Take a tour of Haitian cuisine at this culinary event in Miami this weekend

For foodies who like a little Caribbean spice in their dishes, this is a common question: Where can I get Haitian food in Miami?

Well for one day this Saturday, the answer will be simple: from any number of the chefs who will be part of Goute Peyi M or Taste My Country: A Culinary Tour of Haiti hosted by Ayiti Community Trust, a local grant-making foundation working to support sustainable development in Haiti.

The centerpiece of the group’s annual gala at 7 p.m. Saturday at Level Three Miami, 19565 Biscayne Blvd., will feature not just a taste of Haitian cooking but a lesson in the country’s Creole cuisine.

“It’s an opportunity for us to think of the narrative of the country, which is not just a single story,” said Guerda Nicolas, co-founder of Ayiti Community Trust along with Pierre Jonas Imbert.

Founded seven years ago, Ayiti Community Trust supports organizations in rural communities in Haiti that are focused on sustainable development. While the event seeks to raise funds for its support of Haiti-based grassroots organizations involved in civic education, the environment and entrepreneurship, organizers also want to use it as an opportunity to bring together Haitians and non-Haitians around a cultural experience.

“It allows us the opportunity to expose Haitians and to expose friends of Haiti to the cultural aspects of Haiti that they oftentimes may not be paying attention to,” Nicolas said.

Haitian cuisine, she said, emerged as a theme this year because it’s such “a significant part of our culture.”

Nicolas said often people think of Haitian cuisine as being only about griyo, the fried pork chunks that are a staple of almost every Haitian party, or rice and beans, the country’s national dish. Most of people, including Haitians themselves, don’t realize that the different regions of the country not only cook different things, but also have a different approach to cooking common dishes, she said.

For example, in the Grand’Anse, coconut milk is a common ingredient that’s used in the cooking of rice. The region is also known for its Tomtom, which is made from breadfruit and is the Haitian version of West Africa’s Foofoo, which is made with cassava, also known as yuca. Nicolas also notes that there are reasons why soup or fish are only eaten on certain days in Haiti, and rice, despite its popularity, is not an everyday meal for some.

“This gives us an opportunity to educate people about the different foods in the various regions and also the links of those foods to Africa,” she added. “By hosting these different cultural events, it allows us to connect people to the larger aspects of the culture, and also to show the link between who we are and our African roots, but also it allows us the opportunity to celebrate folks who we don’t oftentimes pay attention to, our chefs.”

Throughout the event, attendees will be able to visit the different regions, get a tasting and also see live cooking demonstrations from the chefs. Among the dishes on the menus: Djondjon, the black rice that’s flavored and dyed with Haitian mushrooms; Diri ak pwa, rice and red beans; and of course griyo, the popular fried pork. But if one thinks, they’ve had the dish before, Nicolas warned be ready to be surprised.

For instance, the popular mouthwatering vegetable stew known as Lalo isn’t cooked the same way in Haiti’s Central Plateau as it is in the Grand’Anse.

Tickets for the event start at $300, and include access to a cocktail reception, live auction, open bar with premium spirits, dinner, an awards program and after party with live performances and DJ. For $150, attendees can just enjoy admission to the after party starting at 9 p.m. There will be live performances and musical selections by a DJ, complimentary Haitian desserts, and an open bar with premium spirits.

The event also will feature performances by Tafa mi-Soleil, Lakou Mizik, DJ Nicky Mix, NSL Dance and JQues Alamod, a hip hop artist who is flying in from Australia.

A dozen Haitian chefs from Haiti, Canada and South Florida will be honored during the evening. They include Chef Jerry Dominique of North Miami and celebrity chef Ron Duprat of Bravo TV’s Top Chef competition.

One chef in particular, Joseph Gérard Therilien, will receive the grand award. Born in Petit-Goâve, a rural town just south of Port-au-Prince Therilien, studied at both Cornell University in New York and Haiti’s famed hospitality school, Ecole Hôtelière. Several of the night’s honorees trained and worked under him, Nicolas said.

“We can’t honor all of the chefs, but this gives us an opportunity to shed light on what it means to be a Haitian chef,” she said.

Helping to celebrate them will be a dozen locally elected officials as well as representatives from 20 community organizations including eight that are based in Haiti that will be coming to the event.

Elissa Vanaver, a member of the host committee who became involved with Ayiti Community Trust when she served as national chief executive officer of the Breakthrough Collaborative, said given the ongoing multidimensional crisis in Haiti, she believes its important to support those who continue to do the work inside the country, despite the gang violence and dysfunctional government bureaucracies.

Ayiti Community Trust, said Vanaver, who is also a former managing editor of the Miami Herald, ‘”is able to funnel money to rural communities that are doing quality of life projects,” she said. “They are continuing the work even as Haiti goes through this chaotic time.”

Vanaver said she also values the fact that the foundation is working to help build a national community of Haitians in the diaspora “so that when times are better and the strategy for major investment is clear, the diaspora in this country will already be unified and be able to act, perhaps in a more coordinated way.”

IF YOU GO

What: Goute Peyi M: A Culinary Tour of Haiti

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Level Three Miami, 19565 Biscayne Blvd.

Cost: $150 or $300