Cooking Creole

I was thinking how to get you focused on the terrible tragedy going on in Haiti and then I realized that maybe by using our Foodie Friday post to show you how close to home Haiti really is I could do so.  “Yeah,” you’re thinking, “it’s right there offshore a bit – that’s pretty close.”  Well, it’s closer than that.  I’m not thinking about the big Haitian community in Brooklyn either.  Nope.  I’m thinking about Creole gumbo from the Bayou, yes sir.

500 years ago, Europeans moved into Africa.  They brought new ingredients and the Africans used them in their traditional cooking.  Among the traditions was the method of pounding and grinding grains, seeds, and other things to make a paste to add to things.  This is probably the origin of the “roux”, which, as anyone who has ever eaten food in New Orleans is aware, is the start of damn near every recipe from around there.  “First, make you a roux” is how they put it.  Haitian food uses the same roux.  Creole isn’t a term only for Louisiana.

Red beans and rice is a well-known New Orleans favorite.  In Haiti they are called “Pois Rouge en Sauce” or “Pois et Riz Colles.  Same dish, same roots.  Close to home.

A better oveview:

Haiti has picked up different cooking styles that are now harmoniously blended with the African and French major influences. Visitors and locals alike enjoy the roast goat called ‘kabrit’, the fried Pork ‘griot’ or poultry with a Creole sauce ‘poulet creole’, to name just some of the most popular meat dishes. Haiti displays a general coastal cuisine, with fish meat, lobster, shrimp and sea-food readily available. Fruit including guava, pineapple, mango, banana, melons, breadfruit is often used in fruit salads, compotes or other delicious desserts. Sugarcane is often prepared and sold on streets and enjoyed at home as well as a tasty treat or snack. Coconuts are often the number one choice when it comes to beverages.

In Texas, it’s called “cabrito” but it’s the same roasted goat.  You get my point.

Today, right now, a lot of people are starving there.  You can help:

Text message (text “HAITI” to 20222 to donate $10 to U.N. relief efforts).  Check out these 10 ways you can help now.  But do something.