Haiti's Freedom Soup

www.smithsonianmag.com...

During the colonial era throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, enslaved Africans cultivated squash, the crop at the center of soup joumou. According to Louis, enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue were prohibited from eating soup joumou, despite being the ones who prepared, cooked and served it to white French enslavers and colonizers. The soup was a symbol of status, and by banning enslaved Africans from consuming it, the French were able to assert their superiority, challenge the humanity of Black Africans, uphold white supremacy and exert colonial violence, Louis says.

Squash does not have the most elegant reputation but it has been a stable vegetable in North / Central America for centuries.
I found some in the frozen food section. the package was labeled 'Zucchini Rounds' with the small-print description 'green and yellow zucchini'. I think 'yellow zucchini' is squash.

so the French refused to allow the Haitians to eat the soup they made? Horrible masters. If this is an indication of their governing no wonder the Haitians revolted.

a reply to: ElGoobero

Squash doesn't freeze well. The ice crystals destroy it

a reply to: ElGoobero

Not only are zucchini and yellow squash squash, but they grow like crazy and produce like gangbusters. Once you get them going in your garden, you can't eat enough and you end up giving the stuff away. You feel like the hapless mother leaving her child at the door to be adopted by the people inside, only it's bags of squash and you are literally ringing and running.

Please! For the love of Pete ... take them! Take them!

So the French were denying their slaves an easily cultivate and abundant source of food in the soup.

I've got a dreadful cold and this sounds lovely.

If only it didn't require a blender and puree-ing things.

Haitian food made in haiti is questionable at the least and probably human flesh or trash at the most. I have been there. About the only thing I would eat from there was a chicken I saw killed and cooked with my own eyes or mango from a tree, otherwise MRE’s were the better option.

Soup is a big deal.wish this site was more tolerant with linguistics..feel like Id be able to express some things better using idiomas differente algun tiempo..anyway just made me think of sopa del cabeza de pesces en little Havana. Seems like I had a friend tell me not to forget the extra mile..like the decimal in a marathon..wont be the first time looking ignorant..I made friends that learned English from FM radio..You should hear some of the reference communication..its priceless, but the common denominator no matter the agenda is desire for comm…which for me became needed for survival at certain points..and soup amigo..es importante..cuando es gazpacho o tipos otras..

Haitian is perhaps the most frightening language..Even more so than straight African, and it can be intense, but Hatian by far is most direct and , for the understanding of the layman..paranoid. Not sure what it is but when You accidentally rub a Hatians fur the wrong way, You know it, to Your core..and hope that Your diplomacy is on..wont be time for prayer at that point…but I found that for the volatility the kindness was just as extreme, especially in the welcome of soup..I have indeed had soup prepared by a Haitian Woman that I had accidentally offended ( an offense that in their culture if done by one of their own could result in death)..I have never been so disciplined and shamed as I was by her..I truly had no idea what she put in that soup because it was served after I had offended her and the entire situation by doing the dumbest thing..anyway..the soup was served after the insult..and I had to eat it..Maybe there are a few here that will understand the gravity of the type of situation Im talking about..I ate the soup under her watchful eye..every bite..then I wiped the remains with the thinnest part of my napkin and ate that..she was satisfied..and her relatives didn't show up and hack me to pieces with machetes..It was a very surreal experience…Food of any kind and its prep and service are a serious thing everywhere, but when the food culture has not really evolved with the times it has a ripple effect through that society..

Just if You're ever in Haiti and its time to eat, like anywhere I guess, don't make anyone in the kitchen mad.

I have had all my labs several times since this incident and am satisfied that I didn't bring anything back from my Haitian soup experience.

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a reply to: Brotherman

I don't know. The islanders make some good stuff.

This is from Barbados, for example, and it rocks. We made it as best we could in middle America. We had to swap out the fish and used serrano over Scotch bonnet, but we had everything else. It was awesome.

Pardons..It was biscuits..I took two. A food line, seconds were a thing, I was last in line..one moment taken for granted..she let me know..next day everybody was checkin me, and basically the whole chow hall watched me eat that bowl of whatever it was..I wore headphones all the time during that period..we all spoke different languages anyway..but I still remember the song that was playing while I re-ate that soup..im certain..I won't tell you the song because that would make the story even more unbelievable…We were all cool after that and I made more friends..alot..I met the Zoes..those are Hatian peeps, I worked with the dead end crew from Jamaica (legitimately), prolly nobody here knows about 'The Dead End'..its as serious as it gets…We picked up trash together and she freestyle rapped sometimes while we worked..she was from the dead end…The Zoes had a plan..some things get in Your blood..Liberty City comes to mind from this post too.

a reply to: didntasktobeborned

you might want to post that in the dreams thread

Wasn't a dream Friend. Not one detail..But If I was incorrect to relate my Haitian Freedom soup experience and with the way some Haitians Ive met celebrate as well as appreciate the liberty they have found in the US then I beg Your pardon..My four hours are up or I would certainly delete.

a reply to: ElGoobero