came out of that because I am Listra."

Listra is the main chef, and she gets the assistance from her daughter Nyoka and other family members. I ask her about the preparation that goes into the making of the soup. She responds by saying that it is mainly about ensuring that there are provisions and the other ingredients such as the meat and the vegetables.

At Listra's Soup Corner, they sell soup weekly from Wednesday to Saturday. During the week, the soups available are corn and dasheen. On Fridays, susumber soup is added to the menu and on Saturdays, they offer split peas, pigeon peas and dasheen soup. They start off each day at 11am and go until they are sold out.

Their price ranges are based on the type of meat in the soup. For chicken foot and or smoked bone, the small is $25.00, the medium is $30 and the large is $40.00. Soup with pigtail or cowheel, the prices are small -$35.00, medium -$40.00 and large -$50.00. There is an additional cost of $5.00 or $10.00 for customers who may want anything extra.

Soup prices at Listra's Soup Corner 

During the interview, I meet a customer Angel who I have not seen in years, and she agrees to be interviewed and give her thoughts on why she is one of the regulars. She tells me that the staff of Listra's is very friendly with excellent customer service, and the soup is delicious. She especially loves the dasheen bush with the smoked bones and the pigtail. She is also of the opinion that Listra's is the best in Tobago.

Angel tells us why she is a regular customer at Listra's Soup Corner in Black Rock

Angel, a regular customer at Listra's Soup Corner in Black Rock

"What are some of the best moments you have experienced from doing this business?" I ask. She tells me, "You see when it is carnival time, the sales does increase. Around that time, we tend to do really good. That is what I can say are really good moments."

However, in everything, there is always a challenge. She expresses, "The cost of goods are on the rise. Before COVID, I was doing really good but when it came and passed, things sort of went down. The business now has its ups and downs. Some days may be good and some days we barely scrape it."

She even tells me that if there is anyone who wants to get into the food business these days or even to sell soup, she would advise them not to. However, she still had this to say, "The business had its challenges. However, if one is still willing to take the chance, then by all means. It is a lot of hard work. The rewards are sometimes few and other times very fruitful. Sometimes you may want to give up, but each to his own. Just remember that whatever you set out to do, do it with a good mind, if you don't have a passion for what you do, it will not be successful."

As part of the interview, she gives me samples in small bowl sizes of the three different soups for the day. I take Pigeon peas with Pigtail. My daughter, who has come with me to the interview, has Dasheen Bush with Chicken foot and cowheel and the third bowl is Split peas with beef.

Samples of Pigeon Peas and Dasheen Bush Soup at Listra's Soup Corner 

Sample of Split Peas Soup at Listra's Soup Corner 

Tasting the pigeon peas soup

Tasting the split peas soup

My daughter gives her review of the Dasheen Bush Soup from Listra's Soup Corner 

As I pull the curtain on the interview she says, "Come check us out at Listra's Soup Corner for all your different types of soups. Most important, we have the best, best soup in Tobago."

Thank you Listra's Soup Corner for Bloggin With Neki