7654: Fw: [TasteoftheIslands] article on haitian easter (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: drgill <drgill@clas.net>


> Published Sunday, April 15, 2001 in the miami herald
>
>
> GOURMET MEMORIES: For a child in Haiti, Easter meant
> delicious food, sweet wine and family togetherness
>
> BY LILIANE NERETTE LOUIS
> Special to The Herald
>
> When I was growing up in Haiti, the Holy Week was a
> time of meditation and penance. It was a time of
> prayer and what I would call ``contradictory''
> fasting.
>
> Fasting meant eating gourmet food. Holy Week was the
> time we had such meals as Lobster Salad, Conch in
> Gravy, Cod Fish Soufflé, Breadfruit au Gratin, Fresh
> Red Snapper, imported salted fish, and opened numerous
> cans of salmon, pure olive oil and bottles of wine.
>
> We were not to have meat until Easter Sunday. Was this
> menu a way for us to enjoy our turkey more on Easter
> Sunday? I doubt it!
>
> Besides the traditional turkey, other aspects of the
> Haitian Easter season are vivid in my childhood
> memories. I remember sitting around the dinner table,
> where every Holy Thursday after supper, we children of
> the Nérette family (three boys and five girls) had
> bread and wine.
>
> That was a reminder of how special Holy Thursday was
> in preparation for Easter Sunday. It was the only day
> of the year that we children had wine. The wine was
> sweet and light and I learned the hard way that the
> grown-ups' wine tasted different.
>
> I was about 8 years old when I helped myself to a
> bottle of wine left on the dinner table. Surprise!
> Surprise! I started to cough so badly at the first sip
> that mother came running to my rescue.
>
> Easter Sunday was a joyous time. It was a time for
> dress-up with pretty hats and new shoes to go to
> church. It was a time when we were sprayed with
> mother's French cologne, no matter if you were a boy
> or girl. And it was a time for sharing eggs and
> flowers with our neighbors and for eating a
> sensational Easter Dinner.
>
> Here's our family recipe for Lobster Salad. Enjoy!
>
> Liliane Nérette Louis is the author of When Night
> Falls, Kric! Krac! (Libraries Unlimited, $26.50), a
> book of Haitian folktales.
>
> SALAD
> Lobster Salad
> 3 cups of steamed lobster meat, cut small
> 1 cup of cooked potatoes, cubed
> 1 small cooked carrot, cubed
> 1 small can sweet green peas
> 1 1/2 cups homemade mayonnaise (below)
> 1 small red bell pepper, cubed
> 1 small onion, cubed
> 3 tablespoons celery, cubed
> 1 head Romaine lettuce
> 1 tomato, cut in wedges
> 2 hard-boiled eggs
> Parsley as garnish
> Homemade mayonnaise
> 1 egg and 1 yolk
> Juice of 1 lime
> 1 cup olive oil, divided
> 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
> Salt, parsley, garlic, pepper to taste
>
>
> For the mayonnaise: Place the egg and yolk, lime
> juice, two tablespoons of olive oil and Dijon mustard
> in a blender; blend on medium speed. After 1 minute,
> slowly add remaining oil. When mayonnaise has even
> consistency (more oil may be required), remove from
> blender and add spices to taste.
>
> Steam lobster meat as you would vegetables -- above
> salted boiling water. Lobster will turn white and be
> cooked in about 20 minutes. Mix a portion of the
> mayonnaise with lobster meat, potatoes, carrot, peas,
> bell pepper, onion and celery. Place the mixture in
> the center of an oval plate, garnish with Romaine
> lettuce, the white part of the hard-boiled eggs and
> the tomato.
>
> Cover with the rest of the mayonnaise and sprinkle the
> hard yolk on top. Serves 6.