If you've ever been to the Caribbean (also known as the "West Indies" - thanks to Mr. Christopher Columbus who may have been as directionally challenged as I am -) you've probably also tasted its cuisine... Come on, no one goes to the Caribbean to be on a diet.

To the Mediterranean , maybe.

- No worries if you've never been, I'll take you there! Just read with your imagination! -



Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba, Martinique... all share a similar cuisine where spices, tomatoes, cream and butter are royalty! Chopped peppers, garlic, onions, and celery are next in line. Créole cuisine is a blend of Spanish, French and African influences. It's fair to say that it may remind you of Cajun cuisine. However, the latter uses less tomatoes and way more lard- (We're so much better with our cream and butter! O Come! O come! O LDL!!)

So, out of my passion and love for Haiti: its tradition, culture, history, and people and out of my petrifying fear of heart attacks and strokes, I decided to use this blogg as a conversion tool for those interested in Créole cuisine... and who'd prefer to enjoy a healthy, happy and long active life.

This flipping exercise will be painless for the recipe, and good for you. 
So, let's go!

From finger-licking, heart-stopping deliciousness to lean, delightful and guiltless pleasure!

• Traditional Recipes:
  

Griot (Gree-yo) - Fried Pork   
National dish

Prepare 2 pounds of pork meat cut into large cubes to marinade with

• 2 onions and 3 shallots
• 1 cup sour orange, juice of 4 limes, plus 4 tablespoons water
• 1 pinch thyme
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 3 garlic
• 2 tsp garlic

[In case you don't have the sour orange, you can replace it with 6 limes + 1 tsp apple vinegar]

Let macerate at least 2 hours and add 1 cup of water. Boil the griot with the marinade for 15 minutes. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water. Boil again for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain the meat and put aside.

Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil in a big frying pan, or in a wok.  Brown the meat on soft fire so it gets golden and not dark. Careful the pieces don't get too dry.

Serve sprinkled with parsley, pikleez (also spelled 'pikliz') with lots of shallots, fried pressed plantains and an avocado salad.

Bananes Pesées (Bah-nahnn Peuh-zeh) - Fried Plantains
Extremely popular


Wash the green plantains. Cut out top and bottom. Peel them. Chop them across, like chips, into very thin slices, and then fry them in boiling oil.

In the case of ripe plantains, peel them, slice them lengthwise and fry them in hot oil.

To be savored burning hot with salt (on green ones) and sugar (on ripe ones)


Salade d'Avocat (Sah-lad d'ah-vo-kah) - Avocado Salad
Peel and cut the avocado into pieces. Top with a good mustard vinaigrette to which you will add 1 chopped onion. Add some pikleez (recipe below). 

Pikleez - Haitian Hot Sauce

Cut into very thin slivers some white cabbage, carrots, onions, shallots, 1 hot red pepper and 1 hot green pepper, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 green bell pepper. Add 1 garlic clove, and 2 or 3 whole black peppers.

Place the ingredients into a glass jar arranging the layers by color.
Bring 2 to 3 cups sugar cane vinegar to boil and pour over the vegetables, filling the jar.
Add a pinch of salt.

• Healthy Recipes:

Griot (Gree-yo) - Baked Lean Pork
Variation of National dish

Prepare 2 pounds of lean pork meat cut into large cubes to marinade with

• 2 onions and 3 shallots
• 1 cup sour orange, juice of 4 limes, plus 4 tablespoons water
• 1 pinch thyme
• 1 tbsp Lemon pepper powder
• 3 whole garlics (peeled and minced/crushed)

[In case you don't have the sour orange, you can replace it with 6 limes + 1 tsp apple vinegar]

Let macerate at least 2 hours and add 1 cup of water. Boil the griot with the marinade for 15 minutes. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water. Boil again for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain the meat and put aside.
Put griot in oven at 400° for 15 - 20 mins turning the pieces so they get a golden color. (Careful they don't get dry!)

Serve sprinkled with parsley, pikleez, lots of shallots, boiled plantains and an avocado salad.

Bananes Bouillies (Bah-nahnn Bou-yee) - Boiled Plantains
Very popular dish
Peel the green plantains. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes in water with some lemon pepper powder.

For the ripe plantains, keep the skin. Wash them and cut through the skin, lengthwise on both sides. (They tend to swell in the boiling water.) Boil for 5 - 10 mins.

To be savored burning hot. For the green ones, add a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle some pepper on top (or spices of your choice.) 

Salade d'Avocat (Sah-lad d'ah-vo-kah) - Avocado Salad
Peel and cut the avocado into pieces. Top with some lime juice and add 1 chopped onion. Add some pikleez (recipe unchanged - see above).

Hope you enjoyed this first look!

Bon appétit et à bientôt!

~Claudine
Neither recipes nor ingredients were harmed or mistreated in the process of making this blogg post.

Recipes inspired from Stephanie Renaud Armand's "A Taste For Haiti"