Haitians are very much proud of their culture and food is one of the best ways to experience their rich and colorful culture. I know that from experience, the food is simply awesome. You don't have to travel far to experience Haitian culture, you can simply try our some of their delicious dishes in the comfort of your own home. There are numerous breakfast combinations, but here are my top 5 breakfast favorites.
1. Eggs and Plantains
Let's start off with the most iconic Haitian breakfast dish - eggs with plantains. You can enjoy the plantains both ways, sweet or salty. I personally prefer mine sweet, but in the end, it's a matter of personal preference. The eggs are usually scrambled, mixed with sweet or spicy peppers. As for the plantains, they are usually boiled, peeled and served with eggs as is.
2. Cornmeal
Mayi Moulen is another popular breakfast dish. Translating it word for word we get mashed corn. The traditional Mayi Moulen's ingredients include coarse cornmeal, shallots, garlic and various spices. The ingredients are all mixed up, cooked, and then mashed into a corn, grainy mixture. You can enjoy this dish just like that or you could also add avocado on top of that to add some extra flavor. Also, if you want to amp it up, you could serve it with beans, spinach, cilantro and other vegetables.
3. Haitian Spaghetti
Who says we can't eat spaghetti for breakfast or how we say it in Creole, Espaghetti. Espaghetti is usually mixed with hot dogs. Like in most countries, they are boiled and then cooked with ragù. That creates the base for the sauce, that is then being mixed with spaghetti. The sauce it also the reason why spaghetti has such beautiful color.
4. Plaintain Porridge
Labouyi, is the light and sweet part of Haitian breakfast. Although labouyi might sound a bit fancy fancy, it simply means porridge. The flavor can vary but depends on the ingredients you add to it. The ingredients might include plantains, flour, oatmeal and other spices. Flour and plantains are, perhaps, the most common ingredients, for, they truly represent the traditional Haitian porridge. The base of the dish is evaporated milk, mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and almond extract. The flour package is purchased individually and added to the aforementioned mix. If one likes sweets, one would love labouyi!
5. Corn Flour Shake
In Creole, this dish is called Akasan. Translated in English, it means corn flour shake, and it is similar to labouyi. This delicious shake has similar ingredients as labouyi: evaporated milk, corn flour, star anise, and cinnamon. You can find this drink all over the country, it is that common that people can buy it almost anywhere. Whether it is store-bought or homemade, it's always delicious. A slice of lightly toasted bread will accompany akasan perfectly. The toast can be dry or slightly buttered. It’s almost as good as coffee, but in Haiti, we tend to drink this one more often than coffee.
Haitian Cooking is a great resource if you are to looking for some great authentic Haitian recipes. Hopefully, after this reading this, you are inspired to taste a juicy slice of the Haitian culture. Happy explorations and, as they say in my country, Bon Appétit!!