
Why Haitians make Soup Joumou on New Year's Day
Zaza and her youngest son Kwa enjoying soup joumou in Matènwa. For Haitians in Haiti and abroad, January 1st is about more than ringing in the New Year. It's a celebration of their country's independence, and a squash-based soup called soup joumou is a symbol of that freedom. January 1, 1804, marked the culmination of this a successful, decade-long slave rebellion against French colonial rule, establishing Haiti as the world's first black republic. Two-hundred-and-fifteen yea