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Creole Surinamese Foodways

Community

The Afro-Surinamese city population — Creoles, distinct from the Maroons — descended from enslaved people who remained on the plantations until abolition in 1863, and concentrated in Paramaribo. Their kitchen is the oldest layer of city food: POM; HERI HERI; MOKSI ALESI; peanut soup with tom tom (pounded plantain); okra brafu; pom and the bakery; salt fish; and the SRANAN TONGO food vocabulary that the whole country now uses. ⚠ ABOLITION CAME LATE IN SURINAME — 1863, with a further ten years of compulsory "state supervision" — and indenture began almost immediately after, which is precisely why the country looks as it does.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Afro-Surinamese Creoles community documented

Languages: Sranan Tongo, Dutch

What is recorded

  • Slavery was abolished in Suriname in 1863, later than in the British colonies, and was followed by ten years of compulsory "state supervision". Indian and Javanese indenture began shortly afterwards and was arranged to replace the freed labour force, which is the direct cause of Suriname’s present demographic and culinary composition. documented
  • Abolition in Suriname — late, and followed by ten years of compulsory "state supervision" before the freed could leave the estates. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to Afro-Guyanese Foodways documented

    Moksi alesi and cook-up rice are relatives within the Caribbean rice-and-peas family, recorded separately.

Regional cuisines

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.