{"id":64102,"date":"2021-07-24T07:00:22","date_gmt":"2021-07-24T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=64102"},"modified":"2021-07-26T09:51:37","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T13:51:37","slug":"alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/","title":{"rendered":"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time I walked into Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale, owner Shiraz Aligour, whom I had never before met, took one look at me and asked, \u201cWhich one of the Sigoolam girls is your mother?\u201d \u201cSharma,\u201d I answered. \u201cThe prettiest one,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

Ali\u2019s has since been my local temple, community center, newsstand and respite from the city\u2019s cold. No one in my family has ever visited me without a stop at Ali’s, and every one of my close friends has shared a meal with me there\u2014their rotis are notoriously large enough to be split between two.<\/p>\n

I introduced students in my \u201cIndo-Caribbean in Canada\u201d course to \u201cphulorie,\u201d \u201caloo pies\u201d and \u201cMauby drink\u201d at Ali\u2019s, and I\u2019m fairly certain the notoriety of that annual field trip kept the course consistently full over the decade that it was offered at York University.<\/p>\n

For all the years that my then partner and I shared a home in Toronto, Sunday dinner was usually \u201cChataigne\u201d (now sadly gone from the menu), Pumpkin and Paratha, “Trinidad’s croissant,” claimed my then love, who once tried to get Aligour to FedEx a box of rotis to France. (Aligour, ever the entrepreneur, was game).<\/p>\n

Aligour landed in Parkdale when he migrated to Canada in 1972. \u201cI lived at Westlodge, which was very popular and had a lot of Caribbean people,\u201d he told me recently.<\/p>\n

His first job was at Viceroy factory at Dupont and Dundas making rubber bands. \u201cNear it was a school offering a welding licence, so I did that. But I was no welder.\u201d He picked up a few temporary jobs, including one with CP Rail, but was so badly hurt at work in 1975 that he had to have major back surgery.<\/p>\n

Opportunity struck while he was still recovering. \u201cThere was a little place called Dindial Roti Shop on Macdonnell Ave.,\u201d he recalled.  \u201cThey ran it for a year, but they had some difficulties in the family, and wanted to sell.\u201d Friendly with the Aligours, they agreed to sell the business to him, and provided training on their roti-making techniques. \u201cWe knew how to make roti, at home, of course, but they showed us how to make it commercially.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali\u2019s Roti opened shop on July 13, 1976. \u201cThat day was a blessing,\u201d Ali says, \u201cI had no education, where would I find a job?\u201d The 200 sq.-ft. space on Macdonnell fit a very small kitchen with a four-burner 24-inch stove, a cash register, a small bathroom and an old yellow fridge with a small freezer. Aligour\u2019s day began at 7 a.m. with the boiling and grinding of split peas to fill into the roti. They opened six days a week. He also became a mainstay on the Caribbean community cultural scene, setting up stalls at cricket games and Caribana events. \u201cI would go set up a booth whenever I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he moved the business to its current location on Queen Street West, in 1985, the new space felt \u201clike a football field.\u201d Over the years, Ali expanded the menu from its original selection of four rotis \u2013 chicken, beef, goat and potato \u2013 to over 60 items that include Trini-Chinese cuisine, a range of snackable appetizers and creole desserts and its most popular item — the iconic curry chickpea Trinidadian street food \u201cdoubles,\u201d alongside the Indo-Caribbean mainstays.<\/p>\n

The menu has also evolved with the demographic changes in the area. \u201cWhen we started,\u201d he says, \u201cthe West Indians would come from all over to get roti, but the white people did not know what roti is…I used to pick one up and explain that \u2018it\u2019s round like a pizza, but not heavy like a pizza\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, reflecting the changed population in Parkdale, most of his passionate clientele are not West Indians. Boneless chicken rotis became much more popular over the more flavorful bone-in style favoured by West Indians, and parathas became preferred over dal puris. \u201cThe South Asians and others familiar with South Asian cuisine wanted a plated meal,\u201d he says, instead of the traditional, parcelled roti that is ubiquitous throughout the Caribbean (though both remain best sellers).<\/p>\n

Aligour confirms that the attempts to rebrand Parkdale as Vegandale is fed by demand. \u201cWhen we started, everyone just wanted meat,\u201d he says. But now, the vegetarian and vegan dishes that are a mainstay of Indo-Caribbean households , like steam\/fried pumpkin and spinach, are very popular.<\/p>\n

Aligour recently turned 68, but still puts in full days at the shop. Technological developments, like the mechanical roti maker, have lessened the labour burden. But running a restaurant is, of course, a full time commitment. He has spent all 50 years of his life in Canada in Parkdale, and has never thought about living elsewhere. He\u2019s made home here. I ask Aligour if either of his children have any plans to continue the business. \u201cThey\u2019d like to, but they realize it\u2019s a lot of hard work. A lot of hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Andil Gosine is Professor of Environmental Arts and Justice at York University, and author of <\/em>Nature\u2019s Wild: Love, Sex and Law in the Caribbean<\/b> (Duke University Press, 2021). For more details, follow <\/em>IG @natureswildbook. <\/em><\/p>\n

photo courtesy of Grant Scott\/The Dale Ministries<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first time I walked into Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale, owner Shiraz Aligour, whom I had never before met, took one look at me and asked, \u201cWhich one of the Sigoolam girls is your mother?\u201d \u201cSharma,\u201d I answered. \u201cThe prettiest one,\u201d he replied. Ali\u2019s has since been my local temple, community center, newsstand and respiteContinue reading “Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8491,"featured_media":64144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neighbourhoods"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAli\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45 - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45 - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first time I walked into Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale, owner Shiraz Aligour, whom I had never before met, took one look at me and asked, \u201cWhich one of the Sigoolam girls is your mother?\u201d \u201cSharma,\u201d I answered. \u201cThe prettiest one,\u201d he replied. Ali\u2019s has since been my local temple, community center, newsstand and respiteContinue reading "Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-24T11:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-26T13:51:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andil Gosine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andil Gosine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/\",\"name\":\"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45 - Spacing Toronto\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-24T11:00:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-26T13:51:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/3d5acd0a5abadfb4fd2bf9b9ca0cb4c7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1366},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Toronto\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/3d5acd0a5abadfb4fd2bf9b9ca0cb4c7\",\"name\":\"Andil Gosine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0fab7a70cc0622263583116b334b9cfd?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0fab7a70cc0622263583116b334b9cfd?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andil Gosine\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/andilgosine\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45 - Spacing Toronto","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45 - Spacing Toronto","og_description":"The first time I walked into Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale, owner Shiraz Aligour, whom I had never before met, took one look at me and asked, \u201cWhich one of the Sigoolam girls is your mother?\u201d \u201cSharma,\u201d I answered. \u201cThe prettiest one,\u201d he replied. Ali\u2019s has since been my local temple, community center, newsstand and respiteContinue reading \"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2021-07-24T11:00:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-26T13:51:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1366,"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andil Gosine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andil Gosine","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/","name":"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45 - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg","datePublished":"2021-07-24T11:00:22+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-26T13:51:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/3d5acd0a5abadfb4fd2bf9b9ca0cb4c7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/07\/alisroti.jpg","width":2048,"height":1366},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2021\/07\/24\/alis-roti-in-parkdale-turns-45\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ali\u2019s Roti in Parkdale turns 45"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/3d5acd0a5abadfb4fd2bf9b9ca0cb4c7","name":"Andil Gosine","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0fab7a70cc0622263583116b334b9cfd?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0fab7a70cc0622263583116b334b9cfd?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Andil Gosine"},"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/andilgosine\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8491"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64102"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64147,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64102\/revisions\/64147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}