Have you ever savored a meal and pondered its origins or marveled at a unique culinary style? Food history delves into the fascinating stories behind our favorite dishes. As a Haitian-American, the author shares their lifelong connection to Haitian cuisine, exploring its rich tapestry woven from African, French, indigenous Taíno, Spanish, and Arab influences. This article explores some iconic Haitian dishes, unveiling the history, ingredients, and cultural significance behind them.
Griyo: Haiti's National Dish
Griyo, the national dish of Haiti, offers a flavorful glimpse into the country's history. This delectable dish features pork shoulder marinated in a vibrant blend of Haitian spices (epis) and citrus juices like lemon or lime. The marinated pork is then fried to golden perfection.
Historically, griyo held a special place in Haitian society. One theory suggests that the dish's name is inspired by West African Griots, storytellers of high social status. Similarly, Haitian griyo was once reserved for the elite and tourists due to the cost of the pork cut. Over time, griyo became more accessible, with Haitian restaurants opening and introducing this fried delicacy to a wider audience.
Griyo is typically served alongside diri ak pwa wouj (red beans and rice) and pikliz, a spicy pickled cabbage with scotch bonnet peppers, or with fried plantains.
Diri ak Pwa Rouj: A Staple Side Dish
Diri ak pwa wouj, or red beans and rice, is a ubiquitous side dish in Haitian cuisine, with roots stretching back to West Africa. Enslaved Africans brought this dish, along with ingredients like okra, pigeon peas, ackee, taro, and various spices, to Haiti. Following the Haitian Revolution, some whites and formerly enslaved people migrated to Louisiana, carrying their culinary traditions with them.
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Soup Joumou: A Symbol of Independence
Soup joumou, or pumpkin soup, holds a special place in Haitian hearts, representing freedom and resilience. During French colonization, enslaved people were forced to cook pumpkin soup for their masters but were forbidden from tasting it. After the Haitian Revolution in 1804, Haitians claimed this soup as their own, celebrating their hard-won independence every January 1st with a bowl of this flavorful dish.
Soup joumou is prepared by pureeing squash or pumpkin and adding it to chicken or vegetable broth. The addition of leftovers from Christmas or New Year’s dinner, along with pasta, potatoes, and other ingredients, makes it a hearty and versatile meal.
Dous Makos: A Sweet Treat with Belgian Roots
Dous makos, a fudge-like candy, stands as Haiti's only mass-manufactured confection. Created in 1939 by Ferdinand Makos, a Belgian-Haitian entrepreneur, in the town of Petit-Goave, dous makos draws inspiration from Spanish Turron. Unlike traditional turron, which typically features almonds, dous makos comes in various flavors like rum, cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, or almonds. Its unique stripes and diverse flavors have solidified its place as Haiti's national dessert.
Fresco: A Refreshing Italian-Inspired Treat
For a refreshing treat, fresco offers a taste of Italian influence in Haiti. Introduced by Italian migrants in the 19th century, fresco is Haiti's version of Italian ice or granita. While Sicilians prepare granita by crushing or shaving ice and flavoring it with fruits like mulberry, strawberry, or jasmine, Haitians always shave a block of ice to make fresco. They use locally grown fruits like mango, guava, soursop, pomegranate, or passion fruit for flavoring. Sold by street vendors with roasted peanuts on top, fresco is a popular treat for all ages on hot days.
A Deeper Dive into Haitian Cuisine
Haitian cuisine is a Creole cuisine, a blend of culinary styles that populated the western portion of the island of Hispaniola, namely African, French, indigenous Taíno, Spanish, and Arab influences. The barbecue originated in Haiti. The word 'barbecue' derives from the word barabicu, found in the language of the Taíno people of the Caribbean and entered European languages in the form barbacoa.
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The flavor base of much Haitian cooking is Epis, a combination sauce made from cooked peppers, garlic, and herbs, particularly green onions, thyme, and parsley.
A typical dish would probably be a plate of riz collé aux pois (diri kole ak pwa), which is rice with red kidney beans (pinto beans are often used as well) glazed with a marinade as a sauce and topped off with red snapper, tomatoes and onions. Rice is occasionally eaten with beans alone, but more often than not, some sort of meat completes the dish. Bean purée or sauce pois (sos pwa) is often poured on top of white rice. The traditional Haitian sauce pois is less thick than Cuban black bean soup. Black beans are usually the beans of choice, followed by red beans, white beans, and even peas. Chicken is frequently eaten, as are goat meat (cabrit) and beef (boeuf). Légume Haïtien (or simply "légume'" in Haiti), is a thick vegetable stew consisting of a mashed mixture of eggplant, cabbage, chayote, spinach, watercress and other vegetables depending on availability and the cook's preference. It is flavored with épice, onions, garlic, and tomato paste, and generally cooked with beef or crab. Other starches commonly eaten include yam, sweet potato, potato, and breadfruit. One of the country's best-known appetizers is the Haitian patty (pâté), which are made with either ground beef, chicken, salted cod, smoked herring (food), and ground turkey surrounded by a crispy or flaky crust. Other snacks include crispy, spicy fried malanga fritters called accra (akra), bananes pesées, and marinade a fried savory dough ball. For a complete meal, they may be served with griot (fried pork), tassot cabrit (fried goat meat) or other fried meat. These foods are served with a spicy slaw called pikliz which consists of cabbage, carrot, vinegar, Scotch bonnet pepper, and spices.
Waves of migration have also influenced Haitian cuisine.
Beverages of Haiti
Beer is one of several common alcoholic beverages consumed in Haiti. The most consumed brand of beer in Haiti is Prestige, a mild lager. Haiti is known internationally for its rum. Rhum Barbancourt is a well-known producer. Haitian rum is unique in that the distilleries use sugarcane juice directly instead of molasses like other types of rum, hence the added "h" in rhum to differentiate. Clairin (Haitian Creole: kleren) is a distilled spirit, made from cane sugar, that undergoes the same distillation process as rhum, but is less refined. It is sometimes referred to be a cheaper option than standard rhum in Haiti. Crémas, also spelled Crémasse (Haitian Creole: kremas), is a sweet and creamy alcoholic beverage native to Haiti. The beverage is made primarily from creamed coconut, sweetened condensed or evaporated milk, and rum. Various other spices are added for additional flavoring such as cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, as well as miscellaneous ingredients such as the widely used vanilla extract or raisins. Due to its tropical climate, juice is a mainstay in Haiti. Juices from many fruits are commonly made and can be found everywhere. Guava juice, grapefruit juice, mango juice, along with the juices of many citrus fruits (orange, granadilla, passion fruit, etc.) are enjoyed. Malt beverages, which are non-alcoholic drinks consisting of unfermented barley with molasses added for flavor are commonly drunk. Fruit champagne flavored Cola Couronne, is arguably the most popular soda in Haiti and its diaspora, as it is a stapled beverage since 1924. Sweet, strong coffee is enjoyed throughout the nation.
More Haitian Desserts
Many types of desserts are eaten in Haiti ranging from the mild to sweet. Sugarcane is used frequently in the making of these desserts, although granulated sugar is also used often. A shaved ice dessert, fresco, is similar to an Italian ice, but consists primarily of fruit syrup. Pain patate (pen patat) is a soft sweet bread made using cinnamon, evaporated milk, and sweet potato. Akasan is a thick corn milkshake with a consistency similar to that of labouille (labouyi), a type of cornmeal porridge.
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Dining Etiquette
A dinner invitation is a very formal circumstance, whether it comes from someone of low social class or elite class. Dress-casual up to formal dress would be appropriate. Knives and forks are used the European way (the knife remains in the right hand and the fork remains in the left throughout the meal).