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    Resources » Haitian Food

    Haitian Food

    Posted On March 12, 2021 By Mirlene Last updated March 12, 2021 29 Comments

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    Haitian Food Recipe Pin

    Haitian food is one of the underrepresented culinary cuisine that we hope to bring to the forefront. Contrary to popular perceptions, Haitian food is not spicy in terms of heat, but it is full of palate friendly flavors that we are sure you’ll enjoy.

    • haitian black rice topped with green peas and orange bell peppers
      Haitian Black Rice

    Not to say that peppers aren’t included, but there is a trick to extrapolate the flavors from the peppers without extracting the heat (don’t break it). 

    Haitian Cuisine: Culinary History

    What makes Haitian cuisine unique? Well, to better understand it, you must know part of the culinary history. One of the several islands in the Caribbean inhabited by the Taino people, who cured and preserve meat via a method that we today call Barbecue.

    When the Spanish conquistadors fumbled on the island in 1492, they witnessed this preservation method that they initially called barbacoa.

    The island that we now refer to as Haiti is the actual origination of barbecue where this style of preservation and cooking was first discovered by the Europeans.

    Barbecue was eventually introduced to American cuisine three centuries later in the late 1800s during the cattle boom.

    Haitian cuisine still remains true to pre-colonialism cuisine and its West African roots while adopting some European flavors.

    And of course, with Arab migration to Haiti, we have also adopted some middle eastern influence. As a previous Spain and French colony, Haiti married its culinary roots along with other migrated ethnicities to the island to bring you an amazing culinary experience.

    Continued influence of Haitian cuisine and culture can easily be seen throughout the United States, but mainly focusing on Louisiana.

    Henri Christophe who later became the first Haitian King in the North was one of over five hundred free Haitian slaves who helped America fight for its independence.

    They were known as the Chasseurs Volontaires, meaning volunteered, who came to America to help in the revolutionary war.

    Many of these slaves migrated to the South after the war, and today we are seeing the influence of their migration in Louisiana Creole cuisine and culture.

    The introduction of red beans and rice, chayote (militon), cooked millet (piti mi) are all Haitian foods integrated in now creole cuisine in the South. 

    • Instant Pot Haitian Rice And Beans - Red beans and rice is a popular dish in Haiti. Traditionally prepared with Haitian Epis (Haitian Seasoning Base), and served throughout the year. The flavors in this Haitian red beans and rice is as bold as any flavors you will find in other Haitian food recipes. This delicious and nourishing dish is an instant pot version. Thanks to pressure cookers, Haitian rice can be made in a matter of minutes! 

    Food Preparation

    One thing that is true of Haitian cuisine is the cleanliness of the food preparation. Meats, such as chicken, like this poulet en sauce, and others are prepared meticulously to ensure that bacteria do not develop during preparation.

    • Poulet En Sauce - Authentic Haitian Chicken stew
      Poulet En Sauce

    Keep in mind that Haiti is a tropical country with average temperatures ranging between 85-95 degrees.

    Even with scarce refrigeration due to limited electricity, we still remained true to our ancestral roots in regard to meat preservation.

    We continued to maintain similar methods used by the Taino people, pre-colonialism.

    Today we also clean meats with some form of acidity such as lemons, limes, sour oranges, and or vinegar. The saying is, you should be able to eat it after cleaning it. 

    • Savory Thoughts - Haitian Tasso (Steak Bites, Fried Beef Tips, Beef Bites). Haitian Tasso is famous in Haiti. In other parts of the world they are called steak bites, fried beef tips, or beef bites. I call them mouthwatering! Not to mention they are gluten-free!
      Haitian Tasso

    Preparing Haitian food can be a long tedious process, but honestly it does not have to be.

    On our site, we are showing some effective ways to not only reduce the time spent in the preparation of the food, but increasing the time enjoying it.

    We have altered some of the cooking process without sacrificing flavor in order to bring you more modernized and healthy dishes. 

    Similarities & Differences

    The world categorizes Haitian cuisine with the rest of the Caribbean cuisine. Though we do share some similarities, rice and beans, goat stew, stew chicken (poulet en sauce), and so forth.

    Haitian foods do however have unique and distinctive bold flavors. We may share stew chicken with the rest of the Caribbean, but the flavors are not the same by any means. Our foods have an extensive herb mixture and peppers.

    Rice can be cooked a variety of ways from rice and beans (diri kolé ak pwa), which can be black beans, red kidney beans, or a variety of peas.

    Plain white rice may accompany a variety of beans puree called sos pwa. Sos pwa should neither be watery or overly thick, just a perfect blend and full bodied to top over rice and at times can be eaten with bread.

    • White rice in a blue plate with green beans tofu in the background
      Haitian White Rice

    A variety of meats can accompany any dish, from goat, beef, and or chicken prepared in a variety of ways. Meats are often marinated and boiled for tenderizing and cooked to perfection. 

    Another notable dish in Haitian food is légumes.

    • Haitian Legume in white bowls
      Haitian Legume-Eggplant Stew

    A full-bodied vegetable stew made of mashed cabbage, militon (chayote), spinach, and eggplant flavored with the popular Haitian epis.

    Legumes are serves with any form of starch to include, boiled plantains, sweet potatoes (not to be confused with your typical sweet potato(batata)), rice, polenta (Mais Moulin), etc. 

    • Cornmeal with spinach in blue plate
      Mais Moulin Ak Zepina

    Our West African roots remain strong in our cuisine. For instance, tomtom, a regional dish from the South of Haiti (Jeremie) made with steamed lam véritab (breadfruit) derived from West African fufu.

    Tomtom is eaten by mixing the substance with a meat sauce and swallowing it without chewing. This was the every day slave meals during colonialism. An extremely popular and regional dish to the North from Cap-Haitien is chicken with cashew nuts (poule ak nwa).

    The last time AJ had this dish was actually in Cap-Haitien and he can personally attest the best flavor of this dish remains in the North. 

    West African Visit

    During AJ’s stay in West African, he was able to further understand the ancestral tie of our cuisine.

    • chicken on rack

    The area where he was, goat was not a common dish, but one night, he was lucky to stumble on it as they were preparing it on the street, barbacoa style. As he tried it, the flavors vividly reminded him of Haiti. Being thousand of miles away felt extremely close to home.

    The difference was only in the tenderness as we typically boil our meats in order to tenderize it. Another close to home experience was his introduction to fufu.

    Though we are not well versed in tomtom, since AJ have only eaten it once, and Mirlene a couple times, but the texture from the West African fufu did revive AJ’s tomtom experience in Haiti.

    Shito another common dish in West Africa made of spices, tomato paste and dried fish is commonly eaten in Haiti with starchy vegetables. A minor difference from its ancestral roots is in thickness of the sauce. 

    • Shito Pepper in glass jar
      Shito Pepper

    Other Notable Dishes

    Haitian spaghetti, a hearty meal, mainly served for breakfast, can be made with herring, hot dog, cod fish, or simply with spices.

    Depending on the type of meat or seafood used, the flavor changes. You can eat multiple variation of spaghettis on the same day and still be bombarded with freshly new bold flavors each time. 

    • Haitian Style pasta in pan topped with onions, sausage and peppers
      Haitian Spaghetti

    Haitian patties are one of our best-known appetizers and can be made with a variety of fillings. We have two kinds of patties and they both can be filled with ground beef or turkey, smoked herring or salted cod fish, and chicken.

    • These Mouthwatering Haitian Patties are made with flaky pastry and are filled with a highly seasoned beef filling.
      Haitian Patties

    The difference in the patties is in the dough.

    Pate kodé typically found in street foods as it is deep fried, while the other has a crisp and flaky crust which is mainly prepared in bakeries. 

    • Handing cutting the pate in half
      Vegan Pate Kode

    Our notable soup, the soup joumou, is a celebratory meal served mainly on special occasions such as New Year’s Day, which is also our Independence Day.

    • half Soup Joumou in white bowl
      Soup Joumou

    The Base of the soup joumou dish is squash. This special soup derived from the French colonial times, as the slaves would prepare it for their masters, but unable to eat it themselves.

    Now a variation of this soup is prepared throughout the country in every Haitian household around the world on New Year’s Day, every year.

    Another hearty notable soup in Haitian food is Tchaka. A stew harmoniously blends a variety of beans, corn, and meat (pork or goat) into a pot. 

    Now it would not be fair to write this entire post about Haitian food and not talk about fritay. If you have ever been to Haiti, than chances are you have had some form of fritay.

    Fritay, known as fried foods, are snacks typically served in the streets in the early evening through nightfall. Fritay consist of akra (malanga), marinade (West African beignets), bannann pesé (plantain squeezed) and various fried meats from pork, goat, beef, and or chicken.

    And of course, the dish isn’t complete until it is topped with our spicy slaw called pikliz. The acidity from the pikliz is perfect at cutting through the greasiness of the fried foods. 

    • Haitian pikliz in small jars

    It warms our hearts to see the recipes you make from this site, and we’d especially would love to know if you tried this recipe.

    Tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can see your beautiful dish.

    Also, we would appreciate if could give it a star rating below! Don’t forget to follow up on YouTube!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marc

      July 17, 2021 at 11:12 am

      Mirlene,
      I’m Haitian living in US close to 34 years, I’m always delighted to talk about our cooking, now, with your wonderful work I have a site to reinforce my conversation, people will understand me better and see the great unique flavored dishes we prepare. THUMBS UP 👍. Marc

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        July 20, 2021 at 11:09 am

        Marc, Thank you so much. Our goal and mission is to educate the world about our culture through food. Thank you so much for your support and comment. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Persy

      April 10, 2021 at 1:10 pm

      Mirlene,
      Your article is a breath of fresh air. Job very well done on our cuisine.
      Continue the great work.

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        April 11, 2021 at 1:50 pm

        Persy,
        Thank you very much. We are very glad you liked it.

        Reply
    3. H-D. EUSTACHE

      April 02, 2021 at 1:01 pm

      Very interesting !
      But now you will find bak fritay on the streets all day long.

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        April 08, 2021 at 11:48 pm

        Thank you for reading!

        Reply
    4. Mireille

      March 31, 2021 at 9:41 am

      Thank you for these informations, my culinary knowledge has broadened and believe me made me more aware of my culture .

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        March 31, 2021 at 2:53 pm

        Thank you so much, Mireille. It means a lot to us.

        Reply
      • Liyah

        April 05, 2021 at 12:18 am

        This was a great way to share the art and history of Haitian food.

        Reply
        • Mirlene

          April 08, 2021 at 11:44 pm

          Thank you, Liyah!

          Reply
    5. Katrina

      March 31, 2021 at 4:20 am

      I lived in Haiti for 3 years as a child in the 80s. I remember we would frequently buy big “sheets” of rolls called bisqueet, not sure if the spelling. Do you have a recipe for it?

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        April 08, 2021 at 11:50 pm

        Hi Katrina!
        Thank you so much for reading. Yes, we do have a recipe coming out for the Haitian rolls coming out in the near future.

        Reply
    6. Claudia Lamascolo

      March 12, 2021 at 12:50 pm

      wow what great flavors and I have been there 3 times so I am very up to speed on this delicious cuisine I cant wait to go back thanks for the history!

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        March 13, 2021 at 1:53 am

        We are so glad to hear that.

        Reply
    7. Katherine

      March 12, 2021 at 12:26 pm

      Oh this is so interesting. I love learning about new cuisines and so many of these Haitian recipes look incredible!

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        March 13, 2021 at 1:53 am

        Thank you, Katherine

        Reply
      • Manny

        March 26, 2021 at 7:21 pm

        I like your full coverage of such a vast topic in such a small space. Haitian Cuisine can take you down so many culinary paths when you really start peeling back the many layers. I am almost glad that it is not “main stream”, that way we can maintain its integrity, and evolve it as the culture sees fit.

        Reply
        • Mirlene

          March 27, 2021 at 4:08 pm

          Manny,

          Truly appreciate the in-depth response, and you taking the time to to read and analyze the culinary pathways of this cuisine. So much history and information regarding the Haitian cuisine that we feel it needs to be shared, but still keep it from being saturated in the main stream.

          Reply
    8. Beth Sachs

      March 12, 2021 at 10:25 am

      I didn’t know anything about Haitian food until I read this informative article. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        March 13, 2021 at 1:52 am

        Thank you for reading, Beth!

        Reply
    9. Jeannette

      March 12, 2021 at 4:54 am

      Thank you for such a wonderfully informative post about Haitian cuisine. Love how it went deep into the history! It’s also great that meats are cleaned with acidity because I find there’s an extra layer of flavour!

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        March 12, 2021 at 4:59 am

        Thank you so much for reading Jeannette!

        Reply
      • Margaret

        April 02, 2021 at 6:25 pm

        Thank you for this. I am Filipino and I love Haitian food. I have a few Haitian co-workers and they introduced me to this wonderful dishes. I now know how to make pikliz and is a staple to my every meal, even when I make Filipino dishes, I have to have pikliz on the side.

        Reply
        • Mirlene

          April 08, 2021 at 11:45 pm

          Margaret, thank you so much for sharing. We love pikliz as well. We often have a jar in the fridge.

          Reply
    10. Adam

      March 12, 2021 at 4:31 am

      Wow, such vivid history. Love the information and the correlation of the ancestral roots. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        March 12, 2021 at 4:36 am

        Thank you so much for reading. So glad you liked it.

        Reply
    11. Biana

      March 12, 2021 at 4:26 am

      Thank you for sharing, this was so interesting to read! Haitian spaghetti looks great!

      Reply
      • Mirlene

        March 12, 2021 at 4:30 am

        Thank you, Biana

        Reply
    12. Sonya

      March 12, 2021 at 3:55 am

      Packed with great information. This is the article to read if you want to learn about Haitian foods.

      Reply

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