08/07/2018 | 53m 11s | Video has closed captioning.
Chef Marcus Samuelsson explores the cuisine, culture and history of the Haitian community. From tropical, tangy soursop ice cream to mamba spread to soupe joumou and deep-fried pate korde, Marcus eats his way through Haiti’s culinary classics.
Aired: 08/07/18
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♪♪ Samuelsson: We're here in Miami, South Florida.
What's the Haitian rum?
Baptiste: Oh, my God.
The best.
We call it Barbancourt.
That's where the magic happen.
Marcus, this is special.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
What are you doing?
Like, enough.
I'm not trying to kill you, Marcus.
Don't worry.
Sante!
-Sante.
-Sante.
[ Toasting in Haitian Creole ] Nice.
Ayibobo.
Mmm.
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What have we got here?
-That's accra.
-What have we got here?
What?
This is accra with watercress sauce.
This is what we buy in the street.
They mash it up and deep-fry it, and you dip in that green sauce... Whew.
...which has got a little spicy.
You know what I mean?
Mm.
That's a perfect appetizer right there.
-Mm!
Beautiful.
-Mm-hmm.
This food -- This food right here is like love-making.
Good.
I'm Chef Marcus Samuelsson, and as an immigrant born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, food, to me, has always told a deeper, more personal story.
♪♪ It's a past, a culture, identity, and history.
Now it's a party.
I'm going across the country to learn more about American immigrant communities and culinary tradition to see how food connects us all across the United States.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ Doo, doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo-doo, doo ♪ Normally when people think about immigrant culture to Miami, Cuban is probably the first one that comes up, definitely always a Latin vibe.
[ Man singing in native language ] But the community that I've always been intrigued by that I don't know that much about is the Haitian community.
[ Singing continues ] Samuelsson: The Haitian-American community over the years have faced a lot of stigma being a black community, being an immigrant community, but specifically an immigrant community from a very, very poor country.
But here in Miami, the Haitian-American community is really proud, and the Haitian spirit is definitely played out in the cuisine.
The food is very rustic.
There is a level of sophistication but also roughness.
It does have some French nuances to it, but it's the goat bone in, the fish you eat bone in.
Everything sort of requires both a hand, napkins, and maybe a fork and a spoon.
We're about to get into it.
♪ Woooooo ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ ♪♪ So, Marc, we're actually not in Little Haiti right now.
-No, we're not.
-We're in South Beach.
South Beach is a tourist area, and then you have an authentic Haitian restaurant called Tap Tap.
Baptiste: Yeah.
What's up with that?
You got to -- You got some explaining to do.
What's going on?
Well, by having Tap Tap here, it's really to introduce Haitian culture to Miami.
Yeah.
And this place has been here since 1994.
Tap Tap is an institution.
So, what does "Tap Tap" mean?
What's the name?
Tap Tap is just the -- the -- a way of transportation...
Okay.
...in Haiti.
It's like those little cars.
It's like tuk tuk.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Almost like a taxi.
Yeah.
You know, they go from "A" to "B."
Jump inside, and they go.
When I decided to go to Miami to learn more about the Haitian-American community, the first call I did was to my buddy Marc Baptiste.
I've known Marc forever, and he is an amazing photographer.
He's been shooting all his life.
He shot my wedding in Ethiopia.
And Marc is beyond proud of being Haitian.
Like, whenever I see Marc, there's a couple of things he will always talk about -- his kids, his next shoot, and Haiti.
♪♪ Mm.
-Man, griot.
-One more -- griot.
Mm.
What do we got, man?
That's the fried pork.
Ooh!
I've never had griot before.
Fried pork...?
You put a little -- little bit of lime, and then you add... Oh, the pikliz, of course.
...the pikliz.
Pikliz is something between sort of a relish and a hot sauce, right?
There you go.
And then what do we got here?
A little bit of vinegar?
It's a little bit vinegar.
-Mmm!
-Mmm!
-Wow.
-Uh-huh.
It's really crispy on the outside, and then moist inside.
It's super delicious.
This reminds you of home?
Is this what you grew up on?
Oh, yeah, pretty much.
Pretty much.
So, when did the Haitians start coming to Miami and America?
Well, you go back to, you know, to our ancestors come as slaves.
Yeah.
And then in the '70s or '80s, when the boat people start to come in.
Yeah.
From the 1950s to the 1980s, Haiti was ruled by the dictatorship of François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc, and his son, Baby Doc.
They were notorious for their corruption, violence, and repression of the Haitian people.
Many people fled the country and came by boat to Miami.
I mean, to get on a wooden boat, to challenge nature, and to made it to the shore of Miami... You're right.
It's rough sea.
It's rough sea.
They're trying to create a better life for themselves by any mean necessary, do whatever it takes.
And then, after the earthquake... 2010?
January 12, 2010.
We took, like, 69,000 Haitians.
Oh, wow.
Actually, at least 40% or 50% of them were in Miami... Yeah.
...because, you know, they speak your language.
You're going to get your food.
You're going to get your community.
You're going to get help.
Because they have to rely on other Haitian that speak English.
Because it's like the hub.
Yeah.
-That's the base.
-Yeah.
Haiti has endured many natural disaster, but the massive earthquake in 2010 caused incredible devastation.
♪♪ It displaced 1.5 million people, and a lot of them came to Miami.
Wow.
Um... A week after the earthquake, I decided to go to Haiti.
I didn't expect how bad this thing is.
Yeah.
I was like, "Whoa, this is devastation."
I was shooting, shooting.
At some point, I have to put my camera down 'cause I'm crying.
I said, "What the h--l?"
It was -- It was -- Still today, that -- that just cut my heart.
It was horrible.
And how is Haiti doing now, like, eight years later?
A lot better.
Eight years later, fortunately, we're doing a lot better, and plus, the city of Miami kind of embraced the Haitian community.
Ooh, what do we got here?
Oh, my.
Okay, so, next, we have the grilled fish with the lime sauce on the side... Ooh!
-Oh, my God.
...Scotch bonnet peppers.
And then we have the vegetarian legim with mais moulin.
Nice.
Almost like grits in a way, right?
It is a grits.
It's called -- Yeah, it's a grits.
-Oh, wow.
-Thank you, man.
And then you got the legims?
-The legim.
-Nice.
Just indulge yourself.
-Ooh!
-Ooh.
And then we got a little fish.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Wow.
Now you're talking.
[ Laughs ] You like it?
Wow, this is good.
When I taste the legim... Mm-hmm?
...I taste sort of a journey between Senegal, Ghana all the way to Haiti.
Like, when I think about Southern cooking and the link between sort of shrimp and grits and fish and grits, and you think about where that came from.
Mm-hmm.
From West Africa via Haiti.
I taste that right -- right here.
Yeah.
So, the poisson with the grits -- Mmm!
[ Laughs ] See, you just gave a whole world history here, because it's all start with Motherland.
It starts out with Africa.
It shows how similar we are ...in -- in culture, to our food.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
So, when our president came out and said that he doesn't want people from Haiti to come... -I got mad, dude.
-Yeah, man, we all got mad.
It wasn't just the Haitian community.
Yeah.
He singled out Haitian... Africans, like me.
...Nigerian.
You know, it hurt people feeling, and then they were outraged, and there's still outraged by it.
Mm.
But the fact that we're having a conversation about it does invoke change.
And that's the beauty of this place, you know?
It's easy to have a conversation to -- to educate people about it.
Yeah.
And change has to come.
Mm.
I think it's super important now more than ever, in this very intense moment of time, to keep curiosity and dialogue and to learn about your neighbor that may come from a different place.
And food, music, art are incredible door-openers to start this conversation.
You're my brother, man.
You ask me to come down, you know, I have to, I have to, I have to.
Thank you so much.
I have to keep it real for you, baby.
I appreciate it.
Thank you, man.
Thank you so much.
♪♪ Once you go about 20 minutes away from South Beach to the northern part of the city, you hit this beautiful area called Little Haiti.
One way to know that you're in Little Haiti is that the storefronts all have these murals, and it's written in Creole, the Caribbean-French language.
I'm going to see this incredible muralist called Serge Toussaint.
He has these iconic murals all over Little Haiti.
How long you been doing this?
This is incredible.
Oh, man, pretty much all my life.
Do you do it first on a piece of paper so you know what you're going into?
No, no, free-handed, just... -Nice.
-Yeah.
When I first got here, everything was written in English.
Yeah.
And most of the people were speaking Creole.
I don't know if you noticed some of my -- my stores, the soda bottles... Of course.
Yeah.
...the -- the sandwiches, hot dogs.
You know, so people don't need to know how to read.
Yeah.
They know it's a store.
-It's a billboard.
-Right, billboard.
But I realized that it would've been nice to have some Haitian artworks everywhere to -- That speaks to the community.
Exactly.
So I paid to make my own... Yeah.
...with the Haitian palace, and then the -- the citadel.
It was the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Yes.
So, Serge, you are documenting the history.
Right, it's important to document your -- your culture.
Yeah.
'Cause, most of the time people talk about Haiti, they always talk about the bad side of Haiti, but they don't want to talk about the beauty of it.
The beauty.
You understand what I'm saying?
Yeah.
You don't have to go to a -- a library for you to learn about Haiti.
As a muralist, as an artist, I really want to have a history on every wall.
-Nice.
-Yeah.
♪♪ ♪♪ Laguerre: Welcome to Lakay Tropical Ice Cream, located in the heart of Little Haiti.
Lakay Tropical Ice Cream have been in business for the last 36 years.
My dear friend Leaman started with the ice cream.
When I come here, there were Haagen-Dazs, Baskin-Robbins, and the idea popped up -- tropical ice cream.
We make about 12 different flavors, but myself, I love the passion fruit, but we have another one.
In Creole, we call that kowosol.
Ice cream become famous, and then the customer, the Haitians, were looking for something else, so then Leaman started the bakery.
In our bakeries, not only we have bread, we have something called tablet.
This is a Haitian candy made out of peanuts.
And in the bakery, we focus in pate.
If you go to Haiti, every walk of life consume pate for breakfast, and that's what we do here every day, and it's being served fresh.
The name "Lakay," it means "home."
It's a place where, if you are looking for Haitian in town, this is where you want to come.
So, this is something that we really take seriously in our heart, and we really want Little Haiti to be our home.
♪♪ Samuelsson: What's up, Nadege?
How are you?
Green: Good.
How are you?
Samuelsson: Nadege Green is a journalist that work for NPR here in Florida, and before that, she worked for Miami Herald.
What is this?
So, this is pate kode.
[ Sniffs ] Mmm, smells good.
It's good.
This literally is just, like, fried dough and goodness.
And goodness.
That's what it translate to.
Yes.
It is a Haitian patty with smoked herring... -Ooh.
-...inside.
Sometimes they put pikliz on the inside... Yeah.
...and onions.
Yours has eggs, boiled eggs, in it.
Mine does not.
But it's good.
Mmm!
I grew up in Sweden.
I thought I had every way of having herring, and yet there is a new way.
Mmm!
This is breakfast.
It's everyday snack.
It's just...
Yes.
And it lasts really well.
You don't need a microwave.
You just throw it in your bag, and you're good to go.
Mmm!
This is more of, like, the rustic, like, making your -- -Oh, for the people.
-For the people.
I like that.
Yes!
Like a herring pocket.
Mm-hmm.
And people make them differently.
I mean, some folks will stuff different things in them, but typically, you find a smoked herring.
This is delicious.
Mmm.
As a journalist, Nadege is covering social-economic issues, specifically in the Haitian community.
So, where are we right now?
So, we are in Little Haiti.
This is Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church.
Mm.
It's often referred to as the living room of the Haitian community.
Oh, nice.
I grew up going to church here.
This was where a lot of Haitian immigrants landed.
My parents were actually migrant farmworker.
-Wow.
-So, this was home.
They lived here in Little Haiti.
Oh, what is this?
This is the Little Haiti Cultural Center.
This is the marketplace.
And this architecture is built reminiscent of Haitian gingerbread architecture.
Oh, cool.
So, when I was growing up, this was, like, a vegetable market and stuff.
Like, you would go in here, and you would see, like, the old Haitian ladies selling fruits and veggies and whatever wares.
Now it's kind of a community space.
It's used for different things.
Yeah.
And this is Libreri Mapou, where you will go to pick up Haitian texts, in Creole, in French, or in English.
Awesome.
[ Greetings in Haitian Creole ] Samuelsson: Were you born here or in Haiti?
Green: I was born here in Miami.
I was born here in Little Haiti -- Ti Ayiti, or the "Little," as we say it.
But you didn't aspire to stay here, right?
Like, the dream was to move to North Miami, or you wanted to move to Miramar and Broward... Mm.
...because it used to be an area that wasn't the preferred space to be.
It was a predominantly black immigrant community that was poor and working class.
Now you want to be close to Downtown Miami because that has been revitalized.
Yeah.
And Little Haiti sits in the middle of all of that.
So, this area has seen significant change.
Yeah.
In some cases, some people were forced to sell their homes or pushed out of their homes, and renters who could no longer afford it moved to other spaces.
So, while you still have, like, Haitians who still live here, it isn't the thriving hub of Haitians anymore.
So, do you live in Little Haiti?
I do not.
I can't afford to live in Little Haiti, actually.
It's just much more expensive to live here than it used to be.
What's the conversation around that?
There's been conversations about maintaining what remains, right, because we still have the very rooted Haitian identity happening here.
You might still come here for Haitian restaurants.
And then, so, how do you balance the tension of what was or what is, and what is to come?
♪♪ Although a lot of Haitian Americans have moved out to the suburbs of Miami and don't live in Little Haiti anymore, it's still the heart and center, both emotionally and culturally, for the community.
Green: One interesting thing -- it used to be that Haitian culture was only in Little Haiti.
-Yeah.
-That is not the case anymore, so you go up to, like, North Miami-Dade, and there's... -Yeah.
-...Haitian-ness.
You go to South Dade, and you'll find it.
It's, like, in the same way in Miami, if you ask someone, like, café con leche, you know what that is.
Yeah.
Sure.
You know what a empanada is.
Like, you know what griot is.
-Yeah, yeah.
-And you know what pikliz is.
Like, you don't have to be Haitian to partake.
Nice, nice.
It's an example of how embedded the Haitian community has become here... Yeah.
-...and how Haitian culture... -Yeah.
...has also trickled out.
♪♪ [ Man singing in native language ] ♪♪ [ Music ends ] [ Vehicles passing ] ♪♪ Samuelsson: We're going to visit a family in the northern part of Miami.
She and her mom is going to teach me how to cook a very important soup in the Haitian community, soupe joumou.
♪♪ -Hi.
-Hi.
-How are you?
-Good.
Thank you.
Welcome.
Thank you very much.
[ Blender whirring ] Mom.
Oh, we're busy already.
-Yes.
-Hi.
-Yes.
We... -Mom, meet Marcus.
Bonjour, madame.
Bonjour, Marcus.
Ca va?
Ca va, Marcus.
My name is Sandy Dorsainvil, and I'm a first-generation Haitian-American.
I do community development and cultural programming here in Miami.
Haiti was a country built by African slaves occupied by the Spanish at one time, colonized by the French.
I think what makes Haiti interesting is that, because we were one of the richest and the strongest slave colonies, we were able to keep a lot of the African traditions and the African values that our ancestors instilled in us.
Today, we're making soupe joumou.
Soupe joumou -- what -- what -- what's the meaning of soupe joumou?
What is it?
It's a really traditional Haitian soup.
-We refer to it as pumpkin soup.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it's -- it's more of a squash.
Nice.
So, my mom already started off... Mm.
...cooking the meat separately.
Oh, there's meat in the pumpkin soup?
Yes.
This is beef shank.
Wow.
It smells amazing.
It's already been seasoned.
Oh, and with the bone in, so it's nice and juicy.
Yes.
Garlic, parsley, thyme, black pepper, cloves, and put lemon juice, orange juice Um, tomatoes... Mm.
Ooh!
...salt, pepper, Scotch bonnet pepper.
Scotch, of course, Scotch bonnet.
What?
Of course.
A little spice always, and then we're also adding chicken.
Wow.
What's happening in here?
So in there, we have cabbage, celery, potatoes, carrots, leeks.
And what are we going to -- We going to puree them?
We're going to chop that in or... We're going to mix...
Traditionally, my mom likes everything hearty... -Yeah.
-...so she doesn't really -- The only thing she purees is the pumpkin.
-The pumpkin.
-But the vegetables stay whole.
- Who taught you how to make this soup?
- My mother, she used to cook the soup, and I watched her, how she do it.
Most people, they don't use recipes, you put it according to your taste.
- Yeah, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.
So these are ingredients that are easy to find in Haiti?
- Easy to find.
Even if you don't have money, it won't cost much to make this soup.
- Yeah, so if you don't have money, maybe you don't put beef and chicken in.
- No, you got chicken in your yard.
- Yeah, in your yard.
(laughing) So what can I do, can I chop up some carrots?
How can I help?
- Yes, yes, yes.
- So I just wanna ask mom, when did you come from Haiti to Miami?
- To United States?
- Yes.
- 1973 by myself.
- Wow.
- At that time, we are in dicta-- - Dictator.
- Dictator and it was hard.
I heard that the United States, you could do anything you want as long as you want to work.
After work I go to school at night two hours and sit in the classroom and sleep.
- Yeah, yeah, you're tired.
- I was so tired.
- Did you meet your husband here?
- Yes, I met him in school.
- Mm, nice!
So you were not that tired!
(laughing) Hm, sure, mom, sure!
So tell me more about this soup.
What's the significance?
A lot of people don't realize that it's -- it's really our independence soup.
-Yeah.
-It's Haiti's independence soup.
-Mm.
-So during slavery, um, the masters would always have soup on Sundays.
Um, they would have a pumpkin soup, and the best choice meats were saved for this great meal on Sunday.
Mm.
And the slaves were not allowed to have this soup.
Mm.
So after the slaves revolted, and in 1804, independence was officially gotten, the first thing they said was, "Let us have soup."
"Let us have soup."
"Let us have soup."
And that's the legend -- that every single pot on the island had soup in it that day.
How do I say that in Creole?
[ Speaking Creole ] [ Speaking Creole ] [ Both speaking Creole ] Perfect.
Yes.
Nice.
It's something that every single Haitian does, no matter where they live, on the 1st of the year to celebrate the independence of Haiti.
♪♪ So do you think, uh, the slave master had Scotch bonnets in their soup?
Not at all, not at all.
That was the Africans, right?
The -- The Africans added the Scotch bonnet...
Yes.
...and then, also, the -- the more African version of the soup is heartier and thicker... Yeah.
...whereas the French version of the soup is -- is thinner, and almost everything is pureed, and...
I'm -- I'm... For an independent soup, we needed something strong and hearty and heavy.
Yeah, yeah.
-Strong.
-Yes.
Being Ethiopian, right, maybe we poor, but we're not poor in culture and history.
Mm-hmm.
And with Haitians, you feel this level of pride and sense of... Oh.
...you know, being the first black republic, right?
Exactly.
I think that pride comes from the fact of knowing -that we, um, were not given... -No.
...our independence, but we fought for it...
Fought hard.
...hard for it, and we earned it.
Mm.
And we -- we consider ourselves as Haitians as the mother of, um, independence in the Western Hemisphere... -I love that.
-...and even as the country goes through turmoil and things happen, but that's always at the core, that we know, um, our history proves that... Mm.
...you know, we're a strong country and that we can basically deal with anything.
Anything, right?
♪♪ -Good?
-Very good.
Marcus, I think you can test-taste now.
Whoo!
I'm ready.
-You ready?
-Nice.
Whoa.
♪♪ Yes.
[ Laughs ] Mmm!
Mmm, mmm!
it's beautiful.
-Mwah.
-Mm!
Mwah.
Beautiful.
♪♪ Samuelsson: Soupe joumou is more than a soup.
It really symbolizes Haitians' independence.
I just think that's fantastic by itself, and once you start eating this soup... Mmm.
...you start to realize how complex it is.
You have the pumpkin.
You have the vegetables.
You have the chicken meat.
You have the beef, beautiful orange notes to it.
It's so delicious.
-Congratulations.
-Thank you.
-It's worth all the... -Effort.
...everything, and you feel it.
Like, it's all coming out, the... -Mm-hmm.
-...the garlic, the onions.
♪♪ Yeah.
-Yes, absolutely.
-[ Laughs ] Dorsainvil: Marcus, you're sweating.
Listen, I'm African via Sweden, so I get the...
This is where the adopted kids are struggling.
-Okay.
-It's hot.
It's hot.
[ Laughter ] Whew!
[ Speaking foreign language ] [ Laughter ] [ Speaking foreign language ] ♪♪ Samuelsson: The historical importance of the slave rebellion can never be overstated.
There are a lot of reasons why there was a successful revolt.
One of them is Creole, this hidden, secret language that the slaves were talking to one another.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Rhythmic drumming ] [ Singing in native language ] [ Drumming, singing continue ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Drumming ends ] [ Vocalizing ] ♪♪ Samuelsson: At this corner of Little Haiti, there's this oasis.
From the outside, doesn't look like a lot, but it's this incredible community garden.
Gardening and gardens are really important to the Haitian community.
It's run by two gentlemen, Geff and Theo, AKA Mr. Sully.
Geff is also a minister at a nearby church, and they're gonna show me around and really give me a little bit of the lay of the land.
I heard this rumor that all Haitians are -- they have a green hand.
They, uh, they're -- they're gardeners.
Is that true?
Yes.
Yeah.
Let's walk over and see what we got.
♪♪ What -- What -- What do we grow here in the garden?
Uh.
♪♪ Yes.
♪♪ -Yes.
-Yeah.
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ Yeah.
Callaloo.
♪♪ Yes, of course.
This is all African ingredients.
-Yeah.
-Mm-hmm.
-Mm.
Mm.
-Yeah.
Does the garden remind you a little bit -by, like... -So the... -...being in Haiti?
-Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ Simplified.
I love it.
♪♪ No.
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ You can just go over in your garden, and you're -- and you're good.
-You're self-sufficient.
-And, uh... ♪♪ Ooh, this is bitter.
[ Laughs ] [ Sniffs ] That's beautiful.
♪♪ When you enter Geff and Mr. Sully's garden, it takes a minute to understand the lay of the land, and quite honestly, you might not ever understand it.
It's more organized chaos, but you realize you're in Miami, but you're really somewhere in Haiti instead.
In Haitian culture, there's a tea for everything.
There's also a culture that may or may not go to the doctor for everything.
They might rely on traditional medicines that are much older, and it's always connected to the garden, to the herbs.
-Wow.
-Yeah.
Smells good.
And this tea would be for?
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ Cancer?
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ Wait.
Wait.
How much?
You tell me how much.
-No, you -- you can... No, no, it's fine.
I got you.
I got you.
All right.
♪♪ ♪♪ Yes.
This tea has such a floral note.
It's like drinking a flower a little bit.
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ So most Haitians are very spiritual?
Do you think there's a connection between spirituality and -- and -- and the plant?
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ Yeah.
So they're linked together?
Yeah.
♪♪ ♪♪ Yeah.
♪♪ ♪♪ Sure.
So nature and disease and survival and spirituality, it's all connected.
♪♪ Yeah.
Samuelsson: I love Geff and Mr. Sully.
You know, they really remind me of my uncles that were fishermen in Sweden.
It's a different pace.
It's a completely different rhythm to an approach to the day, but it's very much connected to nature.
It made me appreciate food, work, labor, and the culture around food in a completely different way.
♪♪ Verna: Miami is the number-one place, I think, for me as a chef, to get authentic, typical Haitian food.
Today, I'm going to get all my ingredients to actually do the pikliz.
Pikliz is a coleslaw.
It's spicy.
It's acid.
You'll find it all over.
They eat it with the pork.
They eat it with fried plantains.
And I got a little bit of cabbage, carrot grated, a little bit of, uh, lime.
I like to put more stuff to it, give it a twist of my own.
♪♪ I was born in Haiti, Port-au-Prince, grew up there, raised there, and then, after awhile, I moved here to the States and then became a chef.
I went to school at Le Cordon Bleu.
I was brought up with the fine dining through my grandmother, growing up, you know, with my family, but I used to run away and be in the back kitchen eating with the cooks.
You know, I love people -- people's food, you know?
♪♪ Miami is the land where there is a lot of farmers.
In Opa-locka, you got farmers.
Down in Homestead, you have farmers.
By Lake Okeechobee, you know, you have all these places in Miami where we grow everything organic.
Yes.
So if you're picky like me, this is the best place for you.
♪♪ ♪♪ Samuelsson: I'm at the Mache Ayisyen, and I'm going to meet Hoppy.
Hoppy is a local activist and a community organizer -- also works in real estate, so he wears many hats.
Hoppy is passionate about the Haitian-American community, and he want to get the young people involved, both culturally and financially.
♪♪ When you go to South Beach, the water, the sea level is, like, right there.
It's right there.
Within 10, 15 years, it'll go underwater -- climate change.
Yeah.
Ti Ayiti is the only place where the level -- the -- we -- we'll be fine if the -- if the water comes.
So it's, like, we're not flooded here.
Mm.
Wow.
So everybody want to be here.
Mm.
So what we've been trying to do is trying to keep the community what it is... Mm-hmm.
...you know, I mean, Ti Ayiti, and trying to keep the culture.
Yeah.
Between hurricane season and rising sea level, Miami has huge problems with climate change, but Little Haiti is one of the highest elevations of the city and was once a community that was poor and nobody wanted to touch, but has now become valuable and really, really attractive for developers.
♪♪ Did you grow up in Haiti, or did you grow up in Miami?
I've been here since I was 4 years old.
And what did Ti Ayiti mean for you as a child coming up?
Dude, it's like Superman.
You -- You go home and get power.
Yeah.
-That's how we feel here.
-That's how it is.
This is, like, whether you go to college, you go to university... Yeah.
...you move anywhere else, you got to come here because... Come back.
Yes.
...this is where the culture is.
You know what I mean?
You -- You come here.
The tanbou plays.
You know what I mean?
Yes.
Like, the -- it's still...
The -- The African culture is still here.
Yes.
-And everything is still here.
-Yeah.
I think it's really important, that pride.
It's pride, you know?
We -- We've played a big role in, uh, in the world when it comes to ending slavery and things like that.
It's not -- It's not common knowledge.
They don't teach you that in school.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When we celebrate Black History Month, we must celebrate Haiti in it.
Yes.
We don't talk about Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
Mm.
Dessalines was the greatest general who ever lived.
Yeah.
We don't talk about Pétion.
These were pioneers, you know?
Okay.
So, we don't talk about these people.
That's why it is our job to educate the kids about the culture so we keep it alive.
Yeah.
♪♪ Samuelsson: Hoppy is taking me to one of his favorite fried-chicken places across town in the northern part of Little Haiti.
To get there, we're going to jump on a local minibus, which is really Miami's version of a traditional Haitian tap tap.
[ Man speaking indistinctly ] You see all these businesses here?
Mm-hmm.
-Last month here... -Oh, wow.
...all of them.
♪♪ And you can see the gentrification is happening with this.
It's contractors and all the stuff, so, yeah.
But, look, that's one of the businesses.
I hope it stays so my kids could see it, come here, eat with them, and enjoy this chicken.
♪♪ Samuelsson: I didn't know Haiti had fried chicken.
-We love fried chicken... -Mm-hmm.
...and plantains.
Fried chicken and plantains, nice.
So me and my cousin would come down here from after school.
We'd just be, like, tearing this thing up.
Yes.
There's always a line here.
Hoppy, what do you think?
Most restaurants that we've seen in the community are basically takeout restaurants... Yeah.
...very affordable, very delicious, but there are not so many sit-down that you spend hours in.
Because people are on the go.
[ Snapping fingers ] -On the go.
-They're working.
You're in Little Haiti.
The average income is $21,000.
Yeah.
The people need to go to work.
Yeah.
[ Crunches ] Mmm.
It's crunchy, man -- the chicken is crunchy, and the plantains are crunchy.
It's -- It's -- It's fried well.
♪♪ Usually, what I'll do is, I just marinate it like that.
-Mmm.
Mmm.
-You know what I mean?
So everything get a little piece, a little something in there.
Yeah.
Uh.
Get it in there.
-Yeah.
-You know what I mean?
Get it in there.
I'm going to do that.
Delicious, delicious.
So, in the ideal situation, where is Little Haiti in 10 years?
The goal that I see for Little Haiti -- we want to be Little Haiti.
We want to have little homes.
About 75% of us right now are renting in Little Haiti, maybe 10% owned, so nobody really owns because we didn't have financial education.
Mm-hmm.
Now this generation here -- we're educating the youth about financial education... -Yeah.
-...financial literacy.
We tell them about credit.
We tell them about life insurance because we need to pull our pants up... Yeah.
...and really make something happen.
When it comes to a financial education, I want everybody together.
I want -- I want -- I want to unify us.
In our flag, it says, "L'Union Fait La Force."
Yeah.
Let's see if you can see it here.
Yeah.
Look.
"L'Union Fait La Force."
Mm-hmm.
-Oh, wow.
-"Together, We're Strong."
-Wow.
-[ Speaking indistinctly ] But it doesn't just come like this.
Yeah.
-You have to create it.
-Yeah.
If you want it, you build it.
♪♪ Samuelsson: Hoppy is not the only one that passionately cares about developing and taking care of Little Haiti.
There's also a group of artists and entrepreneurs fighting to keep a Haitian presence in Little Haiti and its neighboring communities.
-What's up, man?
How are you?
-Welcome, brother.
-Thank you.
-Good to see you, man.
-Thank you for having me.
-Good to see you.
What a beautiful space.
Yeah, that's Max's space over there.
Oh, nice.
What's up, boss?
How are you?
Pleasure to meet you, brother.
Good.
-Bach.
-How are you?
Nice.
When I meet Max, Bach, and Fabrice, you cannot talk about them without thinking about the good word "hustle."
Fabrice is this incredible designer.
He's worked for some of the best houses in the world.
He's had his own line.
And then, Max has been part of the nightlife scene in Miami for a long time, but, also, is part of a think tank with small businesses in Miami, and Bach is following in both Fabrice and Max's footsteps'.
Cheers, man.
Cheers, cheers, cheers.
The three of them have invited me for lunch, and we're going to discuss why it's so important to keep both businesses and creativity right in Little Haiti and its neighboring communities.
And who cooked all this beautiful food?
I -- I know you guys did not do this.
-Do not tell me.
-[ Speaking indistinctly ] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bach's mom makes the best griot in town.
Ooh, that's griot.
And you know what is griot, right?
Yeah.
Nice.
Griot is made with the pork meat.
Yeah.
-And then she made the... -Nice.
... chicken with the sauce, poulet dur...
Yes.
...which is like a hard chicken.
I don't know how -- exactly how to call it in English, but delicious chicken, I'd say.
Of course.
Looks great.
-So, my father jumped in... -Oh, Dad was cooking?
...and did some.
Nice.
So that's the legim.
He does it with steak.
Oh, nice.
So...
He don't play.
Yeah, nah, he's not playing at all.
And then, they decided to do it with a white rice.
Yeah.
-Sos pwa... -Yeah.
-...which is a bean sauce.
-Bean sauce.
And then Bach's mom did the djon djon... -Oh, nice.
-...diri djon djon, with the little bean she puts in there.
Djon djon.
-I love it.
Bon appétit.
-Bon appétit, my brothers.
I'm so into this mushroom rice.
Diri djon djon is, like, one of the main dishes in Haiti, and every parent does it a different way.
-Some... -Yeah, true.
I know that some people put cocoa in it... -Yeah.
-...like, coconut, but I got to say Bach's mom makes it one of the best ones out there.
Mmm.
When you taste it, it's almost like this umami flavor.
-Yeah, and then, the dry... -Like, when I taste it...
The drier the mushroom, the -- the better the flavor.
Mmm.
And then so what they do is, uh, they boil the mushroom, so, from the water from the mushroom, that's what they cook the rice with... Nice.
...so to give it that flavor.
Wow.
So, you guys got to leave me a little backstory.
Yeah.
Like, all of you guys are creative.
-Yeah.
-And you're here.
How do we end up in fashion?
Like, how do we end up there?
I was born on the island.
I was born in Haiti.
Mm.
And when I was 12, there was a lot of political instability.
-Sure.
-So I went to high school here, but I've always been, like you, very fashion-oriented.
Yeah, yeah.
I always liked to put things together... Yeah, sure.
-...colors, you know?
-Nice.
And when you grow up in Haiti, they never tell you, "You can be a fashion designer."
-Not at all.
No, no.
-You know?
-But Haitians are so stylish.
-When you're -- Dude, yeah.
-Right?
-Yeah, yeah.
Like, when you tell your dad, "I want to be a fashion designer," he's like, "What?!"
Like, "This kid must be crazy," so, you know... No, no, it's not a profession, yeah, yeah.
-It's not a profession.
-Yeah.
In the Haitian community, you're taught to be doctor, lawyer, this, that.
-Oh, the five jobs, of course.
-Oh, for sure.
[ Laughter ] Police officer... [ Laughter continues ] You already know.
-The five.
-You already know, right?
Being a cook is not one of them.
-No, it's not.
It's not, right?
-It's not one.
It's...
Welcome to the club.
-Right?
-Yeah.
It's not one of them.
Me and Fab, we always had this -- this -- this conversation.
As Haitians, we say, "Sa ou pa konnen pi gran pase ou."
What does that mean?
What you don't know is bigger than you... Oh, wow.
...meaning, like, uh, you can always see what -- what they -- what they choose to show you on TV, but there's always, like, different perspective.
Pierre: Yeah.
It's interesting, man.
Like, I -- I grew up mostly in America, right?
Sure.
So I'm more of, like, the "Americanized Haitian"... -Mm-hmm.
-...so to say, right?
But, like, one of the things with the earthquake and especially things that are tragic -- it really reminds you how we're all interconnected.
-Yes.
-Mm-hmm.
-You know what I'm saying?
-Sure.
So this is part of the process of giving back.
It's super important for us to come back to our communities and -- and do things and inspire these kids, especially as creatives.
Max has been my mentor, and Fab been my big brother... -Yeah.
-...that I never had.
Nice.
Three Haitian creatives come from three different backgrounds... -Yes.
-...three different journeys, but somehow, some way, life found a way to connect us together... -To share and connect.
-...and challenge... Work together.
...challenge each other... -And contribute.
-...not even work... -And contri-- And... -...challenge and contribute.
-...contribute to the community.
-Exactly.
-You know what I mean?
-That's nice.
And that's the beautiful thing about it.
I've been very blessed and fortunate to meet these... -Yeah.
-...two icons.
Samuelsson: Yeah, yeah.
Especially at this moment in time... Mm.
...if you're Haitian and you're -- you're having any sort of success, it's time to... Come back home.
...get involved and come back home... Nice.
...and inspire the next generation.
Yeah.
Should be a certain solidarity, you know... Samuelsson: Yeah.
...especially in this neighborhood, especially in this community, because when I first moved here, I would meet a lot of young kids.
The parents used to tell them, "Don't say you're Haitian.
Speak English."
They don't -- They didn't say they were from Haiti, and, you know, one of the biggest, um, responsibilities, I feel, that we have is to really showcase what Haitian culture is about.
There's a lot of Haitian people doing a lot of great things... Sure.
-...all around the city.
-Yes.
And this is maybe the time to kind of invite them and be strong in one community.
Max and Fabrice are really important role models for the young Haitian-Americans.
-Cincin.
-Cincin.
-All right!
-Yeah.
[ Laughter ] They are great examples that you can be creative, and you can also forge your own path.
They're also role models to other fellow entrepreneurs to say, "Hey, you can come back to Little Haiti.
You can set up shop, start businesses, and make the community thrive again."
Let's get involved.
Let's get involved.
-All right?
-Yep.
-All right.
-Thanks, man.
[ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Man speaking native language ] [ Whistle blows ] Samuelsson: Soccer is such a global unifier.
[ Cheers and applause ] I always look at myself as a failed soccer player.
That was my first love, that's what I wanted to do, and it was really bitter that day that I got cut, but I took that bitterness and moved it into food.
And bitter is a really good flavor, by the way.
[ Man speaking indistinctly ] [ Whistle blows ] [ Indistinct shouting ] [ Crowd cheers ] Cooking and soccer is very similar to me.
In soccer, you're part of a team, teaches you humility, and you have to train really, really hard, got to listen to Coach.
In cooking, the same thing -- in that kitchen, you're part of something.
There's always someone else that works just as hard as you, and you're gonna listen to Chef, and there's a strong sense of camaraderie in both communities.
You can do it all over the world.
♪♪ So tonight, I'm getting in on a pick-up game with Bach and his friends, and I can't wait.
Man: Nice.
♪♪ Oh!
♪♪ Oh, ah!
♪♪ Oh!
Aah!
[ Laughs ] ♪♪ Shoot it!
Yes!
Yes!
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
♪♪ [ Whistle blows ] Nice.
Hey, thank you, guys.
That was awesome.
Thank you so much.
We got some Haitian cookies.
You want to have some of them with, like, maybe some cremas or something like that?
Nice.
Let's have it.
I'm hungry.
Hey, why not?
We do crema.
We do all of that, okay?
♪♪ All right, guys, since we didn't get a chance to have dessert for lunch, so I have some cookies.
It's not the right thing to do, but you know we Haitian -- that's what we do.
And then City got the -- you got the cremas here, right?
Oh, yeah, all the cremas.
Samuelsson: What is crema?
Um...it has a lot of thing in it.
It's a mixture of milk, sugar...
Dried coconut.
...dried coconut... ...lemon... And, of course, alcohol.
Yeah, alcohol is the best.
-That's my favorite drink.
-That's his favorite drink.
Oh, it's like Haitian Baileys.
-Yeah.
-Nice.
-With a better taste, though.
-Of course.
[ Laughter ] When would you actually drink crema?
Whenever we have a birthday party or anything like this.
It's also very big during Christmas.
But, you know, like, cremas, though, everybody make it their own way.
Everybody add their own touch into it.
-Nice.
-That's true.
When you're a kid, this must be everything, right?
-Everything.
-You played.
You run all day.
You come in.
You get a cookie like this.
-It is a kind of Pop-Tart.
-But better.
You have, like, a lot of sweet on top of it.
-The Haitian way.
-Sugar is the top.
-Yeah.
-I love it.
It's a good snack, man.
Thank you for bringing it back.
-Good game, man.
-Cheers, mate.
That was fun.
That was a lot of fun.
Like we say in Creole, sante.
-Sante.
-Sante.
Cremas and cookies.
I feel like I'm 4.
[ Laughter ] Maybe not the cremas, but... ♪♪ ♪♪ Tonight, I'm going to have dinner at Chef Tia's house.
She's a classically trained chef, cooked in some really cool restaurants, and I'm going to get introduced to Haitian barbecue.
[ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ What do we got?
What do we got?
How are you?
Chef Marcus!
So good to see you.
Thank you for coming!
Wow, you're cooking already without me?
Chef Tia right now runs a catering company, so she definitely knows how to cook for a crowd.
She's come back to her Haitian roots, and I think that balance between having French technique with Haitian home cooking is the perfect blend for her.
You got the crew right here -- the guys.
That's my dad, Fran's brother.
Yeah, I see why you brought a lot of meat.
-Yes!
You see those big men?
-Big boys.
In Haiti, they love meat.
Samuelsson: So, we got goat, we got chicken... Pikliz, conch.
Conch -- I'm very excited about the conch.
Chef Tia has conch on the grill.
So, conch is a shellfish enjoyed throughout the Caribbean.
It could be raw, ceviche-style, chopped up with a lot of lime and mango and so on, or it could also be in a curry.
I love it.
Let me grab you a tong on the side.
-How long you been cooking?
-Oh, my gosh.
All my life, Chef.
-Who taught you?
-My grandmother.
-Grandma got you in the game?
-Oh, my God.
My grandmother -- the whole family is Cordon Bleu.
We used to have Sunday dinner, the whole family.
And that's how the table used to be every Sunday.
Wow.
But it was a challenge to introduce the fine-dining world to the Haitian cuisine, but we are allowed to make a Caribbean food be elegant and sexy and beautiful.
Yeah.
Love it.
So, once you dip it in here, we put it here.
And then we let it grill, and you dip it back in.
So it's marinated, then coming back, in and out.
Yes, and I know you love spice.
Spicy is good because you live long.
When I look at my grandmother who just turned 99 years old, whose sister is 100, they all love spicy food.
And give them the skin of the chicken.
Give them the skin of the -- Ohh!
That's the conch.
What I did, I had to break it down, pressure-cook it, because it's tough.
So now that juice become the stock.
So, what we did is dump it in here.
And then we put it like that.
-Okay.
Yeah.
And then, the more we dip, the thicker it's getting.
It's the same thing with the meat.
-You go back and forth.
-Exactly.
Back and forth until we have that golden look.
Then we know it's ready.
How's the chicken?
-It's good.
Let me tell you, that's the epis.
Epis is a traditional Haitian basic.
In a lot of Spanish, they have the sofritos.
They have everything that they do to marinate their food.
So epis would be... Green bell pepper, scallion, thyme, clove.
Nice.
The foundation would be cooked with -- It's like something you put into everything.
Exactly.
-Mmm.
-Hey, are we ready to eat?
-Yes!
-Come on!
Okay!
-Let's go.
-Bon appétit.
-Thank you.
Jump in, guys.
Jump in.
[ Tia speaking French ] ♪♪ So, how's the food, Chef?
-Mmm!
-Good?
Man: Whenever you see someone quiet, that's when their food is good.
Yeah, exactly.
Come on, bro.
I'm eating.
Samuelsson: The food is definitely not shy.
It has tons of flavors, great chili heat on it -- not just heat for heat's sake, really layered.
And that's that step of marinating, grilling, dipping back in the sauce, grilling again.
It builds on the flavor.
[ Laughter ] We just want to say, "Thank you so much."
Thank you, Chef, for inviting us to your home and into your family.
The food has been amazing.
What I appreciate about Haitian culture is that it's so rich in terms of history, pride, and love, and we appreciate what you've brought to the country -- the stories, entrepreneurship, the friendship, the struggle, the journey.
So let's drink to that.
Thank you so much.
[ Cheering ] ♪♪ My time here in Miami, specifically in Little Haiti, has taught me a lot about the Haitian-American experience and community... -It's like drinking a flower.
-Yeah, it is a flower.
♪♪ ...the love for family... Fab been my big brother that I never had.
Samuelsson: Nice.
...their love for the home country... "L'Union Fait La Force."
♪♪ ...that level of pride about what it means to be Haitian, the music, the art, the culture, and the food...
This literally is just, like, fried dough and goodness.
-And goodness.
-That's what it translates to.
...but also their tenacity and their survival instinct through all of the things that have happened to the Haitian community.
They always come back stronger than ever with incredible pride about Haiti, but also being a Haitian-American today in Miami.
[ Cheering, laughter ] ♪♪ [ Laughter ] ♪♪ Narrator: Next time on "No Passport Required"...
I'm really excited about doing a deep dive into the Ethiopian culture in Washington, D.C.
I mean, this is a culture that dates back to the first person of mankind.
-So, it's a soul food.
-Yeah.
When I'm hungry, I can't imagine anything else except injera.
A lot of American Ethiopians have never been back.
They still refer to Ethiopia as the home country.
Woman: As immigrants, as people of color, unity is the way that we will be able to move forward.
Marcus, is there anything similar to this in Ethiopian cuisine?
This reminds me, actually, more about my grandma, my Swedish grandmother's chicken soup.
The cabbage, the carrot, the rusticness in it.
But this is even better.
I love it.
Actually, I shouldn't say that.
I apologize to my grandmother.
[ Laughter ] You know, she taught me how to cook.
I can't just go and out her like that, but this is good.
[ Laughter ]
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