Pumpkin soup

I'm We had pumpkin soup for dinner. It had meat, noodles, potatoes and carrots. It was actually tasty - you don't actually taste pumpkin. 

Jemps, one of our Haitian friends, explained the history of the soup. 

So when there slaves in Haiti, they weren't allowed to have pumpkin soup, because it was thought that the slaves "weren't good enough" for the soup. And, he said, if a slave was caught eating the soup, his tongue was pulled out. Through the  Haitian Revolution, 

Haiti expelled the French, thus becoming independent on Jan 1, 1804. To celebrate, the freed people ate pumpkin soup. And they still eat it Jan. 1.

So to be served pumpkin soup, a meal that is very special to the Haitian people, was an honor. 

(Photo by Jason Denton)