Soup Joumou
Haiti's pumpkin soup carries a real, documented history: enslaved Haitians grew and prepared this squash soup for their French enslavers but were forbidden from eating it themselves, a status symbol reserved for colonizers. When Haiti won independence on January 1, 1804, formerly enslaved Haitians made the soup for themselves for the first time, and it's remained a lasting symbol of freedom ever since, eaten by Haitians worldwide every New Year's Day. UNESCO inscribed it on its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in December 2021, Haiti's first such inscription. A Haitian citrus-and-garlic marinade called epis, rubbed into the beef ahead of cooking, is essential to real soup joumou, not an optional flourish.
⚠ Contains: Gluten. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 1 kg calabaza or butternut squash, chunked
- 600g beef chuck or shank, cubed
- Juice of 2 limes, plus garlic, for the epis marinade
- 1/4 cabbage, shredded
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 2 potatoes, chunked
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 whole Scotch bonnet pepper
- Thyme and parsley
- 1 green plantain, sliced
- 100g small pasta (vermicelli)
Steps
- Marinate the beef in the lime juice, garlic, and epis seasoning for at least an hour.
- Simmer the beef in water until tender.
- Separately boil the pumpkin until soft, then purée and stir into the beef broth.
- Add the cabbage, carrots, potato, celery, plantain, and whole Scotch bonnet, and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the pasta in the last 10 minutes, season, and serve hot.