Folks,
New Year’s Day in Haiti brings great celebration as people commemorate January 1, 1804 when Haiti freed itself from France after two centuries of colonization. Key to the festivities is eating Soup Joumou (Pumpkin Soup).
Usually I come back to the States for the holidays with my family and mother. One year, however, I stayed in Haiti and was baffled by the lack of excitement about Christmas. Instead, New Year’s Day is the big deal. And, believe me, that’s an understatement.
Soup Joumou is key. When the Haitians were enslaved, they worked in the fields often cultivating pumpkins. However, they were forbidden to eat them, and the harvests were shipped back to Europe or eaten by the overmasters. When the Haitians succeeded in overthrowing the French colonials in the first victorious slave rebellion in history, they celebrated by making pumpkin soup and eating it for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner on January 1. These days, everyone grows pumpkins in their garden patches, and there is an abundance of pumpkins in the market around the New Year.
I visited a number of homes that New Year’s Day when I was in Haiti. Each family had made two soups – one with the traditional beef base and one vegetarian. I suspect they made the latter for me as there was very little of it to go around, and my vegetarian eating habits are well known and commented upon.
Subsequently, I made Soup Joumou in my own home. I used carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs along with the pumpkin. Of course, I stewed it in vegetable broth. I thought it was fabulous but no one else liked it. They thought it was too bland.
And, I can hardly blame them. Haitians deserve all the flare, spice, heartiness, and exuberance possible when celebrating their freedom from oppression.
Michael Anello
Executive Director