September 25, 2024 • 24 mins
This hearty winter squash soup is more than the sum of its ingredients -- it's the symbol of a revolution. Anney and Lauren dig into the history and culture behind soup joumou.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to save your production of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Reese and.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for
you about soup Jimu Yesh.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Was there any reason this was on your mind, Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yes, yes, well it had been on my list of
things to do because it got put on UNESCO's list
of Intangible Cultural Heritage just a couple of years ago,
and I was like, let's learn more about that. And
you know, then there's been it's a dish from Haitian cuisine,
and there's been a bunch of stuff in the news
(00:43):
cycle lately that has been disparaging to our wonderful Haitian
immigrant population here in the United States. And I was like,
you know, what a nice time to talk about some
of the lovely cuisine from that place and those people,
and to yeah, you know, maybe encourage if anyone has
(01:06):
a Haitian restaurant in their area, this might be a
lovely time to go support them.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I'll admit I did. After doing this research. I went
to Haitian restaurant. I've never had this soup. It sounds
amazing to me, and an he didn't offer it at
the restaurant I went to, but I got some other
amazing food and huge portion.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh oh, I'm jealous. I'm gonna need to I haven't
done that yet. It's like it's on my list of
cravings from episodes.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yes, the ever growing lists. Yeah, and there are there
are a bunch of things we've done that you can
see for uh, you can see past episode wise, like squash, perhouse, pumpkin,
things like that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, beef, beef soups or stews, a bone marrow.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yes, but I guess this brings us to our question. Yes,
soup jumu. What is it?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Well, Soup jumu is a type of warming, hardy squash soup.
You've got a base of blended winter squash and broth,
studded with all kinds of ingredients like beef, meat and
marrow bones, starches like potatoes, noodles or rice, vegetables like onion, carrots,
cabbage and turnip, and warm herbs and spices like thyme
(02:33):
and cloves, often with a kick of heat from a
chili pepper like Scotch bonnet, and an undercurrent of bright
lime juice. You might finish it with a bit of
butter or other creamy element, maybe an extra squeeze a lime.
It's frequently served at large group celebrations, often with some
like chewy bread on the side, and can be eaten
for any meal of the day. I actually haven't had
(02:53):
it either, but from what I understand, it is fragrant
and velvety, smooth, like bright yellow orange in color, and
all of these like stick to your ribs ingredients and
a heady sort of warmth. It's a comfort food. It's
like eating a sunrise and coming away ready to take
(03:14):
on anything that sounds so lovely, right, I need to Oh,
I need to find some. I need to find some.
It's also like it started to befall last week. It's
back to summer this week because we live in Georgia.
But I was like ready for soup weather. Yes, my
kitchen still doesn't really function, but I'm prepared for soep weather.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, you can do it, Lord, take over someone else's kitchen.
It's going to be great. Uh yeah, Okay. Soup Him
is the kind of thing where like every region or
neighborhood or family or individual cook has their own tweaks
on the recipe, and people enjoyed debating about what's like
(04:01):
best or what's correct, Yes, they do. But at the
base of a lot of savory dishes in Haitian cuisine,
you've got epies, which is this aromatic vegetable and herb
puree that's used to marinate proteins and also is just
like your general aromatic basin soups, stews, rice and bean dishes,
(04:22):
et cetera. Recipes can vary and can also be contentious,
but usually you're looking at like some aliums like onion,
garlic and scallions, some vegetable stuff like celery and bell peppers,
savory herbs like thyme, parsley or cilantro, some neutral oil,
and then some kind of acid like lime, juice and
or vinegar. Maybe some hot Scotch bonnet in there too.
(04:45):
You blend them together with a mortar and pestle or
in a blender to like a fine, even saucy like
sort of salsa ish consistency, and then use it everywhere
like you wood near pois or sofrido or the trinity.
You know, if you are using meat in your soup,
and not all recipes call for meat, you're probably going
to marinate it in a piece for a few hours
(05:07):
to overnight. Lots of recipes will call for like good
stewing meat like a like beef chuck, along with beef marrowbones,
so that you add just a lot of flavor and
also silky texture to the soup from the gelatin and
the fats that those pieces contain. I've also seen recipes
with chicken or turkey instead of beef. Lots of recipes
will call for you to wash any proteins in vinegar
(05:29):
and or citrus juice before adding them, which is traditional
to lots of Caribbean cultures. The winter squash is really
the star of the show here, though any kind of
like earthy, slightly sweet, smooth, blending squash can be used.
And by winter squash, I mean like those types of
like fall harvested squash that have a protective outer rind
(05:49):
incasing yellow to orange flesh with a hollow inside for
that webby network of seeds in the middle. You know,
Things like butternut squash or the variety that we call
Calabasa and English are common. You cook off the squash
with a little bit of water or broth and then
pure it the vegetables in there. Recipes often call for
chopped carrot cabbage, turnip, celery, leaks, and or onion. The starches.
(06:13):
I've seen everything from like short tube style pastas like
rigatoni or penne, to long strand style pastas like spaghetti
and vermicelli. Chunks of potatoes are also pretty common. I've
seen some other recipes with rice or yams or taro
root or plantains or kind of sort of all of
(06:34):
the above. Like, there is no need to limit to
yourself to one starch here.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Not.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Seasonings can be added to taste, you know, onion or
garlic powder, thyme, sage, parsley, cayenne, cloves, dar anise, juniper,
tomato paste. These are I'm just reporting. I'm only reporting
what I have seen. I'm not saying that you should
put all of those in there. I can't tell you
what to do. Okay, that's Those are all suggestions that
(07:02):
I have received with my eyeballs, yes, and then yes
at the end, perhaps some lime, juice or butter or cream.
It is traditionally served on New Year's even New Year's
Day in Haitian communities, because Haitian Independence Day is January first,
which is just about as far off as I think
(07:23):
we've ever been in terms of timeliness of the publishing
of an episode. But yeah, here we are making this
soup is often a family or community activity as well,
like preparing that piece, like in the meat and the
vegetables and cooking everything and all the different steps and
bringing it all together.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yes, well, what about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
It depends on exactly what goes into it. But you know,
this is a soup with a little bit of everything.
It is meant to fill you up and keep you going. Yes,
and we do have some numbers for you, we do,
all right. So a lot of Haitian unity centers, certainly
around the US that I've seen, and I would guess
around the world, do have like festivals where they will
(08:08):
offer up this soup. On January first. This year, twenty
twenty four, was the fifth iteration of an event in
Miami on New Year's Day called Soup and Champagne. It's
a Haitian Independence Day celebration. It's also a white party
where the guests wear all white outfits. It's a cocktail
thing like lots of music and art and food featuring
of course soup Jimu. There's an organization in Haiti called
(08:33):
Fondazion Felicitae that distributes soup jimu every Independence Day. I
think they were in their twenty third year this year.
They work currently in about thirty one cities to give
out some ten thousand bowls of soup every year.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And this twenty twenty four is, in fact the two
hundred and twentieth anniversary of Haitian independence.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yes, and it is such a history to how we
got to this point.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Oh, it is, it is and we are going to
get into that history as soon as we get back
from a quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Thank you. Okay. So, modern day Haiti is a country
in the Caribbean. If you go do south from Florida,
right you hit the large island of Cuba, and then
if you had east, the next big island over is Espanola,
where you've got Haiti on the west side and the
Dominican Republic on the east. A native Tino peoples had
been living there for thousands of years by the time
(09:45):
the Spanish showed up in fourteen ninety two and started
enslaving them to work in gold mines and to build
plantations for crops like sugarcane.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Right, and then the French started officially occupying Haiti, then
called Saint Domain, in sixteen ninety seven. Spain had just
seated the western section of Espanola to France. At the time,
the economy of Saint Domain was largely based on export
crops like coffee, tobacco, and sugar. To keep the colonial
economy functioning, plantation owners enslaved eight hundred thousand Africans for
(10:18):
free forced labor. By the mid eighteenth century, the profits
generated from this colony outpaced any other in the world. Yes,
and during the French colonial rule of Haiti, one of
the crops the Enclat peoples cultivated was squash, which is
native to the Caribbean and Latin America and the key
(10:39):
ingredient in soup jumu.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
And I spent probably too much time trying to ascertain
what specific variety is traditional here. Linguistics makes it difficult
because a lot of recipes call for colabaza and an
English colabaza refers to this particular varietal of squash, but
in Spanish it refers to winter's in general. Similarly, the
(11:03):
French word uh jeromon gets tossed around, but I'm nearly positive.
That also is a general term which is sometimes applied
to a different specific varietal. I did see a lot
of squash that are speckled green and white on their
rind and have this like orange yellow flesh, though I
(11:25):
saw several different names for those, and look y'all, in
my defense, squash are all in the same genus Kirkribita.
Two species, Muscata and Peppo, are native to Central America.
Muscata contains things like the butternut squash and the specific colabaza.
(11:46):
Pepo contains things like the acorn squash and like the
Halloween look and pumpkin, you know, like big orange thing
that you would carve into a jack lantern. Yeah, varieties
of both have been cultivated and propagated throughout Central America
and the carab In and beyond like since before humans
got there. So squash, squash aside.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Squash aside very important. So making soup jumu was a
very time consuming process. If you've worked with squash, then yes,
you should know. However, or perhaps because of that, white
enslavers and colonizers were the only ones allowed to eat
(12:28):
this soup. They forbade the enslaved who made prepared and
served it. From eating it, it became a status symbol,
a way to further dehumanized enslaved Africans and reinforce white supremacy. Okay,
so the Haitian revolution erupted in seventeen ninety one when
the enslaved decided to revolt after winning and then officially
(12:52):
declaring their independence from France, who had support from the
British and the US. By the way, on January first,
eighteen four, Haiti became the first free black republic. To
mark the event, people in Haiti started the tradition of
eating soup jummu on their independence day. The story goes
that Haiti's first Impress, Marie Claire Jruz Felicite Bono Dessaline,
(13:17):
distributed soup jimmu. What was a symbol of oppression was
reclaimed as a symbol of freedom and independence. Over time,
the soup has been adapted based on region, taste and ingredients.
On top of that, years of foreign interference, poverty, in
part due to colonization and France requiring Haiti to pay
(13:40):
back in slavers an amount equivalent to twenty one billion
dollars or more in today's money. Natural disasters and other issues.
Many Haitians have immigrated all around the world. This soup
is a way to come together and remember their history
no matter where they are. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Twenty fifteen saw the release of a documentary about soup
Chimu called Liberty in a Soup.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yes, and then with the rise of social media, the
dish has grown in popularity. In twenty twenty, bone a
Petite calls the backlash when they posted a recipe that
didn't call for many of the original ingredients.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, it's amazing to me how often this comes up.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
It really is, It really is. The outcry led to
boneup Ae tit issuing an apology and changing the name
of the recipe to Pumpkin Soup with spice Nuts, which,
by the way, I looked up the recipe and I
was like, yeah, this just sounds like pumpkin soup. But anyway, Yes, Yes,
(14:46):
A part of the issue is no surprise. We have
talked about this a lot. They didn't involve any Haitian
voices or perspectives, further erasing a history that already is
too often erased. As one anonymous Haitian commentary wrote, what
you have done here is recolonize a soup which is
by definition anti colonial.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, yeah, I mean basically people were like, this was
if it's going to be a mainstream recipe, then you
should have taken that opportunity to share this very important
history that most people might not know about.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah, it's also super cool, so why wouldn't you want
to learn about it?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Exactly? This all did lead to many Haitian people educating
non Haitian people about the soup online, which is good
but also kind of frustrating because it shouldn't really be
their job. But yeah, all while making clear that it
is more than just a soup. It is bigger than that.
And yes, in twenty twenty one, soup Jimu was added
(15:48):
to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and
I found a really good quote about it. When asked
about this moment in an NPR interview, Haiti's ambassador to UNESCO,
Dominique ded Poi said, as a people, when you go
through years and years of collective trauma, you're constantly in
a state of coping. And there's this famous word that
(16:09):
we use so often. You have to be resilient. But
resilience comes at a cost. To me, this inscription reminds
us of our humanity, of our fragility, but of our
strength when we come together and also when we just
accept that we are worthy of always bringing something, in
this case quite literally to the table. And also there
was a sense of reparation. There are hundreds of countries
(16:32):
with cultural heritage listed, and yet there was a missing name.
Haiti was not on that list. How can a country
like Haiti, which has contributed so vitally to the history
of the world, be missing on a list that showcases
the diversity of the world. There was no better way
to have such a strong entry than with this element,
with the soup, with everything it embodies. Yeah, that's what
(16:55):
we talk about when we say it's more than food.
There's so much more to it than that. Absolutely all
the time, all the time.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And it's delicious on top of that. Yeah, Yes, this
is why I get a little bit excited. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And it was like reading the stories of people coming
together and make it. I always love hearing about that,
or even people going to these events if maybe they
aren't with their family or what have you, having that
community and sharing it or the history, and that's how
you kind of have that moment absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I mean even like like arguing back and forth across
recipe blogs about what is and is inappropriate. But your
soup is kind of beautiful. I mean there's a passion
there and that's really wonderful.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
It really really is. So listeners, if you have any
experience with this soup, please let us know. I'm desperate
to try it so in soup mode, I am ready.
I am generally a sup person, but I am currently
very ready for it.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, as soon as we drop back down below like
eighty five degrees, I'm going.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
To be cut out. Yeah, but yes, we would love
to hear from you. But I think that is what
we have to say about Soup Jumu for now. It is.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
We do already have some listener mail for you, and
we are going to get into that as soon as
we get back from a quick break for a word
from our.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Sponsors, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you,
and we're back with listener s. That's how a good
(18:50):
bowl soup makes me feel.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Christine wrote to further Lawrence request to sample as much
Perry Perry Chicken as possible and perhaps get you to
come to Australia. I was going to recommend Australian fast
food chain Oporto's, specifically their chicken burgers. However, I had
one for lunch today and it wasn't great. In fact,
(19:18):
super producer Dylan or super producer Andrew would have to
do a lot of bleeping if I were to give
you my honest opinion. So instead, I'm going to recommend
the Portuguese style chicken burger made by Australian comedian YouTuber
a mental health advocate, NAT's What I Reckon. NAT's cooking
videos are one of only two great things to come
(19:40):
out of the COVID pandemic. The other is Max Miller's
historical food YouTube channel Tasting History. I think I was
remembering NAT's burger, which is inspired by a Porto's burgers,
but much better. Jes be warned. Nat swears a lot,
and the chicken burger is one of the ones where
he experiments with bleeping out the swearing. It doesn't really work.
(20:04):
Yeah uh there. There's an infamous episode of Spintea where
I didn't realize a certain word had to be bleeped.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Oh, and it was about the history of that word.
Oh goodness, oh wow, So that was probably creative.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
It was a lot of bleeping to the point that
I'm like, I'm not sure anyone really knew, but I
was talking about at the end, which is unfortunate because
it's an interesting history.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Sure they usually are. Yeah, I've I've backed off of
doing I've backed off of doing brain stuff episodes about
like various mild cuss word eenymology, because like it's it's interesting.
But I'm like, can I can I literally do this episode?
There's yes, can I hear that?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah? Yeah, it's a mystery to this day, wild rust
other Oh.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Sheldon wrote The Popsicle Show was an old one, but
listening to it again reminded me of an amusing popsicle
story that I have. Back in the days when I
was teaching at the university, I would always commute to
work by bicycle. I would do this year round, even
on the coldest winter days. And now when it's really cold,
you can keep a popsicle in your pocket and it
won't melt. So I would frequently stop at a corner
(21:28):
store at the beginning of my commute and put it
in my pocket. When I would get to the classroom,
i'd hang my coat just at the side of the
front and while teaching, I'd walk over, take out the
popsicle and start eating it while I would track. They
wrote track, I'm sticking with it. I found it necessary
to do things for my eight thirty am class to
make sure the students would stay awake, and things like
this would keep them awake. One day, it was really cold,
(21:51):
about negative thirty five degrees fahrenheit. As usual, I got
my popsicle and put it in my pocket. Back in
those days, over thirty five years ago, winterbike riding was
not common and people would often look at me in
wonder as I rode across the parking lot toward my building.
I'm a bit of a show off, and this day
I decided to give people something special to look at.
While riding across the parking lot with no hands on
(22:13):
the bars, I took the popsicle out of my pocket
and put it in my mouth. This was when I
found something about popsicles that I never knew. You know
how you're told never to lick a metal pole in
the winter. I found out that negative thirty five degrees fahrenheit,
which is much colder than a normal freezer, a popsicle
acts just like a metal pole, but I wasn't licking it.
(22:33):
I put it in my mouth. My upper lip, lower lip,
and tongue were all stuck hard to the popsicle and
it hurt. I sped up, got to my building, dropped
the bicycle, and ran into the nearest bathroom and put
my head under the sink to let the water melt
it so I could remove it from my mouth. I
got these strangest looks from the other two people who
(22:54):
were in there. So let this be a warning to
you and others. Do not store your popsicles negative thirty
five degrees fahrenheit.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Done.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, easy, yeah, anytime. I don't think I could do
that if I wanted to. So oh no, yeah, I'm
sure that was quite the tail for others. Oh my goodness.
(23:27):
Oh I'm picturing oh just like this sheer like like
developing panic.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yes, I hope it was a bright popsicle too.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Oh yeah yeah, so really it's clear what type of
object was.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah, yeah, this is something my dad would do. He
was always somebody that was like, it's cold outside, let's
get the coldest dessert we can, Whereas I'm like.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Why why I'd like to be warmer than this. I
don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I appreciate it. I appreciate it. It's quite the story
and quite the lesson learned.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yes, yeah, lessons were learned by all that day. Yes,
so success, we'll say, teach your success absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Indeed, indeed wow. Thanks so much to both of these
listeners for writing in. If you would like to write
to us, you can our email us hello at savorpod
dot com.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
We're also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at saver pod, and we do hope to
hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For more
podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and
Andrew Howard, with special thanks today to JJ Possway. Thanks
(24:48):
to you for listening, and we hope that lots for
good things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to save your production of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Reese and.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for
you about soup Jimu Yesh.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Was there any reason this was on your mind, Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yes, yes, well it had been on my list of
things to do because it got put on UNESCO's list
of Intangible Cultural Heritage just a couple of years ago,
and I was like, let's learn more about that. And
you know, then there's been it's a dish from Haitian cuisine,
and there's been a bunch of stuff in the news
(00:43):
cycle lately that has been disparaging to our wonderful Haitian
immigrant population here in the United States. And I was like,
you know, what a nice time to talk about some
of the lovely cuisine from that place and those people,
and to yeah, you know, maybe encourage if anyone has
(01:06):
a Haitian restaurant in their area, this might be a
lovely time to go support them.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I'll admit I did. After doing this research. I went
to Haitian restaurant. I've never had this soup. It sounds
amazing to me, and an he didn't offer it at
the restaurant I went to, but I got some other
amazing food and huge portion.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh oh, I'm jealous. I'm gonna need to I haven't
done that yet. It's like it's on my list of
cravings from episodes.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yes, the ever growing lists. Yeah, and there are there
are a bunch of things we've done that you can
see for uh, you can see past episode wise, like squash, perhouse, pumpkin,
things like that.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, beef, beef soups or stews, a bone marrow.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yes, but I guess this brings us to our question. Yes,
soup jumu. What is it?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Well, Soup jumu is a type of warming, hardy squash soup.
You've got a base of blended winter squash and broth,
studded with all kinds of ingredients like beef, meat and
marrow bones, starches like potatoes, noodles or rice, vegetables like onion, carrots,
cabbage and turnip, and warm herbs and spices like thyme
(02:33):
and cloves, often with a kick of heat from a
chili pepper like Scotch bonnet, and an undercurrent of bright
lime juice. You might finish it with a bit of
butter or other creamy element, maybe an extra squeeze a lime.
It's frequently served at large group celebrations, often with some
like chewy bread on the side, and can be eaten
for any meal of the day. I actually haven't had
(02:53):
it either, but from what I understand, it is fragrant
and velvety, smooth, like bright yellow orange in color, and
all of these like stick to your ribs ingredients and
a heady sort of warmth. It's a comfort food. It's
like eating a sunrise and coming away ready to take
(03:14):
on anything that sounds so lovely, right, I need to Oh,
I need to find some. I need to find some.
It's also like it started to befall last week. It's
back to summer this week because we live in Georgia.
But I was like ready for soup weather. Yes, my
kitchen still doesn't really function, but I'm prepared for soep weather.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, you can do it, Lord, take over someone else's kitchen.
It's going to be great. Uh yeah, Okay. Soup Him
is the kind of thing where like every region or
neighborhood or family or individual cook has their own tweaks
on the recipe, and people enjoyed debating about what's like
(04:01):
best or what's correct, Yes, they do. But at the
base of a lot of savory dishes in Haitian cuisine,
you've got epies, which is this aromatic vegetable and herb
puree that's used to marinate proteins and also is just
like your general aromatic basin soups, stews, rice and bean dishes,
(04:22):
et cetera. Recipes can vary and can also be contentious,
but usually you're looking at like some aliums like onion,
garlic and scallions, some vegetable stuff like celery and bell peppers,
savory herbs like thyme, parsley or cilantro, some neutral oil,
and then some kind of acid like lime, juice and
or vinegar. Maybe some hot Scotch bonnet in there too.
(04:45):
You blend them together with a mortar and pestle or
in a blender to like a fine, even saucy like
sort of salsa ish consistency, and then use it everywhere
like you wood near pois or sofrido or the trinity.
You know, if you are using meat in your soup,
and not all recipes call for meat, you're probably going
to marinate it in a piece for a few hours
(05:07):
to overnight. Lots of recipes will call for like good
stewing meat like a like beef chuck, along with beef marrowbones,
so that you add just a lot of flavor and
also silky texture to the soup from the gelatin and
the fats that those pieces contain. I've also seen recipes
with chicken or turkey instead of beef. Lots of recipes
will call for you to wash any proteins in vinegar
(05:29):
and or citrus juice before adding them, which is traditional
to lots of Caribbean cultures. The winter squash is really
the star of the show here, though any kind of
like earthy, slightly sweet, smooth, blending squash can be used.
And by winter squash, I mean like those types of
like fall harvested squash that have a protective outer rind
(05:49):
incasing yellow to orange flesh with a hollow inside for
that webby network of seeds in the middle. You know,
Things like butternut squash or the variety that we call
Calabasa and English are common. You cook off the squash
with a little bit of water or broth and then
pure it the vegetables in there. Recipes often call for
chopped carrot cabbage, turnip, celery, leaks, and or onion. The starches.
(06:13):
I've seen everything from like short tube style pastas like
rigatoni or penne, to long strand style pastas like spaghetti
and vermicelli. Chunks of potatoes are also pretty common. I've
seen some other recipes with rice or yams or taro
root or plantains or kind of sort of all of
(06:34):
the above. Like, there is no need to limit to
yourself to one starch here.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Not.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Seasonings can be added to taste, you know, onion or
garlic powder, thyme, sage, parsley, cayenne, cloves, dar anise, juniper,
tomato paste. These are I'm just reporting. I'm only reporting
what I have seen. I'm not saying that you should
put all of those in there. I can't tell you
what to do. Okay, that's Those are all suggestions that
(07:02):
I have received with my eyeballs, yes, and then yes
at the end, perhaps some lime, juice or butter or cream.
It is traditionally served on New Year's even New Year's
Day in Haitian communities, because Haitian Independence Day is January first,
which is just about as far off as I think
(07:23):
we've ever been in terms of timeliness of the publishing
of an episode. But yeah, here we are making this
soup is often a family or community activity as well,
like preparing that piece, like in the meat and the
vegetables and cooking everything and all the different steps and
bringing it all together.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yes, well, what about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
It depends on exactly what goes into it. But you know,
this is a soup with a little bit of everything.
It is meant to fill you up and keep you going. Yes,
and we do have some numbers for you, we do,
all right. So a lot of Haitian unity centers, certainly
around the US that I've seen, and I would guess
around the world, do have like festivals where they will
(08:08):
offer up this soup. On January first. This year, twenty
twenty four, was the fifth iteration of an event in
Miami on New Year's Day called Soup and Champagne. It's
a Haitian Independence Day celebration. It's also a white party
where the guests wear all white outfits. It's a cocktail
thing like lots of music and art and food featuring
of course soup Jimu. There's an organization in Haiti called
(08:33):
Fondazion Felicitae that distributes soup jimu every Independence Day. I
think they were in their twenty third year this year.
They work currently in about thirty one cities to give
out some ten thousand bowls of soup every year.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And this twenty twenty four is, in fact the two
hundred and twentieth anniversary of Haitian independence.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yes, and it is such a history to how we
got to this point.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Oh, it is, it is and we are going to
get into that history as soon as we get back
from a quick break forward from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Thank you. Okay. So, modern day Haiti is a country
in the Caribbean. If you go do south from Florida,
right you hit the large island of Cuba, and then
if you had east, the next big island over is Espanola,
where you've got Haiti on the west side and the
Dominican Republic on the east. A native Tino peoples had
been living there for thousands of years by the time
(09:45):
the Spanish showed up in fourteen ninety two and started
enslaving them to work in gold mines and to build
plantations for crops like sugarcane.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Right, and then the French started officially occupying Haiti, then
called Saint Domain, in sixteen ninety seven. Spain had just
seated the western section of Espanola to France. At the time,
the economy of Saint Domain was largely based on export
crops like coffee, tobacco, and sugar. To keep the colonial
economy functioning, plantation owners enslaved eight hundred thousand Africans for
(10:18):
free forced labor. By the mid eighteenth century, the profits
generated from this colony outpaced any other in the world. Yes,
and during the French colonial rule of Haiti, one of
the crops the Enclat peoples cultivated was squash, which is
native to the Caribbean and Latin America and the key
(10:39):
ingredient in soup jumu.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
And I spent probably too much time trying to ascertain
what specific variety is traditional here. Linguistics makes it difficult
because a lot of recipes call for colabaza and an
English colabaza refers to this particular varietal of squash, but
in Spanish it refers to winter's in general. Similarly, the
(11:03):
French word uh jeromon gets tossed around, but I'm nearly positive.
That also is a general term which is sometimes applied
to a different specific varietal. I did see a lot
of squash that are speckled green and white on their
rind and have this like orange yellow flesh, though I
(11:25):
saw several different names for those, and look y'all, in
my defense, squash are all in the same genus Kirkribita.
Two species, Muscata and Peppo, are native to Central America.
Muscata contains things like the butternut squash and the specific colabaza.
(11:46):
Pepo contains things like the acorn squash and like the
Halloween look and pumpkin, you know, like big orange thing
that you would carve into a jack lantern. Yeah, varieties
of both have been cultivated and propagated throughout Central America
and the carab In and beyond like since before humans
got there. So squash, squash aside.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Squash aside very important. So making soup jumu was a
very time consuming process. If you've worked with squash, then yes,
you should know. However, or perhaps because of that, white
enslavers and colonizers were the only ones allowed to eat
(12:28):
this soup. They forbade the enslaved who made prepared and
served it. From eating it, it became a status symbol,
a way to further dehumanized enslaved Africans and reinforce white supremacy. Okay,
so the Haitian revolution erupted in seventeen ninety one when
the enslaved decided to revolt after winning and then officially
(12:52):
declaring their independence from France, who had support from the
British and the US. By the way, on January first,
eighteen four, Haiti became the first free black republic. To
mark the event, people in Haiti started the tradition of
eating soup jummu on their independence day. The story goes
that Haiti's first Impress, Marie Claire Jruz Felicite Bono Dessaline,
(13:17):
distributed soup jimmu. What was a symbol of oppression was
reclaimed as a symbol of freedom and independence. Over time,
the soup has been adapted based on region, taste and ingredients.
On top of that, years of foreign interference, poverty, in
part due to colonization and France requiring Haiti to pay
(13:40):
back in slavers an amount equivalent to twenty one billion
dollars or more in today's money. Natural disasters and other issues.
Many Haitians have immigrated all around the world. This soup
is a way to come together and remember their history
no matter where they are. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Twenty fifteen saw the release of a documentary about soup
Chimu called Liberty in a Soup.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yes, and then with the rise of social media, the
dish has grown in popularity. In twenty twenty, bone a
Petite calls the backlash when they posted a recipe that
didn't call for many of the original ingredients.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, it's amazing to me how often this comes up.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
It really is, It really is. The outcry led to
boneup Ae tit issuing an apology and changing the name
of the recipe to Pumpkin Soup with spice Nuts, which,
by the way, I looked up the recipe and I
was like, yeah, this just sounds like pumpkin soup. But anyway, Yes, Yes,
(14:46):
A part of the issue is no surprise. We have
talked about this a lot. They didn't involve any Haitian
voices or perspectives, further erasing a history that already is
too often erased. As one anonymous Haitian commentary wrote, what
you have done here is recolonize a soup which is
by definition anti colonial.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, yeah, I mean basically people were like, this was
if it's going to be a mainstream recipe, then you
should have taken that opportunity to share this very important
history that most people might not know about.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah, it's also super cool, so why wouldn't you want
to learn about it?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Exactly? This all did lead to many Haitian people educating
non Haitian people about the soup online, which is good
but also kind of frustrating because it shouldn't really be
their job. But yeah, all while making clear that it
is more than just a soup. It is bigger than that.
And yes, in twenty twenty one, soup Jimu was added
(15:48):
to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and
I found a really good quote about it. When asked
about this moment in an NPR interview, Haiti's ambassador to UNESCO,
Dominique ded Poi said, as a people, when you go
through years and years of collective trauma, you're constantly in
a state of coping. And there's this famous word that
(16:09):
we use so often. You have to be resilient. But
resilience comes at a cost. To me, this inscription reminds
us of our humanity, of our fragility, but of our
strength when we come together and also when we just
accept that we are worthy of always bringing something, in
this case quite literally to the table. And also there
was a sense of reparation. There are hundreds of countries
(16:32):
with cultural heritage listed, and yet there was a missing name.
Haiti was not on that list. How can a country
like Haiti, which has contributed so vitally to the history
of the world, be missing on a list that showcases
the diversity of the world. There was no better way
to have such a strong entry than with this element,
with the soup, with everything it embodies. Yeah, that's what
(16:55):
we talk about when we say it's more than food.
There's so much more to it than that. Absolutely all
the time, all the time.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And it's delicious on top of that. Yeah, Yes, this
is why I get a little bit excited. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And it was like reading the stories of people coming
together and make it. I always love hearing about that,
or even people going to these events if maybe they
aren't with their family or what have you, having that
community and sharing it or the history, and that's how
you kind of have that moment absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I mean even like like arguing back and forth across
recipe blogs about what is and is inappropriate. But your
soup is kind of beautiful. I mean there's a passion
there and that's really wonderful.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
It really really is. So listeners, if you have any
experience with this soup, please let us know. I'm desperate
to try it so in soup mode, I am ready.
I am generally a sup person, but I am currently
very ready for it.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, as soon as we drop back down below like
eighty five degrees, I'm going.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
To be cut out. Yeah, but yes, we would love
to hear from you. But I think that is what
we have to say about Soup Jumu for now. It is.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
We do already have some listener mail for you, and
we are going to get into that as soon as
we get back from a quick break for a word
from our.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Sponsors, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you,
and we're back with listener s. That's how a good
(18:50):
bowl soup makes me feel.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Christine wrote to further Lawrence request to sample as much
Perry Perry Chicken as possible and perhaps get you to
come to Australia. I was going to recommend Australian fast
food chain Oporto's, specifically their chicken burgers. However, I had
one for lunch today and it wasn't great. In fact,
(19:18):
super producer Dylan or super producer Andrew would have to
do a lot of bleeping if I were to give
you my honest opinion. So instead, I'm going to recommend
the Portuguese style chicken burger made by Australian comedian YouTuber
a mental health advocate, NAT's What I Reckon. NAT's cooking
videos are one of only two great things to come
(19:40):
out of the COVID pandemic. The other is Max Miller's
historical food YouTube channel Tasting History. I think I was
remembering NAT's burger, which is inspired by a Porto's burgers,
but much better. Jes be warned. Nat swears a lot,
and the chicken burger is one of the ones where
he experiments with bleeping out the swearing. It doesn't really work.
(20:04):
Yeah uh there. There's an infamous episode of Spintea where
I didn't realize a certain word had to be bleeped.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Oh, and it was about the history of that word.
Oh goodness, oh wow, So that was probably creative.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
It was a lot of bleeping to the point that
I'm like, I'm not sure anyone really knew, but I
was talking about at the end, which is unfortunate because
it's an interesting history.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Sure they usually are. Yeah, I've I've backed off of
doing I've backed off of doing brain stuff episodes about
like various mild cuss word eenymology, because like it's it's interesting.
But I'm like, can I can I literally do this episode?
There's yes, can I hear that?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah? Yeah, it's a mystery to this day, wild rust
other Oh.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Sheldon wrote The Popsicle Show was an old one, but
listening to it again reminded me of an amusing popsicle
story that I have. Back in the days when I
was teaching at the university, I would always commute to
work by bicycle. I would do this year round, even
on the coldest winter days. And now when it's really cold,
you can keep a popsicle in your pocket and it
won't melt. So I would frequently stop at a corner
(21:28):
store at the beginning of my commute and put it
in my pocket. When I would get to the classroom,
i'd hang my coat just at the side of the
front and while teaching, I'd walk over, take out the
popsicle and start eating it while I would track. They
wrote track, I'm sticking with it. I found it necessary
to do things for my eight thirty am class to
make sure the students would stay awake, and things like
this would keep them awake. One day, it was really cold,
(21:51):
about negative thirty five degrees fahrenheit. As usual, I got
my popsicle and put it in my pocket. Back in
those days, over thirty five years ago, winterbike riding was
not common and people would often look at me in
wonder as I rode across the parking lot toward my building.
I'm a bit of a show off, and this day
I decided to give people something special to look at.
While riding across the parking lot with no hands on
(22:13):
the bars, I took the popsicle out of my pocket
and put it in my mouth. This was when I
found something about popsicles that I never knew. You know
how you're told never to lick a metal pole in
the winter. I found out that negative thirty five degrees fahrenheit,
which is much colder than a normal freezer, a popsicle
acts just like a metal pole, but I wasn't licking it.
(22:33):
I put it in my mouth. My upper lip, lower lip,
and tongue were all stuck hard to the popsicle and
it hurt. I sped up, got to my building, dropped
the bicycle, and ran into the nearest bathroom and put
my head under the sink to let the water melt
it so I could remove it from my mouth. I
got these strangest looks from the other two people who
(22:54):
were in there. So let this be a warning to
you and others. Do not store your popsicles negative thirty
five degrees fahrenheit.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Done.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, easy, yeah, anytime. I don't think I could do
that if I wanted to. So oh no, yeah, I'm
sure that was quite the tail for others. Oh my goodness.
(23:27):
Oh I'm picturing oh just like this sheer like like
developing panic.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yes, I hope it was a bright popsicle too.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Oh yeah yeah, so really it's clear what type of
object was.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yeah, yeah, this is something my dad would do. He
was always somebody that was like, it's cold outside, let's
get the coldest dessert we can, Whereas I'm like.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Why why I'd like to be warmer than this. I
don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I appreciate it. I appreciate it. It's quite the story
and quite the lesson learned.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yes, yeah, lessons were learned by all that day. Yes,
so success, we'll say, teach your success absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Indeed, indeed wow. Thanks so much to both of these
listeners for writing in. If you would like to write
to us, you can our email us hello at savorpod
dot com.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
We're also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at saver pod, and we do hope to
hear from you. Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For more
podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and
Andrew Howard, with special thanks today to JJ Possway. Thanks
(24:48):
to you for listening, and we hope that lots for
good things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Dylan Fagan
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
2. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
3. Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.