Soup Joumou
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The Tale of Soup Joumou
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Soup joumou, a rich pumpkin soup, carries deep symbolic weight in Haiti: under French colonial rule, enslaved Haitians were forbidden from eating it, reserved for their masters, and it became a dish of freedom eaten on January 1, 1804, the day Haiti won independence. UNESCO added it to its intangible cultural heritage list in 2021.
Ingredients
Scale:· 8 servings
- 2 lbs beef shank or stew meat
- 1 medium calabaza or kabocha squash, peeled and cubed
- 2 potatoes, cubed
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 turnip, cubed
- 1 small cabbage, shredded
- 8 oz small pasta (macaroni or vermicelli)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, whole
- 2 tbsp Haitian epis
- Juice of 1 lime
- 8 cups water or beef broth
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- 1Marinate the beef with lime juice, garlic, and epis for at least 30 minutes, then simmer in water until tender, about 1 hour, skimming foam.
- 2Remove the beef, shred or cube it, and strain the broth.
- 3Return the broth to the pot and add the squash; simmer until the squash breaks down and the broth turns golden and slightly thick, about 20 minutes.
- 4Blend or mash some of the squash back into the broth for body.
- 5Add potatoes, carrots, turnip, onion, and the whole scotch bonnet pepper, and simmer 15 minutes.
- 6Stir in cabbage, pasta, and the reserved beef, and cook 10-12 minutes until the pasta is tender.
- 7Season with salt and pepper and remove the scotch bonnet before serving.
- 8Serve hot, traditionally on New Year’s Day to celebrate Haitian independence.
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