Taste of Haiti

by Mirta Yurnet-Thomas, Jay Moskowitz

With African, French, Arabic and Amerindian influences, the food and culture of Haiti are fascinating subjects to explore. From the days of slavery to present times, traditional Haitian cuisine has relied upon staples like root vegetables, pork, fish, and flavour enhancers like Pikliz (picklese, or hot pepper vinegar) and Zepis (ground spices). This cookbook offers over 100 Haitian recipes, including traditional holiday foods and the author's favourite drinks and desserts. Information on Haiti's history, holidays and celebrations, necessary food staples, and cooking methods will guide the home chef on a culinary adventure to this beautiful island. Recipe titles are given in English, Creole, and French.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Reference, Food, Nonfiction

213 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this to every haitian American who never stayed in the kitchen long enough to see what the "granmoun" were cooking but love haitian food.

[Emily]

I like learning about a new cuisine through cookbooks first, rather than just exploring recipes online, to get a better sense of common ingredients and which dishes are served at which sorts of meals, etc. It was difficult to find many Haitian cookbooks, but this one was so good I'm not sure I'd bother with others.

The author is Puerto Rican and began exploring Haitian food through her husband and his family so these are definitely home cooking dishes, not fancy hotel food for tourists. I like the snippets of stories that go with the recipes and everything I've cooked from it so far has been delicious.

I may find myself going through this cookbook dish by dish, which I can't say for many of the ones I own. We've already found ourselves going back to some from that first meal for birthdays and other special occasions.

There are a few more complicated dishes, but the explanations are very clear and they're generally the traditional special occasion ones. Many are pretty economical as well, though there are a few recipes I doubt I'll be able to do in Chicago just because I don't have access to conch or local ingredients like djon djon mushrooms. I like that there are often alternative options for the quick & easy (use canned goods) or traditional (start with dry beans from scratch, etc.) methods.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great sounding recipes in here. I really want to try a bunch of them. I was interested that the same techniques are used over and over. Several recipes call for ingredients that might be tricky to find, but not all of them, and it was much easier to follow the directions in here. I liked that there was a glossary of ingredients in the beginning, in case you know of a food by a different name. I also liked that there were plenty of basic recipes in here - baked plantains, boiled plantains, plantain fritters - so you could try getting used to an ingredient before adding it to a more complicated preparation. I got this one free from Amazon and I'm planning to keep it.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not too healthy but I want to make Pikliz

[Stephen Matlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review for the printed version. The Amazon ISBN redirects here.

I first got this book about six months ago, and was pleased with it, but I recall that it had black and white pictures. Because it was an earlier edition, I figured that a new copy would have color pictures. This does not, which reduces the effectiveness of the images - you should be able to see what the food looks like before, during, and after cooking it.

But with that said, this is an excellent book that takes you step by step through various foods.

To be fair, I've yet to meet any two Haitian cooks who do anything the same way, so what's "authentic" is a matter of taste. But this will give you a good start on what to do and what you'll need.

[Susie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have used several recipes in this book. Carine and Ridge love it!

[Kenn Speicher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good recipes. My intro to cooking Haitian foods.

[Ken Weinert]

False

[Happy Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely written. Must read for those who enjoy Caribbean food.