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Manje ayisyen

A short glossary. Soup joumou is first because it is not only a dish.

Soup joumou

Squash soup eaten every 1 January. Under slavery the enslaved cooked it and were forbidden to eat it; after independence it became the dish of the free. Inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2021 — the first Haitian entry.

Diri kole ak pwa

Rice cooked together with beans, the everyday centre of the table.

Griyo

Pork marinated in sour orange, boiled then fried. Usually with pikliz.

Pikliz

Cabbage, carrot and scotch bonnet pickled in vinegar. Hot, and meant to be.

Bannann peze

Plantain fried, flattened, fried again.

Legim

A dense stew of aubergine, chayote and greens, usually with meat.

Mayi moulen

Cornmeal, served with sòs pwa — a bean sauce poured over.

Akra

Fritters of grated malanga, fried crisp.

Kremas

Thick sweet drink of coconut, condensed milk and rum. Christmas and New Year.