Of keen interest to a few of you and mild interest to others, I’m sure. Here is what I’ve learnt so far: the staple foods are rie nacionale (rice mixed with some beans or lentils), meat, and plaintains. What I’ve had so far:
Some of my colleagues order food from nearby eateries for lunch. I got a box of rie nacionale, a beet-tomato chop with vinegrette, and deep fried chunks of pork fat (with a little meat stuck to it). My first bite of pork was the only meaty bit and it tasted like Brazilian salt pork with some spice. Really, really good. ($10 US, which almost gave me a heart attack (pork fat aside))
Today I went out to another province in the south and had an entrée of creamed spinach with some shredded carrot and tomato, accompanied by bread. The main meal was rie nacionale, medallions of fried plantain hash, and shrimp in a clear both-y sauce that was quite good. ($6)
Last weekend, in another province, I had a roadside snack that consisted of essentially a thick flour tortilla stuffed with cole slaw and mystery meat (hold the ketchup and mayonnaise) and deep-fried to a crisp firmness. It was good, but for the large chunks of bone. (About 50 cents)
We fineshed our activities too late in the night to find any food in the eateries, so we ended up eating what I was told was “soup” from a lady in a popular road-side stall. What I got in my ubiquitous Styrofoam container was a watery stew of boiled plantains, spicy-vinegary slaw, and….tripe. I was sharing with a German woman who has been in Haiti for two years. We chose not to investigate the tripe bits too closely and passed them on to our colleagues to literally slurped them up. It was amazing. ($3)
In addition to these forays into local cuisine, I’ve has seafood in two restaurants, both tasteful in their food and décor. ($12-24)
More updates to come.
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