Lunch · 90 min · caribbean

Soup Joumou — Haitian Pumpkin Soup

Beef chuck does the heavy lifting here, with calabaza or butternut squash rounding it out. A Caribbean lunch that takes 90 minutes, start to finish.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Beef chuck
• 3 lb Calabaza or butternut squash
• 3 Carrots
• 3 Potatoes
• 0.5 Cabbage
• 2 Leeks
• 1 Lime
• 2 tsp Fresh thyme
• 1 Scotch bonnet pepper

Steps

1. Simmer the beef in salted water 40 minutes until nearly tender, skimming as needed.
2. Add the cubed squash and cook 20 minutes until it collapses — then blend the squash into the broth for the soup’s signature silky, golden body.
3. Return the broth to the pot with the beef, add the carrots, potatoes, leeks, cabbage, thyme, and the whole Scotch bonnet. Simmer 25 minutes until everything is tender.
4. Season with salt, lime juice, and a pinch of cloves. The soup should be hearty, slightly sweet, and deeply savory.
5. Serve on January 1st like all of Haiti does — soup joumou commemorates independence, when the formerly enslaved claimed a soup once forbidden to them. Every bowl is history.

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