People often ask me what the food is like in Haiti. In one word... delicious!! I love the food here. And during an extended stay, if you're not careful, you could easily pack on the pounds! The food here is carb-heavy. That's great for the energy needed to climb these mountains, I'm just hoping I balance it all out properly so that I'm able to burn all those calories!

I definitely have some favorites (griot, papitas, kinnips) and I'm typically craving this or that. Here's a photographic list of some typical dishes, snacks, and drinks you can enjoy here.

During the week, our excellent cook Jolina prepares breakfast and lunch. For dinner, we heat up leftovers. The menu each week is often the same, but I love everything she cooks! When lunch is ready, she puts it on the dining table upstairs and we dig in. This particular day we had mayi moulin (a cornmeal porridge, similar to grits or polenta) with bean sauce, beef and legim (a thick vegetable stew typically including eggplant, cabbage, carrots, chayote, onions, garlic, and whatever else she wants to throw in there).

Here's what it looks like on the plate. After a few bites I generally start mixing it all together.

Chicken and rice is probably one of the most popular dishes in Haiti. Many Haitians eat nearly the same thing every day. If Lesly had his way, he would have diri and poul (rice and chicken) every day. This meal was served with a potato salad as well. Often meals will come with pikliz, a very spicy slaw type dish made of cabbage, carrots, vinegar, and peppers. Pikliz can be eaten by itself, or with the rice or whatever to add some spice.

Meals often come with a salad (sadly there is typically no dressing) and fried plantains.

Fish is a common find in restaurants. I typically do not like fish with bones, but I've learned to carefully pick through and find good meaty pieces without biting into a bone.

With all the fruit trees around, you can often get fresh juice. Jolina makes it most every day. I never know exactly what kind it is... I'll taste hints of orange, grapefruit, passionfruit. It's always good, but they typically add lots of sugar. Sometimes too much. 

Here's some cherry juice and passionfruit juice we ordered at a restaurant. I also love papaya juice. They typically put milk and sugar in it. First time I heard about the milk, I thought that sounded gross but it's actually delicious! I always ask for papaya juice anywhere I go, though they rarely have it so it's a real treat when I find it!

We went to a restaurant last week and they served a proper salad--with dressing! It was delicious! Look at those tomatoes! The dressing was a vinaigrette.

I ordered chicken pasta that could give Olive Garden a run for its money! Granted, I rarely get anything like this in Haiti, so when I do, it tastes extra good!

I love pizza!! They have a great pizza place in Port-au-Prince so every once in a while I'll splurge and get some. I heard there is a new pizza place in Leogane, so I'll have to give it a try soon. 

Kinnips are a unique summer fruit here. I always look forward to kinnip season! They are like nothing I've ever had before. Similar to grapes I guess, but the way you eat them is very interesting. I also enjoy mango season though I recently learned I'm actually allergic. Sad! :(

Kinnips have a very big seed in the middle and the fleshy outside does not cleanly detach from it. You break open the peeling and pop them in your mouth. You mostly enjoy the sweet juice of it, then you just roll it around on your tongue and use your teeth to get as much of the meat off of it as you can. After that you spit out the seed. 

Papitas are thinly sliced and fried plantain chips. I first had them in Ghana. I used to get them every time I saw anyone carrying them in Haiti. I don't crave them as much anymore, but I do still love them. 

Fresh roasted Haitian peanuts!

I bought some popcorn kernels and learned how to pop it on the stove. First time went well enough!

Some other common foods to savor in Haiti...

Griot: deliciously seasoned fried pork. Sometimes it's like a thick pulled pork you could make into a sandwich and sometimes they are more like bite-sized clumps of pork. Both are yummy though all quite unhealthy I suppose!

Tchaka: A thick soup with hominy, beans, and pumpkin. It's quite unique and very yummy!

Spaghetti: Haitians love their spaghetti almost as much as they love their rice and chicken! Spaghetti can come a number of ways, and is often eaten by Haitians for breakfast. They'll top it with ketchup or mayonnaise (oftentimes both). Sometimes they'll add hotdogs or salami. I've eaten it nearly any way that it comes, and I always like it. But I enjoy it most with tomato paste and salami, though you can't find the salami in Haiti anymore. It was imported from the Dominican Republic, but a rumor started spreading that it was poor quality. I still loved it!

"Maggi" boullion cubes: Seemingly used in just about every Haitian dish! 

Pate: A common snack here, it's like a meat pastry. I love them. The bread it flaky and crispy. You can buy 4 for $1 on the street.

Okra: Typically cooked as a sauce with carrots. It's good, but it's very slimy. Not quite like my great grandmother's fried okra, though we did fry some up once and it was pretty good!

As for dessert, I haven't really had any authentic Haitian desserts. They sell ice cream and popsicles on the street. They're not too bad. Mostly I just buy packaged cookies either on the street or in the store. They are good and fresh and typically enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. Then there is the occasional find/splurge of Nutella and pretzels or DoubleStuf Oreos! :)

And that concludes your food tour of Haiti. Though not an exhaustive list, it gives you the basic idea of what the options are here and what I'm eating the most of. If you come visit, you can try some of these dishes. If you're a picky eater, I'm sure you could still be satisfied enough during a short trip. There's definitely something for everyone down here!!