Buss Up Shut

Buss up shut is a flaky Trinidadian flatbread, pan-fried and torn into pieces, and served with curry. It is an everyday bread of Trinidad and Tobago and belongs to the family of roti breads made across the Caribbean and South Asia, but it is served torn apart rather than rolled around a filling.

What it really is

Plain wheat flour is mixed with baking powder, salt and water into a soft dough, rested, then divided and rolled flat. The dough is cooked in a hot pan until it blisters and browns in patches, with fat added during cooking so that the layers separate and turn flaky. Once cooked, the bread is torn into rough pieces and the curry is poured over or served beside it.

Buss up shut is not a curry. The bread holds no meat or fish of its own, but it is fried in fat, so ask whether that fat is oil or ghee.

How it's served

• Hot from the pan, torn into pieces on a plate, with the curry spooned over or served alongside.
• Eaten by hand, with the curry scooped up in the torn bread.
• Often eaten at breakfast or as a main meal, with chickpea (channa) and potato curry a common partner.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the bread as a wheat-flour flatbread, and name the curry separately with its protein, such as chicken, goat, beef or chickpea.
• Flag wheat. If the kitchen fries the bread in ghee, add milk to the allergen line.
• State whether the bread is sold plain or with a curry, since they are different items and prices.
• Say how the bread is cooked, so guests know whether it is pan-fried in oil or ghee.