(gentle piano)
- We're going to visit Sandy in the northern part of Miami.
She and her mom are gonna teach me how to cook very
important soup in the Haitian community:
soup joumou.
Hi, how are you?
- [Sandy] Good thank you, welcome.
- Thank you very much.
(blender running)
- [Sandy] Mom?
- [Marcus] Oh we're busy already!
- [Sandy] Yes!
- [Marcus] Bonjour madame! - [Marie] Bonjour.
- [Marcus] Ça va?
- Ça va, Marcus.
- My name is Sandy Dorsainvil,
and I'm a first generation Haitian American.
I do community development and cultural programming
here in Miami.
Haiti was a country built by African slaves,
occupied by the Spanish at one time,
colonized by the French.
I think what makes Haiti interesting
is that because we were one of the richest and the strongest
slave colonies, we were able to keep a lot
of the African traditions and the African values
that our ancestors instilled in us.
Today, we're making soupe joumou.
- Soupe joumou, what's the meaning of soupe joumou?
What is it?
- It's a really traditional Haitian soup.
We refer to it as pumpkin soup but it's more of a squash.
- Nice!
- So my mom already started off cooking the meat separately.
- Oh there's meat in the pumpkin soup?
- [Sandy] Yes, this is beef shank.
- Wow, it smells amazing.
- [Sandy] It's already been seasoned.
- [Marcus] With the bone in so it's nice and juicy.
- [Marie] Garlic, parsley, thyme, black pepper, clove,
and put lemon juice, orange juice.
- [Sandy] Tomatoes, salt, pepper, scotch bonnet pepper.
- Of course, scotch bonnet!
- A little spice, always.
And then we're also adding chicken.
- [Marcus] What's happening in here?
- [Sandy] So in there we have cabbage, celery,
potatoes, carrots, leeks.
- And what are we gonna do?
Are we gonna puree that in or chop that in?
- Traditionally, my mom likes everything hearty,
so the only thing she purees is the pumpkin,
but the vegetables stay whole.
- [Marcus] Who taught you how to make this soup?
- My mother, she used to cook this soup,
and I watched how she's doing it.
Most people, they don't use recipes.
You put it according to your taste.
- Yeah, little bit of this, little bit of that.
So these are ingredients that are easy to find in Haiti.
- Even you don't have money, it won't cost you much
to make a soup.
- Yes, so if you don't have money,
maybe you don't put beef and chicken in.
- No, you get chicken in your yard.
- Tchk!
(laughs)
So what can I do?
Can I chop up some carrots?
How can I help?
- [Marie] Yes, yes.
- [Marcus] So I just want to ask mom,
when did you come from Haiti to Miami?
- 1973 by my self.
At that time we had a...
- Dictator.
- Dictator and it was hard.
I heard that United States, you could do anything you want
as long as you want to work.
After work, I go to school at night, 2 hours,
and sleep in the class.
- You're tired.
- I was so tired.
- [Marcus] Did you meet your husband here?
- Yes, I met him in school.
- Mmm! Nice!
So you were not that tired!
- Yes!
(all laugh)
- [Marcus] So tell me more about the soup.
What's the significance?
- A lot of people don't realize that
it's really our independence soup.
It's Haiti's independence soup.
So during slavery, the masters would always have soup
on Sundays.
They would have a pumpkin soup and the best choice
meats were saved for this great meal on Sunday,
and the slaves were not allowed to have this soup.
So after the slaves revolted and in 1804,
independence was officially gotten,
the first thing they said was, "Let us have soup."
- "Let us have soup!"
- [Sandy] Let us have soup! And that's the legend
that every single pot on the island had soup in it that day.
- [Marcus] How do I say that in Creole?
- (Speaking Creole)
- Perfect!
It's something that every single Haitian does
no matter where they live on the first of the year
to celebrate the independence of Haiti.
(knife chopping)
- [Marcus] So you think the slave master had
scotch bonnet in their soup?
- [Sandy] Not at all.
- That was the Africans right?
- Yeah, the Africans added the scotch bonnet
and then also the more African version of the soup
is heartier and thicker,
whereas the French version of the soup is thinner
and almost everything is pureed.
For an independence soup we needed something strong
and hearty and heavy! - Yeah, strong!
Being Ethiopian right, maybe we poor, but we not poor
in culture and history,
and with Haitians, you feel this level of pride
and sense of being the first Black republic.
- Exactly, I think that pride comes from the fact of knowing
that we're not given our independence,
but we fought for it--
- [Marcus] Fought hard.
- Hard for it, and we earned it.
And we consider ourselves, as Haitians, as the mother
of independence in the Western Hemisphere.
And even as the country goes through turmoil
and things happen, but that's always at the core,
that we know our history proves that we're a strong country
and that we can basically deal with anything.
- [Marcus] Anything, right.
(soup sizzling)
- [Sandy] Good?
- Really good.
- Marcus I think you can test taste now.
- Woo! I'm ready.
- You're ready.
- [Marcus] Nice!
- And then you put like this.
- Yes.
(slurps)
Mmm, mmmm!
It's beautiful.
Mwah.
Beautiful.
Soupe joumou is more than a soup.
It really symbolizes Haitians' independence.
I just think that's fantastic by itself.
Once you start eating this soup,
you start realizing how complex it is.
You have the pumpkin, you have the vegetables,
you have the chicken meat, you have the beef,
beautiful orange notes to it.
It's so delicious.
Congratulations.
- [Marie] Thank you.
- It's worth all the--
- Effort.
- Everything, and you feel it.
It's all coming out, the garlic, the onion.
- You hire me when you move your restaurant.
- [Marcus] Yes, absolutely!
- [Sandy] Marcus, you're sweating!
- Listen, I am African via Sweden,
so this is where the adopted kids are struggling.
It's hot!
(all laughing)
Whew!
(speaking foreign language)