Recipes

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Suriname

Suriname is a nation of people from a variety of ethnic heritages. A few of the people are descendants of the original Caribs or Arawaks, but other major ethnic groups include those from the islands of Indonesia, especially Java, from India, China and Africa, along with a few Europeans from the Netherlands, Portugal, France and Great Britain. The language commonly spoken is Sranan Tongo, or Taki Taki, made up of English, Dutch, French, African and Asian words. Dutch is the other official language. The cuisine reflects the same broad mix thanks to the cultural diversity found there. One finds foods common to most tropical countries, including tropical sweet potatoes and pumpkins, cassava, bananas, plantains, coconuts, pineapple, avocados, soursop, breadfruit, citrus fruits, passion fruit, guava, papaya, star fruit, mangos, tomatoes, cashews, eggplant, cucumber, sugarcane, chilies, ginger, cumin, annato seeds, rice, peanuts, chicken, pork, fish and shellfish. Common dishes include antriberi (rice with dried fish), eri eri (meaning hurry hurry, tropical sweet potato or cassava cooked with bananas and salt pork), dokun (grated cassava and banana steamed in a banana leaf), or boyo (baked coconut and cassava). In the capital city of Paramaribo, one would find many Indonesian, Chinese and Indian restaurants, in addition to markets with all the foods listed above. Even in the smaller towns, food stalls selling Javanese rice and noodle dishes are common. There is a web site devoted to Surinamese cuisine, but the recipes are given in Dutch. The site is located at http://users.bart.nl/~kamphuys/recepten and does include a list of ingredients and names of some dishes in several languages, including Dutch, Sranan Tongo, English, Indonesian and Hindi.

Shaved Ice Serves as many as you prepare for Dutch: Schaafjis This is a popular treat in a hot country. Of course, not everyone has a freezer, so this is sold by street vendors in the markets. Ice: You need to have enough finely shaved ice to serve the number of people you have. If you have a small group, you likely can borrow enough snow cone or Hawaiian Ice machines to make what you need. If you have a larger group, you might want to check into renting a larger ice shaver. Or you can try the old-fashioned method of chipping a large block of ice with a sharp blade. Place the ice in paper cups or small glass bowls. Syrup: You can make fruit syrup from the juice of lemons, oranges, pineapples, papaya, passion fruit, mangos, or a combination of these, boiled with sugar to taste and then strained. You also can make sugar syrup and flavor it with either coconut or almond flavoring. For a quick method, you can buy the 12-ounce cans of juice concentrate, either frozen or in the juice aisle (Juicy Juice, Hawaiian Punch), and pour this, undiluted, over the ice. You can buy flavored syrups, especially in the summer, but they are not as good as syrups made with real juice.

Peanut Soup Makes 6 small servings Peanuts are a popular food item in Suriname, as they feature in Indonesian, Chinese and African cooking traditions. 1-1/2 cups dry unsalted roasted peanuts salt 3 cups chicken stock 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 large onion, finely chopped 1-1/2 cups milk, scalded 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce croutons In a blender or food processor, combine the peanuts and about 1 cup of the chicken stock and puree. In a saucepan, combine the pureed peanuts, remainder of the chicken stock, the onion, hot pepper sauce and salt to taste. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the soy sauce and carefully add the milk, stirring until blended with the rest of the soup. Continue cooking over low heat for another 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Pour into bowls and garnish with croutons, serving hot. For a simple meal, serve the soup with a fresh tropical fruit salad and flatbread, such as an Indian chapati. Recipe from Island Cooking: Recipes from the Caribbean, by Dunstan A. Harris, The Crossing Press, 1988, p. 36.