With 23 ingredients and hours of simmering, this is no ‘5-minute, weeknight supper’. Rather, it is a cherished symbol of Haitian independence from France in 1804. Prior to that, Joumou was considered a fancy dish, reserved for slave owners…
Joumou Soup is more than a ‘political statement’, traditionally served every-where on New Year’s, Haiti’s Independ-ence Day, and on Sundays as Haiti’s national dish.
Joumou is to Haiti as Jerk is to Jamaica, Joumou devotée, chef Christina Conté writes…
What it is…
… Is a veritable compendium of the produce of Haiti, focusing on ‘pumpkin’ – which is what they call all squashes there. The star is supported by a diverse cast of culinary characters including beef, squash, root vegetables, cabbage, and pasta. It takes the better part of two days to make.
And the better part of that span is con-sumed with stirring and simmering…
‘Ingredients to make your head spin’
“When I read the recipe and started making it, I become apprehensive about tasting this soup be-cause it contains more ingredients than four Italian recipes put together,” Conté discloses. She’s the Scottish-born daughter of Italian parents, now living in California. “My mother and father were also concerned about how this soup was going to taste, but all of us were incredibly surprised! We loved it…”
And, yes – 23 ingredients, not counting salt and pepper or water – seems excessive. But as I hinted above, the dish is symbolic in many ways. Not the least of which is as a catalogue of Haiti’s sub-tropical bounty.
More of a journey..
Making Joumou is more a journey than a simple cooking exercise. You start by setting stewing beef to marinate (overnight, at least), and simmering beef marrow bones until all the goodness melts off them, and the bones themselves come out clean when you remove them from the pot.
The next day, you add the beef and the marinade to a large pot – an 8-qt / 8 litre dutch oven or a stock pot is recommended. This recipe make a lot of soup! On top of that, you add quartered squash (with the rinds on) and water to cover. And simmer…
When the squash is soft and mushy, remove it from the pot, scoop out the flesh and toss the rinds. Purée the squash in a blender or food processor. You’ll have to batch it through, to process the total volume. Then add the puréed squash back to the pot. Add the diced root veggies at this point: pota-toes, carrots, celery and turnip.
And keep on simmering…
Bear with us!
You’re getting close to the end… Add a few handsfull of shredded Savoy Cabbage (the medium-green, crinkly kind) and dry pasta. Conté recommends like Ditalini (AKA: Tubetini) or Anellini (AKA: Little Rings). But any small, short pasta will work.
Carry on simmering until the pasta is al dente, then remove from the heat. You don’t want to risk overcooking the pasta.
Serve with rustic-style bread to sop-up every last drop of the broth…
My take
This is a wonderful example of a complex, posh-looking dish you can’t screw-up. It’s versatile, and everybody loves it. And you can change up the additions or add other complementary veggies. It even works as a vegetarian soup with a few minor alterations which will be immediately apparent to anyone who’s used to adapting meat-based dishes.
It’s also a classic meal-in-itself. There’s literally something from every food group in it!
~ Maggie J.