Soup Joumou (Haitian Freedom Squash Soup)

About This Recipe

Soup Joumou is more than a soup — it is the edible declaration of Haitian independence. On January 1st, 1804, after defeating Napoleon's army and abolishing slavery, Haitians celebrated freedom by eating a soup of pureed giraumon squash that, under French colonial rule, had been forbidden to enslaved people and reserved for the white planter class. Every year since, every Haitian household — at home and across the diaspora — eats soup joumou on New Year's Day. UNESCO added it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. The soup itself is gentle and rich: West Indian pumpkin pureed into a golden base, then simmered with beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, plantain, vermicelli, and a thyme-and-Scotch-bonnet-perfumed broth. It tastes warm, slightly sweet, and unmistakably citrus-spiced.

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 1.2 kgkabocha or West Indian pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cubed
• 700 gstewing beef (chuck), cubed
• 2 tbspepis (Haitian green seasoning) or 4 garlic cloves + 1 bunch parsley pureed
• 2limes, juiced (for cleaning the beef)
• 3 Lwater or unsalted beef stock
• 2 largecarrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 largepotatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 smallwhite cabbage, cored and shredded
• 1green plantain, peeled and sliced
• 1 stalkcelery, sliced
• 1 smallyellow onion, halved
• 5 sprigsfresh thyme, tied
• 1whole Scotch bonnet pepper (NOT pierced)
• 100 gthin pasta (vermicelli or angel hair), broken into 5 cm pieces
• 60 mlfresh lime juice
• 2 tspfine salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tspfreshly ground black pepper
• 3 tbspolive oil

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean and marinate the beef

   Rinse the beef cubes with the lime juice and a tablespoon of vinegar, then drain. Rub with the epis, salt, and pepper. Marinate at least 30 minutes — overnight in the fridge is better.

2. 2

   Brown the beef

   Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot. Brown the beef on all sides, 8 minutes total. Don't overcrowd — work in two batches if needed.

3. 3

   Start the broth

   Add the onion halves, celery, and thyme to the pot. Pour in 3 L water. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer covered for 60 minutes until the beef is fork-tender.

4. 4

   Cook the squash

   While the beef simmers, place the squash cubes in a separate pot, cover with 1 L water, and boil 20 minutes until very soft. Drain (reserving the cooking liquid) and puree the squash smooth with an immersion blender, thinning with reserved water to a soup consistency.

5. 5

   Combine

   Add the squash puree to the beef pot. Add carrots, potatoes, plantain, and the whole Scotch bonnet (do not pierce — it perfumes without setting the soup on fire). Simmer 25 minutes.

6. 6

   Add cabbage and pasta

   Stir in the shredded cabbage and broken pasta. Simmer 10–12 more minutes until the pasta is tender and the cabbage is silky but not falling apart.

7. 7

   Finish

   Remove the Scotch bonnet, thyme bundle, and onion halves. Stir in the fresh lime juice. Taste for salt — the soup should be golden, lightly thick, slightly tangy, and gently warm with pepper.

8. 8

   Serve

   Ladle into deep bowls. Each portion should have beef, root vegetables, cabbage, and pasta in the squash broth. Serve with crusty bread or a wedge of lime.

Variations

• •

  Vegetarian soup joumou: skip the beef, double the squash and root vegetables, use vegetable stock — common during Lent.

• •

  Add 200 g pumpkin seeds toasted and crushed on top for a Haitian-American restaurant flourish.

• •

  Some families add macaroni instead of vermicelli — both are accepted.

Storage

Improves overnight. Refrigerate up to 4 days; the pasta will absorb broth — thin with stock when reheating. Freezes well without the pasta (add fresh pasta at reheating).

Frequently Asked Questions