Haitian food

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May 27, 2011 | 3:49 PM | By

Five ethnic food tastes worth acquiring: The meat edition

Photo by Manogamo/Flickr (Creative Commons)

A bowl of raw kitfo, at right, with spongy injera bread

Last week, Multi-American delved once more into that culinary landscape where some diners fear to tread, the territory of the unsung ethnic delicacy.

These are the dishes that don’t necessarily sound good, look good or or even smell good, but are worth trying because they are unexpectedly delicious.

Our first series in March covered a range of foods, from drinks like the Vietnamese avocado milkshake to main dishes like arroz con calamares en su tinta, a particularly unattractive squid dish served in several Latin American countries.

The series last week focused on meat dishes, cooked, raw and canned. True to form, none sound like anything one would rush out to try, but don’t be put off. For any carnivores who might have missed these treats, here they are in a convenient list. Dig in.

  • The clever and delicious Spam musubi, which looks like a giant piece of sushi and is a popular snack in Hawaii. In a typical preparation, the sliced Spam is grilled and simmered in a mix of soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine. It is then placed atop a giant piece of Spam-sized molded sushi rice (there is actually a gadget called a Spam musubi rice press) and, in the simplest version, the entire thing is wrapped with a piece of nori, the dried seaweed wrapper common to sushi. Sounds odd, looks odd, tastes great.
  • The very red, very raw chee kufta, popular in Armenian and Turkish cuisines (and known as kibbeh nayyeh in Lebanon). Eaten as a cold appetizer, it consists of ground beef or lamb mixed with fine wheat bulghur and seasonings, which in the typical Armenian preparation consist of red and black pepper, water and salt. It is then garnished with scallions, parsley and a generous amount of olive oil. The trick to a great chee kufta is very lean meat, preferably ground by the cook. One reader described it as “a special luscious dish.” Continue reading →
FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Armenian food, Cabrit, Chee kufta, Cuban food, Dominican food, Ethiopian food, Haitian food, Hawaiian food, Kitfo, Rabo encendido, Spam musubi
May 24, 2011 | 6:48 PM | By

Spam rocks? Much, much love for Spam musubi

Spam musubi to go, October 2006. Photo by klyphord/Flickr (Creative Commons)

One of a series of posts last week that explored unsung ethnic delicacies highlighted Spam musubi, a popular snack made with Spam and sushi rice that is popular in Hawaii.

The series focused on those dishes or items that may not look or sound good, but are in fact delicious. I knew that Spam musubi was well-loved on the islands, and at least by one person in Washington, D.C., that being our Hawaii-raised president. But judging by the flood of comments that came in to KPCC’s Facebook page, there is a great deal of Spam musubi love out there.

“This is one of my favorite foods!” Joanne Kakuda wrote.

“Hot dogs are worse than spam so I don’t understand the prejudice against it,” Tracy Munar-Ramos wrote. “Spam rocks!”

Okay, not entirely sure about that. Vanessa Lee put it in perspective:

Love spam musubi, but can’t eat the pink canned stuff any other way.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Armenian food, Cuban food, Dominican food, Ethiopian food, Ethnic food tastes worth acquiring, Haitian food, Hawaiian food, Spam musubi
May 22, 2011 | 3:51 PM | By

More ethnic food tastes worth acquiring: Cabrit

Cabrit fricassee at TiGeorge's with all the Caribbean fixings, May 2011

Goats are cute. And unfortunately for them, they are also tasty.

The beloved, beady-eyed petting zoo favorites are considered delectable in many parts of the world. This includes in much of Southern California, where Mexican bírria – a spicy and much-eaten goat stew– is hardly a rarity.

But there are less common goat delicacies in these parts that merit a try. Notably is a savory Hatian dish of marinated, slow-roasted goat, referred to there as cabrit or kabrit.

Hatian-style cabrit is very different from bírria, in which the goat meat is served with a spicy broth. But done right, no broth is needed, as the meat is delectably tender. Those who grew up with it sing its praises, although there are the inevitable goat-related childhood stories.

Gary Dauphin, a Los Angeles writer and director of new media for KCET, remembers his first goat dinner while visiting his grandmother:

My first taste of kabrit was instructive on numerous levels.

During my first trip to Haiti at about 6, I spent most the summer befriending a goat my grandmother kept behind her house. As you would likely expect, they ended up serving her to me on my last night in Port-au-Prince. The odd mix of horror – that was a good goat! :( – and pleasure – that was a good goat! :) – I felt as I realized exactly what/who I was eating remains with me to this day.

I had my first taste of of the dish the other day at TiGeorge’s Chicken, a Haitian restaurant just south of Echo Park. And I concur – that was a good goat. The meat in the “cabrit fricassee” was fall-off-the-bone tender. It was also surprisingly not gamy, gaminess being goat’s bad reputation.

Proprietor and chef George Laguerre explained the preparation: A marinade of spices and fruit juices like key lime and sour orange followed by several hours’ worth of cooking, along with a rendering process that involves adding cold water while the meat is cooking to remove fat, which tones down the gaminess. Most important is to have patience.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Birria, Cabrit, Haitian food, Mexican food, TiGeorge's