Akra

The Cultural Story

Akra are Haiti's original street food. Long before food trucks existed anywhere, Haitian women were frying these small, golden fritters from baskets balanced on their heads, calling out to passersby in the early morning hours. They are made from malanga — a starchy root with a flavor somewhere between potato and cassava — grated raw, seasoned aggressively, and dropped by the spoonful into hot oil. The Scotch bonnet pepper in akra is not optional, and neither is the green onion. The pepper provides a slow-building heat that makes them addictive; the green onion gives the fritters a freshness that keeps them from being merely dense. The exterior fries up to a crispy, brown shell while the inside remains soft and yielding. Akra are served at carnival, at weddings, at Sunday church markets, and outside of football matches. They are eaten standing up, wrapped in paper, hot from the oil. They are Haiti's happiest food — the food you eat when there is something to celebrate, or when the mere act of eating is celebration enough.