Soup joumou (; french: soupe au giraumon) is a soup native to Haitian cuisine. In 2021, soup joumou was added to the

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergov ...

. The soup is traditionally cooked with winter squashes such as the

turban squash Turban squash, also known as "Turk's turban" or "French turban" (''"Giraumon"'' in French), is a type of squash most often used as a winter squash. It is an heirloom, predating 1820. A cultivar of ''Cucurbita maxima'', it is closely related to th ...

. The squash slices are simmered in a saucepan along with pieces of

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

and soup bones,

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...

, and vegetables such as malanga, leeks, celery, radishes,

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...

s, green cabbage, habanero pepper and

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

s. The squash is then

purée A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., app ...

d, usually in a food processor, with water and the purée is returned to the saucepan.

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

and seasoning along with lime juice, garlic, parsley and other

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

s and

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s are then added. Some Haitians add thin

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ...

such as

vermicelli Vermicelli (; , , also , ) is a traditional type of pasta round in section similar to spaghetti. In English-speaking regions it is usually thinner than spaghetti, while in Italy it is typically thicker. The term ''vermicelli'' is also used ...

and macaroni and a small amount of

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...

or oil. The soup is always served hot and is usually accompanied with a sliced bread which is dipped in the soup.

Preparation

Joumou Soup is a mildy spicy soup native to Haitian cuisine. The soup is traditionally cooked in pumpkin

winter squash Winter squash is an annual fruit representing several squash species within the genus ''Cucurbita''. Late-growing, less symmetrical, odd-shaped, rough or warty varieties, small to medium in size, but with long-keeping qualities and hard rinds, a ...

. The main ingredients of the Joumou Soup are: squash, beef, potatoes, malanga, and green vegetables like cabbage, celery, etc. The soup is always served hot and is sometimes accompanied with a sliced bread which dipped in the soup. Joumou Soup is traditionally served on January 1 to commemorate the day of Haiti’s liberation from France in 1804. Soup Joumou is pronounced as “joo-moo”.

Social connotations

Soup joumou commemorates Haiti's liberation from French colonial rule on January 1, 1804. During slavery, only French colonial masters and plantation owners were allowed to enjoy the delicacy, which was prepared by slaves. After the revolution, the free Haitians were finally able to eat the soup and it came to represent freedom, emancipation and independence. On January 1, Haitians both at home and in the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

eat this soup to celebrate the first successful slave rebellion that transferred political power to its freed slave majority.

UNESCO recognition

In December 2021, Haiti obtained official recognition for the knowledge, know-how and practices pertaining to the consumption of soup joumou on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

. It was Haiti’s first inclusion on the list.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joumou Haitian soups Squash and pumpkin dishes

Preparation

Social connotations

UNESCO recognition

See also

References

External links