Here is the recipe to satisfy the craving for “soup jouwoumou”:
• 1 medium tropical squash (looks like a small seedless melon, but skin is yellow or yellow and green — ask for the one from Canada. Can be found at Bestway in Piney Branch or at HanHnReyn Asian food market at 12015 Georgia Ave in Wheaton, MD. You can substitute with frozen yellow squash found at these markets and at Giant or Safeway.
• 2 medium carrots
• 4 to 6 radishes
• 2 medium turnips
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 pound of beef neck bones
• 1 pound of stew beef
• 6 to 10 pieces of macaroni (ziti #2)
• 1/2 spoon of butter
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• spices to taste: salt, parsley(finely minced), black pepper, onions, garlic, 1 laurel leaf, 3 to 7 clove heads
Boil beef neck bones for 1/2 an hour, add stew beef and boil another 1/2 hour, reducing the water (you may save some of the water to boil the squash) so that the meet can lightly fry to get just a little bit of brownish color on low flame so that it will not be crispy, but tenderly juicy. Set the meat aside.
Boil squash in about 3/4 of a gallon of water until tender enough to be pureed in a blender.
Mix the puree with the rest of the water and bring to a boil, watching closely during the first ten minutes because it may overflow. With a large cooking spoon, collect the cream formed on top of the boiling puree and throw the cream away. Add spices, oil and butter.
Cut carrots, radishes, turnips and celery in small pieces (1/2 ro 3/4 inches) and add to the boil. Let it boil for about 20 minutes on medium flame. Add the meat and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Add the macaroni and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Reduce the flame to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Et voilà! Bon appétit
This may serve 4 to 6 persons.
Back in 1986, CRUDEM founder, Dr. Ted Dubuque, noted that many volunteers returned to HSC because of the fine cooking! In that regard, times have not changed. Lola Poisson, wife of former Haiti Ambassador to the U.S., Raymond Joseph, serves up exquisite Haitian delights for event goers in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
