Name: Soup Joumou
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Haitian
Ingredients: 2 lbs beef (chuck or stew meat), cut into 2-inch cubes; 2 lbs kabocha or calabaza pumpkin, peeled and cubed; 3 potatoes, cubed; 3 carrots, sliced; 2 celery stalks, sliced; 1 turnip, cubed; 1 cup elbow macaroni or small pasta; 1 leek, sliced; 4 cloves garlic; 1 tsp fresh thyme; 1/2 Scotch bonnet pepper; 3 tbsp epis (Haitian green herb paste: blend parsley, scallions, garlic, bell pepper, thyme); 2 tbsp tomato paste; Lime juice and salt to taste; 8 cups beef broth or water

Haiti's freedom soup — a rich pumpkin and beef broth that was once forbidden to enslaved people, now eaten every January 1st in celebration.

The Cultural Story

Soup joumou is the most politically significant dish in the Americas. When Haiti was enslaved under French colonial rule, this rich pumpkin soup was reserved for white colonizers — enslaved Haitians were forbidden to eat it. On January 1, 1804, when Haiti declared independence as the world's first Black republic after the only successful slave revolt in history, the formerly enslaved people made and ate soup joumou in defiance. They have eaten it every January 1st since. UNESCO designated it as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021. The soup is rich, hearty, and complex — beef, vegetables, pumpkin, pasta — a meal that says we are free to eat whatever we want. Every bowl is an act of remembrance.

Ingredients

2 lbs beef (chuck or stew meat), cut into 2-inch cubes
2 lbs kabocha or calabaza pumpkin, peeled and cubed
3 potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 turnip, cubed
1 cup elbow macaroni or small pasta
1 leek, sliced
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 Scotch bonnet pepper
3 tbsp epis (Haitian green herb paste: blend parsley, scallions, garlic, bell pepper, thyme)
2 tbsp tomato paste
Lime juice and salt to taste
8 cups beef broth or water

Instructions

1Marinate beef in epis, lime juice, and salt for at least 1 hour. Brown in a large pot over high heat until deeply caramelized on all sides.
2Add tomato paste and cook 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.
3Meanwhile, boil pumpkin until very soft. Drain and blend with 1 cup of broth until completely smooth.
4Add the pumpkin purée to the beef pot. The soup will turn a gorgeous golden-orange color.
5Add potatoes, carrots, celery, turnip, leek, garlic, thyme, and scotch bonnet. Simmer 25 minutes.
6Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes more. Adjust salt and acidity. Serve in large bowls — this is a meal, not a starter. It is freedom in a bowl.

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