Haiti On The Sea

I am back from my international travels. I have returned to my poor little abandoned blog! I had every intention of predating a recipe post for last Friday, as I was gone, but I got so overwhelmed with preparations it just did not happen.


When one travels to a place like Haiti, you must be sure that you pretty much have all that you need going with you. Going to the store and picking up this or that is just not an option. Not an impossibility, but not a likelihood either. This is my third trip to Haiti in the space of a year. This time we did something different. We took a day trip to a "swanky" resort on the sea.

The Caribbean is even more beautiful than I could have imagined it. And I have about a gazillion thoughts about this entire experience, but I'm sure I will express that on my other blog. Here, I am going to concentrate on the food we experienced at the resort. Which is different than the food we experienced at the Guest House. This food was the Haitian version of a catered resort buffet line, and it was VERY good. I was impressed, because my older daughter, who is Haitian, is a very picky eater, and she cleaned her plate.

Clockwise from the top: pasta (a sort of macaroni and cheese, and the only thing she did not like---very unsalted) roasted eggplant and bell pepper, fresh tomato, red beans and rice, unidentified meat---my guess, either pork or goat, it was good, conch (spicy!) and carrots and unidentified root vegetable sauteed in butter (VERY good)

My younger daughter's plate above: she eats everything and more, all the same stuff minus the eggplant, adding the plantain.

I tried her plantain. I think it may have been roasted or baked, pretty plain, with a little butter (?). Both of my girls ate all of their plantain, as it is a staple in Haiti as well as many Tropical, Central and South American locations. I was afraid I would not like it, and admittedly it was a bit strange, but I could get used to it. It looks just like a banana. We passed many plantain plantations on the trip out to the beach, and they look just like banana trees to me. But it has a much firmer texture, and it tastes starchy, almost like a potato. I wanted to add salt. But I never see salt on the Haitian table. So, I take that as a big hint, and I go with the cultural flow. And I certainly do not need more salt in my diet!