Food, Glorious Food

Food. Always a topic of interest, eh? Here in Haiti, and particularly in Dezam, the main meal of the day is lunch (called "diner"). Breakfast and dinner also exist (for those who can afford it anyway), but receive much less attention. The family with which I have been living in Dezam has a good-sized breakfast, a huge lunch, and maybe a few bites of left-over rice for dinner. Personally, I haven't been hungry for dinner during my time here because I've been eating so much at lunch (and also because I go to sleep around the time I would normally have dinner in the States).

Here in Dezam, the food has been wonderful! (Of course, the family has been very understanding about my vegetarianism, which significantly reduces the number of "inedible" dishes they might serve me.) Rice is the staple, though 20 years ago or so that was not the case. Previously corn & millet were staples, but today Haitians don't consider themselves as having eaten if the meal didn't include rice.

Maggi is also a staple. Everything includes a good amount of Maggi, which is similar to bouillon cubes. As far as I can tell, it's lots of salt, some garlic, and several manufactured flavors.

Here are a few dishes I've tried.

Breakfast
Spaghetti. Spaghetti is the meal of choice for breakfast. (Yes, Michelle, my strange eating habits have paid off!) The noodles are boiled, drained, and returned to the pot. Then, several tablespoons worth of oil are added in along with about 1 or 1.5 tablespoons of tomato paste. Sonya also adds about a tablespoon worth of a paste that she makes from maggi, ham(?), garlic, water, and a parsley-like leaf. That combination is fried for several minutes, basically till it's starting to burn, and then served. Sometimes avocados or hard-boiled eggs are added on top (though I was the only one who ever received those additions, so I'm guessing they're not too common).

Plantains. Another dish I had one morning was boiled plantains in a red sauce. I didn't see how it was made, but the sauce didn't have much flavor. I'm guessing another combination of oil, water, and tomato paste.

Bread with Peanut butter. Another common breakfast is bread with peanut butter. This is always served with coffee. My first day when I asked for coffee, Sonya apologized that she couldn't make coffee for me because she didn't have any bread & peanut butter. I assured her that I could have my coffee without bread and peanut butter.

Coffee. Speaking of...coffee in PaP is strong -- more like espresso than drip coffee. In the country side, it's strong and sweet. The coffee is boiled in as much sugar as water. Quite a way to start the day.

Dinner & Supper (or Lunch & Dinner)
Rice. Again, rice is the staple. Haitians grow wonderful rice. Unfortunately, "Miami Rice" (rice from the States) is cheaper, so generally you end up eating Miami rice.

Corn. The family that I live with sometimes replaces rice with corn, but it's quite the process. First, they roast a bunch of corn on the cob. Then, while they corn is still hot, they remove all the kernels and let them sit in the sun to dry. This is usually done day 1. Day 2, they grind up the corn and recook it. The result tastes, looks, and has texture similar to couscous. It's wonderful.

Beans. Most everything comes with beans in some form. I'm not sure what type they are, but they're brown. Sometimes the beans and some juice are mixed in with the rice. Sometimes a bowl of bean sauce accompanies the dish.

Legum (Vegetables). "Legum" is a large pot of vegetables. They are cooked to the point where they melt in your mouth. It's almost like a stew, but with less liquid. When you ask what kind of vegetables are in the Legum, they look at you like you're crazy and repeat, "Legum." From what I can tell, there are carrots and potatoes, but there are other vegetables in there too that give the dish a green color. I've been warned that sometimes I might find large chunks of meat in my legum. And, of course, plenty of Maggi.

Fe (Leaves). "Fe" is similar to legum, except that it's made with a variety of leaves. The main leaf is called "epinar," which means spinach, but it's a different variety than what we consume in the States. Fe also requires Maggi.

Kalalou (Okra). Another popular choice is okra cooked in its sauce. It's nothing like the okra mom makes, but is still good.

Piklis with Banan Pese. Piklis is a spicy cabbage. Think spicy coleslaw. It is served with fried plantains. mmmm....

Other dishes often include fish, konch, eggs, chicken, goat, pork, etc. As I'm sure you could guess, food in PaP varies a bit from food in Dezam in that there are more choices in PaP. With all of the food imported into Haiti, you could essentially live your whole life in PaP eating all the same foods Americans eat. Unfortunately some people do that.

Ok, enough for now. ciao.

-L