Soup joumou

Soup joumou (soupe au giraumon) is a soup native to Haitian cuisine. In 2021, soup joumou was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

The soup is traditionally cooked with winter squashes such as the turban squash. The squash slices are simmered in a saucepan along with pieces of beef and soup bones, potato, and vegetables such as malanga, leeks, celery, radishes, carrots, green cabbage, habaner pepper and onions. The squash is then puréed, usually in a food processor, with water and the purée is returned to the saucepan. Salt and seasoning along with lime juice, garlic, parsley and other herbs and spices are then added. Some Haitians add thin pasta such as vermicelli and macaroni and a small amount of butter or oil. The soup is always served hot and is usually accompanied with sliced bread which is dipped in the soup.

Social connotations
Soup joumou commemorates Haiti's liberation from French colonial rule on January 1, 1804. During slavery, only French colonial masters and plantation owners were allowed to enjoy the delicacy, which was prepared by slaves. After the revolution, the free Haitians were finally able to eat the soup and it came to represent freedom, emancipation and independence. On January 1, Haitians both at home and in the diaspora eat this soup to celebrate the first successful slave rebellion that transferred political power to its freed slave majority.

UNESCO recognition
In December 2021, Haiti obtained official recognition for the knowledge, know-how and practices pertaining to the consumption of soup joumou on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. It was Haiti’s first inclusion on the list.