Perusing my blog stats, I noticed that quite a few visitors have been interested in my Haitian griot recipe. Heck, after looking at the recipe, I was interested and decided to make some. Quel coincidence! After I had put my pork in the refrigerator to marinate overnight, I saw a post from another blogger for griot http://saraheatsaustin.com/2013/08/26/haitian-griot/. Lovely pictures.
In for a centime in for an Euro, I also decided to make Haitian pikliz. Very easy, tasty Haitian condiment and perfect with the griot.
Just to put us into the mood, Jade made a tropical salad with carambola, mango, and ground cherries with strawberries for color.
We sent some over for M. Parret’s lunch 🙂
The above picture is misleading; there are no scotch bonnets in the griot, they were for the pikliz. I was mislead myself until after I took the picture. For the griot I used long green French cayenne chillies for babies.
This time, because of an annoying experience rinsing the vegetables from the pork, I cut everything into large chunks so that I could just pick them out. Quel intelligence 😀
Some stuffed veal and cauliflower peppers for M. Parret to freeze and eat later to remember me when I’m back in Germany. Quel souvenir!
Tropical Fruit salad
2 carabola, sliced
1 1/2 cup ground cherries, husked
1 mango, diced
1 1/2 cup strawberries, halved
Juice of one lime
Mix everything together and refrigerate.
Pikliz
1 small cabbage, shredded
4 carrots, grated
1 onion, sliced and halved
2 large scotch bonnets, cut vertically into 8ths
6 whole cloves
1 tsp salt
12 black peppercorns
3 cups white vinegar
Mix everything together with your hands, then pack the vegetables into two large canning jars, topping each jar up with the vinegar juice. Pour a little extra vinegar on top if necessary to cover the vegetables. Screw on the tops and refrigerate for at least 2 days.
Griot
3 lbs pork shoulder, cut into cubes
2 long mildish green chillies, cut into chunks
1 large purple onion, halved and crudely sliced
2 shallots, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 1/2 tsp salt
Juice from 1 grapefruit
Vegetable oil for frying
Mix together in a bowl the pork, grapefruit juice, onions, shallots, garlic, green chillies and salt. Pour mixture into a ziplock bag and massage. Refrigerate overnight.
Pour the pork mixture into a large pot and simmer at a very low flame for 1 1/2 hours. No need to add water. When the pork is cooked, drain and rinse in a colander, being sure to remove the pieces of onion, chilli, etc. Allow the rinsed pork to dry on a cutting board for about 15-20 minutes.
Heat oil in a wok or black skillet and fry pork to a golden brown. Garnish with sliced green pepper and onion rings.
Sounds delish! I’ve taken the same approach for the griots, but in one-pot style: after the pork is done and liquid evaporated I add a heaping tablespoon of lard (or olive oil for the squeamish) and let it brown. will be making a batch of pikliz, thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Jon. That’s the traditional Haitian method but I’m not successful with it.
What a lovely meal with great photos.
Thank you Richard. We had fun with this meal 🙂
They just got in some ground cherries at the co-op. The only time I’ve seen them is on the Food Network where they were calling them gooseberries. Don’t know why as gooseberries look and taste a lot different!
I read on the internet that they are called gooseberries in some countries.
I think you are right but round here which is near the Food Network they are ground cherries. What are the flavour of ground cherries? Tart, sweet?
Sweet.
Me thinks I need to branch out a bit then! 🙂
They are good. Jade and I eat them, well, like cherries 🙂
All the dishes look fantastic! I’ve never seen ground cherries before…. Are they like tomatillos?
Thank you Tessa. They are similiar to tomatillos but the cherries are sweet.
What a meal. I like the theme. Just gorgeous.
Thank you Amanda.
Excellent – the griot sounds delicious, as do the stuffed peppers and pikliz 😉
Thank you Mad. The best griot I’ve ever had was at a truck stop in Miragoane, Haiti with banane pese cooked in the pork fat. Mmmm good!
Well, that all looks pretty delicious, but I must echo MD’s comment about the Grigot. Love the pork/citrus combination.
Thank you Phil. This dish is usually made with sour orange but I guess you have to be in the Caribbean to find it. Or maybe New York or Miami 🙂
Trés appetissant ! Bonne soirée
Merci Josephine.
Oh, scotch bonnets? I like this!
Scotch bonnets go with everything 🙂
You are making me sooooo hungry!!
Thank you.
Everything about this post is Fabulous with a capital F !!
Thank you Keith 😉
Looks very tasty Rosemary. I love the fruit picture particularly.
Best,
Conor
Thank you Conor. We liked that picture too 🙂
Best souvenir!
He was delighted with the stuffed peppers!
I’m sure! Who wouldn’t be 🙂