Nathalie Petit Celin

home, he would bring with him true delights, like pate kode, warm patties filled with smoked herring. My late grandmother would spend hours lovingly cooking boulèt, spicy fried meatballs made with beef, and seasoned with epis — a spice blend, and marinade. My mother would simmer up poulet en sos, braised chicken in sauce; fry up bunnan peze, or crispy fried plantain; and steam diri blanc, fluffy white rice (always, lovingly, allowing her children to eat the biggest chicken legs in the pot and take extra plantain). On New Year’s Day, family friends would generously provide us with their homemade soup joumou, a slightly sweet and savory pumpkin soup with beef, sending us home with full Tupperware as they wished us a Happy Independence Day.