FRE 124 the course to take

Why do I have the audacity to advice students of all majors to take this class? I have made it, believe me, it's one of the reasons I have enjoyed my degree at Daystar University.

Can anyone imagine that this is an exam? Yeah I thought so, you think I am just bluffing. I am serious, this course has no written exam, just blog posts and you have your grade.

Enough of the trivial matters. Let me explain why I chose this course. I added this course as a filler to complete my hours. I needed to graduate and I had free electives hours to cover. My late addition not withstanding, thanks to Dr. Wandia, the HOD of Languages and Performing Arts at Daystar University. I didn't know of the fun that was in store for me through the semester.

All foodies in the house, can I hear an an amen. This is the course for you. We cooked and sampled cuisine from different Francophone countries. This course even made some of us better cooks. You can just peruse the different articles on this blog written under cuisine, to get a feel of what I am saying.

This is one of the coolest class you will ever find. Can anyone tell me, when was the last time you took a selfie with your lecturer? At FRE 124, we were so free with our lecturer. Dr. Wandia Njoya took the four of us through the course just the same way she would handle a full class.

Yes that was the whole class. Where are the students to take this class? You do not know what you are missing out on.

Any student claiming to have passed through an African University should have some knowledge of African history. This class gave a wealth of knowledge on Negritude, the colonization of francophone Africa and of course Haiti. After every class, I had the desire to read more African history.
https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/The_Wretched_of_the_Earth.html?id=-XGKFJq4eccC&hl=en
Patrice Lumumba and
Léopold Senghor are part of the interesting topics of discussion.   

We were even nominated for the blog awards by BAKE. This time we did not clinch the title but who knows, maybe if you join this blog might be the next best education blog.

Finally, I am not a linguistic major. My major is Public Relations, which is why I haven't mastered my French. This course is taught in English one gets to learn french on the way as you interact with French terms. Actually regardless of your major, you need some cultural classes because the world is shrinking into a village.

All the best as you make your choice for the coming semesters. Look out for FRE 124. Remember that no pre-requisites are needed to register.

Hatian Spagetti

Cooking has become a better practice for me since I had to go outside my confort zone and look for recipes of this dish.

It was on a tuesday morning when I had remembered that I had an assignment of food presentation in class on friday afternoon.

I had to draw up a budget on how to look for recipes of this specific dish. It sounded easy for me as long as the word spagetti was concerned.

I did not want to involved my First lady in this as long as I knew it was simple and easy to cook.

On wednesday I went to the supermarket and started looking for recipes. I am telling you, some recipes names became strange until I circulated in the supermarket as a lost person.

A very kind lady saw me disturbed and a bit confused about what i was looking for, she had decided to come and help me.

I said no, She can not help as long as my First lady is with me in my mind. She said, " Hello Sir, How are you? I replied with confidence and seriousness " I am doing great Madam".
She did not stop there, She continued her caring questions, " How can I help you?", I had to reply " Well, I am fine and okay, just analyzing the recipes of the dish I want to cook. But all is well".

She smiled at me and said: I am available anytime you need my help. I told her: Thank you for your assistance. I will come to you as soon as I am lost. And indeed I was lost, just that I could not behave in that situation.

I said ok. In this situation i do not want to display my weakness to any woman. Let me go through this and enjoy the challenge and experience.

Another idea came in to mind, instead of asking my First lady what I am looking for, let me make this a surprise. I opened my google again and confirmed the recipes I was searching in the supermarket.

On thursday after making sure that everything was ready, I said let me invite the First Lady at home to have fun and relax. Faithfully as usual she came and after some moments she wanted to enter in the Kitchen and make something for us as we were watching the movie titled "Letters to Juliets".

I told her Honey, what do you want to do? She replied: " Baby just something to eat". I asked her, "What is that exactly?". She replied by saying " Our favorite meals".  I laughed and said " Can I ask you a favor?". She looked at me in the eyes and replied " go on Darling." I told her let me just make an Omellette and toasted bread for us as we are finishing with the movie". It wont take time and I do not want you to stay alone for long.

She agreed with a smile and in my heart I said thank you God for this wonderful surprise she is going to live today.

I entered in the Kichen and locked it. I told her i did not want the smoke to interfere with a our great perfume and atmosphere that we had already created.

I put together all the ingredients on the table. The following are what I needed to make the Hatian Spagetti.

• 1lb spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1 cup white onions
• 1 teaspoon thyme (fresh, chopped)
• 5 chicken sausages (or hot dogs or any other types of links or meat)
• 1 ½ tablespoons chicken bouillon powder (low sodium preferably)
• salt (to taste)
• 1 ½ cups reserve pasta water
• pepper (to taste)

I Boilled pasta according to package instructions two minutes short of recommended cooking time. In a heavy large saucepan, I heated oil and added tomato paste. I cooked tomato paste for 3 – 4 minutes while stirring occasionally. I added garlic, onion and thyme and cooked for 5 minutes while occasionally stirring. I added the hotdogs and chicken bouillon and continued browning the meat. I added the cooked pasta and stir to scrape up all the deliciousness on the bottom of the pan while gradually adding the reserved pasta water. I lowered the heat in order to avoid the burning of the sauce and cooked for another 3-5 minutes, the starchy pasta water will help distribute the sauce and thicken, the finished dish will not have any excess liquid in the bottom of the pan, all the sauce will be clinging to the noodles.I added crushed red pepper because she loves it. I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, but Iwas careful as she may not need any more salt due to the chicken bouillon.
After that, I had to serve to her the food being hot.


  This is exactly how the dish looked like.

After having her encouragement, on Friday morning I had to cook the same on friday morning and she brought the dish to school with passion because she was very proud of the work that I did on thursday.



Note: For transport to a potluck I would recommend that after you put the spaghetti in a serving bowl add some extra pasta water, maybe about ½ cup, it will eventually be absorbed by the pasta and your spaghetti won’t be dry by the time you serve the dish. Enjoy the Experience and make a day memorable in someone's life.

Haitian Music

Music is without a doubt "The" universal language; it is the language of the soul, the medium through which any message can traverse the language barrier.It is also evident that music is a large part of every human society and undoubtedly an integral part of all the cultures in existence today. Haiti is no different. 

Haiti has a rich music heritage that is influenced by four main civilizations/cultures who mainly appear in Haitian History as their colonizers: The Spanish, English, Dutch & finally the French who's culture has stuck with the Haitians up to date. The french language is therefore an easily notable attribute in Haitian music. However the language the Haitians speak is a more "more personalized" form of french/slang that they call Kreyol/creole. Haiti has a unique variety of genres unlike most cultures in this century namely: Hip hop, mini-jazz & Rock which is 

common for majority of nations in the world today. The genres solely unique to Haiti are Rasin(Voodoo Rock), Zouk-Love, & Kompa(The sound of Haiti). On a special note, Compas/Kompa(spelled konpa in Creole) is currently the most popular style common in all music made in Haiti today. It is a complex ever-changing music that fuses African Rhythms and European ballroom dancing, mixed with Haiti's bourgeois culture. In Spanish the word compás means “beat” or “pulse”. One of the most distinctive characteristics of Kompa music is the consistent, pulsing drum beat, which makes it easy to dance to.

I have found in my little exposure to Haitian music that they are a people who are very proud of their country and it's history who have a very rich heritage in music that is as beautiful as the country and it's nation's people.Haïti Chérie is a traditional patriotic and most recognizable song of Haiti that was written and composed by Dr. Othello Bayard de Cayes and was initially called Souvenir d'Haiti. It represents the pride Haitian people feel for their country and culture. Within the Haitian community, at home and abroad, it is widely considered as a second national anthem to La Dessalinienne and the song has recorded several different versions. Haiti is definitely a place to be.

Une nuance interessante de la langue francaise et le creole...

Among the key tools that define a society or culture, Language has been one of them and most of all has brought a sense of Unity in the Universe.

Coming from a French speaking Country known as Democratic Republic of Congo, I have been having this interest of knowing different versions of French as long as our French is the best compared to the one spoken in France.

I have come across an interesting part of the world called Haiti where french is spoken in a broken way. And this has really moved me to see first of all that French had had an influence beyond Africa and Europe.

Let us go straight to Haiti and discovery how French has influenced this country and what are interesting results that come out it.   

If you have a sense for Haiti's literacy statistics (slightly over 50%), and the challenges regarding access to education that have characterized Haiti's history, then you may get a pretty accurate picture for the number of Haitians who actually do speak and understand French fluently; they are a minority, and come either from a privileged elite, or from a middle class that has expanded over the years, but still represents a small percentage of Haitians. French in Haiti is only learned in school and in church; the Haitians that speak French at home are few and far between.

Regarding the difference of French and Creole, here's the deal:

The majority of the Haitian Creole lexicon comes directly from French, and mostly old French (which is why sometimes there more similarities between Creole and Quebecois French vs. European French). This French lexicon enables French speakers with a sharp ear to pick up many terms in Haitian expressions, and rarely, to garner meaning. But otherwise, these are two different languages.

Something that caught my attention has a French speaking person is that Haitian Creole has a completely different grammar and syntax; for example, definite articles follow nouns instead of preceding them, and they do not have any gender assignment.

French: le chien
Creole: chen la

French: la boite
Creole: bwat la

Even when it comes to Conjugation, this is also totally different.

French: J'ai, tu as, il/elle a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont
Creole: Mwen genyen, Ou genyen, li/li genyen, nou genyen, nou genyen, yo/yo genyen

(Note, there is no difference between "he" and "she" in Creole, nor any difference between "we" and "you - plural"; these details are determined by context)

(Note, there is no difference in creole between the infinitive form of a verb, and the conjugated form)
(Note, the Creole etymology of "genyen" as "to have" is unknown to me, but it may come from "gagner")

Conjugations in the past and future are not performed by changing the root verb; they are formed by adding terms.

J'ai eu = Mwen te genyen
J'avais = Mwen te konn genyen
J'aurai = Mwen pral genyen

Another barrier to clean translation between Creole and French is the Vodou culture - it is intrinsically bound up in the Creole language such that even if French terms are used in some expressions, their provenance gives them a subtle, or sometimes grossly different meaning.

Example: Someone walks into a home and Says "Hone" prounced 'O-NEH' (French = Honneur)
Proper response "Respe" pronounced 'RAY-SPEH' (French = Respect)

Probably not much meaning in French. RICH with meaning in Creole.

These are some examples to demonstrate that Haitian Creole is not at all "broken French" - it is an altogether different language with significant French influence.

Other linguistic influences on creole include a number of African languages, Portuguese, Spanish and English.

It is possible, however, for the MOST RUDIMENTARY interactions in both French and Creole to be mutually understandable - but some luck is involved. Many greetings, all numbers, and some basic elements of everyday life are basically the same in both languages - air, water, bathroom, food... these all share similar terms.

Soup Joumou

My first impression of Haitian cuisine in general was that the food is inedible. This was probably because of how much most of Haitian cuisine is a mixture of meat, vegetables and all manner of spices all prepared as one dish and eaten as a complete meal.
As A Kenyan who really hasn't taken keen interest in matters concerning Haiti further than the earthquake that happened in the year 2010 and the fact that one of my favourite musicians Wyclef Jean, (namesake! *screams*) comes from Haiti, it was an interesting experience to actually make food eaten in Haiti from locally sourced ingredients and enjoy eating it.
Tasked with the assignment to select and prepare a dish, I settled on Soup Joumou which seemed economical (not really,LOL!) and less time consuming.
Soup Joumou, as I learnt later on, is eaten every 1 of January in Haiti when they celebrate the New Year as well as their independence. The soup has a deeper significance to Haitians as they describe it ideally as "traditional thick, hardy French Caribbean soup created in 1804 and represents Haitian defiance of the French colonial powers, who had declared that slaves could not eat soup".
The soup contains a variety of vegetables like I mentioned before but the good thing is that all these are available in the market at all seasons and at affordable price for each ingredient. The link to the recipe is
http://haitian-recipes.com/recipes/99_soup-joumou.html

 The overall preparation process took an hour, exclusive of the time i took to marinade and season the meat overnight. Once you follow the recipe to the latter, you will have something that looks like this:

Being a 'doubting Thomas', I was not sure of bringing the dish to class lest it backfires and sends people to hospital at the end of the day. I therefore sought the impecable palate (but do I say) of Natalie Rand, a close friend of mine who hold the record of having the most sensitive stomach in the neighbourhood.

After Natalie tasted the food and did not seem to have any health complications, I deemed the food fit for consumption. My sincere thanks go to my mum for allowing me to use her kitchen for my "experiment", my friends Diana and Topistar who joined us for class on that day of my presentation and the entire class for their co-operation and positive remarks during the course of my presentation. Special thanks go to the one and only Dr. Wandia. If not for her, who knows, I'd never know people in Haiti even eat!

FRE 124 Season 2: Ayiti cheri

So the class started off for the second season this semester. Our first cookout was for Haitian Cuisine, and my assignment was to make a meat dish.

Initially, Juliet suggested that I try this shrimp recipe, but I was too scared of the cost, so I settled for looking for a pork dish. Just as well, because it was Morris's first time to eat pork.

I now can't find the recipe I used because I was so tired when I was shoppng the night before the class. I think it was this one. Whatever the case, it looked very much like the one I cooked last semester with chicken, so I just went through the same process. I washed the meat in lime juice, marinated it in lime, orange and herbs for a few hours, fried the meat and made the sauce.

I really like the tangy taste that lime adds to meat. I think I want to make this marinade something I do at home.

This was a really exciting class. Wait till you get to hear how Jean turned her neighbor into a taster for her pumpkin soup, how Mercy used cornflakes in her recipe, how Juliet discovered new recipes for beans, how Morris found out what some ingredients actually looked like, and how Armand discovered the charm of cooking for his "first lady."

Haitian Politics

In the 18th century, Haiti was controlled by the French and Spain with the latter having a larger share. They specialised in agriculture with the African slaves providing labor. The society was in a rigid hierarchical structure based on skin color, class and wealth.  In ascending order, African born plantation salves, creole slaves( the ones born in the new world), mixed race; the mullato slaves and finally the whites. Later in the eighteenth century changes begun with the slaves abandoning their plantations and Mullato's seeking full citizenship.

In 1971, Tousssaint Louverture emerged as a commander within the rebel army of the black slaves. His top commanders were Jean-jacque Dessalines and Henry Christophe. A struggle which included switching of allies between France and Spain. Dessalines, Christophe and the Mullato general joined forces in order to expel the French in 1802.

( There is a movie that shows his story directed by Philippe Niang  released in 2012. Jimmy- Jean Louis a Haitian actor plays Toussaint's character.) A cover of the movie to the far right.)

In 1803, Haiti was declared an independent republic as France withdrew to the war in Europe. As much as the french refused to acknowledge that fact. 

Dessalines became the first president in 1804 and declared himself emperor Jacquel. He was assassinated and Boyer then took over  and negotiated payment to the french to recognise Haiti's independence and reunite  trade relations with the country.

(A statue of Dessalines in Port-au-Prince in Haiti. )

Then came Francois Duvalier a dictator popularly referred to as 'Papa Doc'. The name was because of his paternalistic concern for poor and sick nations. Francois was succeeded by his son  Sean Claude who went by the nickname ' Baby Doc'. 

Jean Bertrand Astride known to be the first democratically elected president, an outspoken anti -Duvalier at the time won the presidency with a landslide victory vote of sixty seven percent. He pledged to rid Haiti of its ethnic, racial, and economic hierarchy that defined the country. Aristide was ousted by a military coup in September 29 1991. The military government engaged in oppression of Dissidents and Aristide supporters. There were numerous extrajudicial killings. On September 9, 1994; the US led military restored Aristide to office who then abolished the Haitian army and replaced it with the united states trained Haitian National police. 

 An interesting fact about Haiti is its witchcraft history to be specific Voodoo. Here is a link that explains more on it. http://erzulies.com/about-haitian-vodou-haitian-voodoo-history-beliefs/. I found more sites that could help explain what occurs during the voodoo ceremonies. On Voodoo drumming.  http://www.haitianmusic.net/haitian-voodoo-drumming/. One can watch one of the ceremonies  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoCyGrkTOk0.

Haitian women join in a vodoo bathing ritual. 

The Pen Patat

by Ndanu Mbunga

Cutting the pie

The Pen patat is a rich dessert from Haiti. My friend Dr. Wandia asked me to make it for her class and I was both stressed and delighted. Stressed because it was actually sweet potato pie which was a whole new concept to me and delighted because the thrill of the possibility of actually making it well was so cool.

Wandia sent me the recipe and I remember taking leave just so I could bake it and attend the class too. The hardest part of making the Pen patat was grating the sweet potatoes. Grating raw sweet potatoes is tiring and quite messy too. The peeled sweet potatoes begin to turn color and I could not help like feel I was doing something wrong. I finished the grating and followed the recipe to the letter after which I put the mixture in the oven. It took nearly 2 hours to dry in the oven and I was going to bed at nearly 3am.

Everything paid off during the class when I saw everyone enjoying the pie. It turned out great and with a few tweaks, it is something I could gladly make again especially for my parents. It is a new way to prepare the sweet potatoes they love so much

I was amazed at how much work and detail Haitians put into preparing their food. They definitely take their food and culture seriously. It was an honour to be part of them in this small way! Here goes the recipe. The foodies and kitchen lovers can definitely try it out....

HAITIAN FASHION

During one of the classes we had this semester, I was assigned to present on Haitian fashion. I was excited to have this topic to present on since I am an avid reader of any fashion related material. At first, I was really clueless as I had never known about or heard of any popular fashion trends, designers or models related to Haiti...at least that is what I thought. However, what I discovered about Haitian fashion was really amazing.

The Karabella dress and Guayabera were the results I got from researching on traditional Haitian wear. The Karabella dress is a beautiful pompous dress with layers of ruffles at the skirt section of the dress and it is worn with a head piece that resembles the Gele often worn by West African women. The dress is worn by Haitian women at festivals especially during the Quadrille dance. On the other hand, men wear the Guayabera, a white shirt, which is also worn by men in other Caribbean states.

Karabella dress and Guayabera shirt

Carnaval De Fleurs, a festival celebrated by Haitians that seeks to highlight Haiti's flora, really caught my eye during my research. The festival which is celebrated annually is full of energy and color! Residents dress up in flower-like costumes and put on complementing accessories to brighten their outfits. The women also apply heavy glam make-up by putting on popping eye shadow colors and shouting lipstick hues. The festival was also established to boost Haiti's tourism.

Carnaval De Fleurs

Stella Jean is one of the notable fashion designers from Haiti whose work I fell in love with. She uses traditional fabrics with rich patterns and with the help of Italian high-fashion technology, she creates clothes with a contemporary design. Stella, a Haitian-Italian, uses her brand to develop Haiti by creating sustainable jobs for Haitian artisans and craftsmen.

Stella Jean

Stella Jean designs

  Another notable fashion designer of Haitian descent is Hassan Pierre. His garments are constructed with organic, eco-friendly fabrics, natural dyes and recycled zippers. His work has even been featured in world class magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire.

Hassan Pierre



Hassan Pierre's designs

 

 

 

 

 



 

I love seeing African models feature in catwalks or in high-end fashion magazines. That's why I just had to write something on the beautiful Jany Remponeau Tomba (above) in this post. She was a model in the 1960s and 1970s. She is a Haitian who moved to America as an immigrant and was discovered by a fashion magazine editor. She has appeared on magazines like American Girl, Woman's Day, Mademoiselle and Essence.
Former fashion model and actress, Gracelle Beauvais (below) is also of Haitian descent. I have seen her in a few of Hollywood movies but I previously had no idea of her origin. She has also appeared in Essence magazine and modeled for well-known cosmetic companies like Avon, Mary Kay and Clariol.

Haiti also has a fashion magazine called Amour Creole that also offers readers the latest in movies and music along with expert relationship on relationships, family, careers and so much more.

 Like many other countries, Haiti also hold an annual fashion week which they call Ayiti Fashion Week (A.F.W) that brings together major players in the Haitian fashion industry and promotes Haitian designs and culture.

A.F.W

'MANJE AYISIEN'- HAITIAN CUISINE

Background Knowledge

Haitian cuisine originates from several culinary styles. It is influenced by Hispaniola, French, African, Spanish and Middle Eastern cuisine. Spices and Herbs are widely used along with peppers for flavoring food. The type of food eaten varies according to the time of day and also the type of event being celebrated.

Popular Haitian Dishes

Mayi Moulen

It is a corn meal porridge cooked with garlic, pepper, butter or margarine.

Mayi Moulen

 

 

 

 

Bouillon

Bouillon is a hearty stew consisting of a variety of spices, potatoes, tomatoes and either goat meat or beef. Maggi Bouillon cubes are used to add and enhance the flavor of this stew.

Puole en Sauce

This is a Haitian stewed chicken dish that is often served with rice.

Bouillon and Poule en Sauce

 Legim

Legim is a thick vegetable stew that consists of eggplant, cabbage, chayote, spinach and watercress. It is also flavored with epis*, onions, garlic and tomato paste.

*epis is a base for most Haitian dishes. It is a sauce made from cooked peppers, garlic and herbs.

 Pikliz

This is a spicy Haitian slaw or salad. It consitis of shredded cabbage, sliced peppers and grated
carrots. The vegetables are marinated in vinegar for about five days to enhance the flavor.

Legim and Pikliz

 

Fresco

This is a sweet frozen dessert made with fruit syrup usually sold on the streets of Haiti by vendors. It tends to attract bees because of the fruit syrup hence it's not a surprising sight to see a vendor surrounded by bees.

Pen Patat

This is a soft and sweet bread made using cinnamon, evaporated milk and sweet potato. It is often served cold.

Fresco and Pen Patat

 Popular Haitian Beverages

Alcoholic Beverages

Rhum Barbancourt

Rhum Barbancourt is a rum brand and a popular export of Haiti. It is also enjoyed by the locals.

Cremas 

It is also known as 'Kremas' in Ayisien. Cremas is made from creamed coconut, evaporated or sweet condensed milk and rum. Spices, vanilla extract and raisins are also added. It is served at special events and holidays or consumed along with a sweet pastry.

Beer

It is often served at festivals and parties. The most popular beer in Haiti is Prestige.

Rhum Barbancourt, Cremas and Prestige beer

Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Tropical Juices

Fruit juices like guava, grapefruit, mango, orange and passion are widely enjoyed in Haiti.

Cola Courrone

This is a fruit champagne carbonated drink.

Coffee

Haitians enjoy drinking coffee. The most popular coffee brands are Rebo and Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee.




Tropical juices, Cola Courrone and Rebo and Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Additional Haitian Dishes and Beverages

Tchaka

This is a stew consisting of hominy (dried maize kernels), beans, pumpkin and meat often pork. An interesting fact is that Tchaka is used as an offering to the Iwa spirits of Haitian Vodou.

Griyo

This is fried pork.

 Akasan

This is a thick corn milkshake made using evaporated milk, sugar and corn flour.

Tchaka, Griyo and Akasan

 We got the opportunity to enjoy Haitian food in class which you can view here.

The Circles that tie us - by Muthoni Njogu

Muthoni Njogu visited us during our class on Haiti and sent us this lovely poem inspired by our session together.

The poem is proof of how Haiti is so close to our heart as black people. It is such a strong symbol of our humanity that just wont fade, no matter how much trouble and disaster is thrown at her by the gods and by human beings.

                                    -----------------------------------------------------------

not to long ago, i gladly and joyfully sat through a session of ‪#‎IntroductionToFrancophoneWorld‬ class offered by Wandia Njoya.

the country of discussion was Haiti/Ayiti.

classrooms can offer sites of independent thought, creativity
and critical thinking. wandia, in my opinion does that.
sometimes, without much accolade or recognition.

she still is here
we are still here

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Circles that Tie us
-----------------------------

i was almost nineteen years of age
when i said goodbye to daystar
my heart
shattered
my voice
muted by self censor
my body
limp with exhaustion

twenty years later

i was back in a classroom in daystar
i was no longer almost nineteen
my body having adjusted to stretching into spaces
of nonconformity
my tongue used to speak for self and others

i was different now
so was the space i had previously abhorred
i sat with students who were me at nineteen
eager
bodies agile & firm
eyes focused on the infinite realm of possibilities
their legs
unaccustomed to the weariness of disappointment
Revolución for Ayiti
Revolución for Ayiti
independence
the first for former black slaves
in western hemisphere

congo square
beat of the drum

Revolución for Ayiti
Revolución for Ayiti
the food for the body
recipes dug through searches online

White rice
Sos Pwa
Mayi Moulen
Pikliz
Poule en Sauce
Bouillon
Pen Patat
Coz revolutionaries need to eat
Revolución for Ayiti
Revolución for Ayiti

words of creole
scribbled on the board
reminding / remembering
cries of those
whose lungs
whose limbs
whose eyes
whose mouths
whose tongues
whose ideas
refused
silence
castrated
forgotten
denied

Because I was almost nineteen once
Because we were nineteen once
Because we could still be nineteen once again

& because we are

the children of the children of the children of the children
of the children of the children of the children of the children
of the children of the children of the children of the children of
the children of the children of the children of the children of the
children of the children of the children of the children of the children
of the children of the children of the children of the children of the
children of the children of the children of the children of the children

stolen
beaten
cast away
because we are

Ayiti from highlands
Ayiti from the shores of the lake
Ayiti from the tips of the northern parts
Ayiti along the coral relief

because we are
all Ayiti

Hatian Soul Food

So yesterday's class on Haiti was a blast. We had three guests, Ndanu Mbunga, Muthoni Njogu and William Njau. Ndanu baked for us pen patat - a sweet potato pudding (picture left), while Maya Wanjiru, one of the students, did a superb job with making the pikliz, a kind of salad which has pepper (who would have thought?) that had some of us running for water. Before eating, Maya went through the list of the recipes, during which we shared our surprises and joys making the recipes. Like how long they took to prepare.

I spent Thursday night making the poule en sauce (chicken in sauce). It was quite the experience doing it the Haitian way, especially the cleaning of the meat. From the Haitian cooking website that Maya had shared with us, I found out the elaborate process of cleaning meat with lime, and a hot and then a cold water rinse, which goes back to the days when there was no refrigeration. It took me over three hours to finish cooking, but the recipe was delicious.

After eating, Nina shared with us a brief history of Haiti, from L'Ouverture and Dessalines, through the Duvaliers (Papa and Baby Doc), to Aristide (Titid). What surprised me was that when it came to explaining how Haiti suffered the earthquake, we were not discouraged - we were empowered by Hatians' pride in their history and their resilience. I think the food had something to do with it. By discovering how elaborate the recipes were and how much we'd learned about Haiti by just cooking and tasting great food, we connected with a side of Haiti that we could not have known from just the media alone. It was just a magical experience.

Bonaventure shared with us some comparisons between Haitian creole, French and African words. He will be continuing his presentation on the language and music of Haiti next week. So it wasn't just what we ate that become our food for the soul. It was the history, the fellowship and the knowledge as well.

Ayiti cheri!

I am always excited to talk about Haiti, the first black republic of the modern world!


This week we will discuss the revolution, and look at the tragedies, triumphs and strength of character of the Haitian people. We will also cook some Haitian recipes, and look at some of their best in writing, fashion and music. Thanks to Maya, we have a menu

• White rice, 
• Sos Pwa
• Mayi Moulen
• Pikliz
• Poule en Sauce (chicken in sauce)
• Bouillon
• Pen Patat (sweet potato pudding)

We'll also look at the fashion and style inspired by Haitian heritage.

This beautiful dress inspired by Haitian heritage is from VeVe Collections.

I found this wonderful song by Mika Benjamin "Ayiti se" which is a tribute to this great country. A translation of the lyrics can be found here. Enjoy the song.