The Complexity of Suriname 🇸🇷
Recently my girlfriend had friends over from Honduras. They were doing a trip through Europe and just passed through Brussels to spend a day in Amsterdam. Time to give them a tour of the city and visit all the places that tourists would like to see, the Anne Frank house, the Red Light District, Rijksmuseum.. you name it. I make a quickstop for a sandwich at a Surinamese place called Tokoman in China Town.
My favourite Surinamese sandwich is a “Dynamite”, a Frankenstein style sandwich with Chinese Char Siu and Curry Chicken topped with pickled cucumber and sambal (Indonesian chili sauce). The friend of my girlfriend asks what it is and I explain him.
He replies:
“Suriname hmm… the 3 forgotten countries of South America; Guyane, French Guiana and Suriname.”
For the outside world the relationship between The Netherlands and their colonies is often obviously seen as Indonesia and to some extent New Amsterdam. Suriname is lesser known and often forgotten about but Suriname has played a large role for the Dutch Slave Trade and its expansion of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) with its sister company the WIC (Dutch West India Company).
The Guyanas formed an important primary destination in the transatlantic slave trade, here slaved were brought from West-Africa and sold to slave owners in the United States and Suriname.
200 year slavery was ended in 1863, a national celebration called “Keti Koti”, the breaking of chains.
The identities of Suriname
The Marrons
Suriname had a large variety of native tribes before the arrival of the Europeans but with the colonisation of the nation and the slave trade, a large number of Africans and Europeans arrived. The slaves that managed to flee from the plantation set up communities in the jungle that closely resembled what they left behind in Africa, the escaped slaves were called Marrons. The Marrons lived off everything that the jungle offered and would attack plantations to free fellow slaves and seize weapons and other valuable goods.
Creoles
The slaves that were freed during Keti Koti were called creoles, from the Portuguese word crioulo (to grow/cultivate). This term was mostly used to refer to people born in colonies regardless of skin colour but that was later changed to people from African descent. The primary language of the Creoles is Dutch but their antipathy to the language of the oppressor makes them prefer to use their own language Sranan Tongo.
The Asians
After Keti Koti, the plantations had a workers shortage so the Dutch Government had the idea to bring Chinese, Hindus and people from Java to work on these plantations on a contract basis. The thing is the Dutch government didn’t really tell them what they would be doing there. Upon arrival they had to do hard labour jobs and were paid terribly. Many of them had no possibility to return home and resided within Suriname.
The Natives
And last but not least, I should not forget to mention the original people of Suriname. The native tribes like the Arowak, Trio’s, Caribs and Wajana’s. Nowadays the minority in Suriname, they formed the basis of Suriname. The Arowak and Carib tribe mostly lived on the shores of Suriname and were the first tribe that encountered the arrival of the Europeans. Both tribes were divided by the Europeans through a political game and many of the tribe members were made into slaves.
The introduction to the cultural diversity in Suriname is necessary to understand the roots of its cuisine.
The Rich Cuisine
So Suriname can rightly be called a multicultural society. Europeans, Africans and Asians live there and then also with all kinds of different beliefs, Christians, Jews, Islamists, Hindus and Buddhists. All these cultures have influenced Surinamese cuisine and from this mixture the unique Surinamese cuisine has emerged. Well-known dishes from Surinamese cuisine include roti, pom, noodles, nasi goreng and moksi alesi.
Suriname is tropical and coastal so fruits like coconut and especially plantain and seafood particularly shrimp are often used. Cassava is the basis for everything and is often fried, used in stews or used for its starches.
Rice production makes up half of the country's agriculture, and sugar, beef, and chicken are also a large part of Suriname's food production. Naturally, these ingredients play a large part in typical Suriname recipes.
Salted meat and stockfish (called bakkeljauw) which is quite similar to the Spanish Bacalao, a dried unsalted fish and vegetables such as eggplant, okra, and yardlong beans. When a bit of spice is called for in a recipe, Madame Janette peppers are commonly used.
I once ate one of these whole on accident, I would like to nominate myself for an episode on Hot Ones, please Sean make it happen.
Roti
The most popular food from the Surinamese kitchen is roti. Roti means bread in Malaysian, Thai and Indian. It was brought by Hindus to Suriname. You can roughly divide India into a roti and a naan part. Both flatbreads, where the Surinamese roti is made from the flour of ground yellow split peas or potato. Served. with curry usually chicken or lamb and boiled potatoes. The addition of yardlong beans makes it typical Surinamese.
Roti is widely available worldwide from Queens in NYC to Eatery’s Best 11 Restaurants “Bridgetown Roti” in L.A.
You eat it by simply tearing off pieces of bread and using it as a scoop to pick up the different ingredients, cutlery is not recommended
Snert
European culture can be found back in the Surinamese take on Dutch peasoup called “snert”. Snert is a traditional soup that is eaten in the winter with smoked sausage, the Surinamese version is a lot different though, with a hefty dose of allspice, keffir lime leaves and stewed spices. Suriname has transformed a relatively flat tasting peasoup to a more exciting and deeper soup.
Char Siu
When the Chinese arrived to Suriname and started opening small eateries the people around them had no idea what they were serving. So they just started pointing at different things: “Give me a bit of that and a bit of this”. And so Moksi Meti was born (mixed meats)A plate full of Chinese style prepared meats like char siu, a 8 hour roasted pork belly, roasted chicken and fa chong; chicken sausage. This is then served with either rice or noodles.
Moksi Alesi
But before the contract workers came in with their cultural products, slavery was the norm. Slaves ate mostly what was to be found at the plantation. Suriname is a water rich country so shellfish and mackerel were plenty, all types of beans, fruits and conserved meats were put into a large pot of rice. Moksi Alesi or “mixed rice”, is still eaten today both in Suriname and in The Netherlands. A dish that pays homage to the slaves and the misery that they lived in and Moksi Alesi was their survival
Where to eat Surinamese around the world?
For all the readers that are outside of the Netherlands and Suriname, I have tried to locate Surinamese restaurants in major cities. I have found only 1 in NYC called Warung Kario which has unfortunately closed but in Queens there are many roti shops.
Reddit user: “SupaV3” says
Try Queens - specifically Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, and Jamaica. These areas have a high West Indian (Guyanese, Trini, Jamaican, etc.) population. You should be able to find some good roti.
As said In L.A. there is: Bridgetown Roti
In London, UK I have found Suriname-born Jessica who will cook traditional Surinamese for you. And here is a list with all the Indo-Carribean Roti shops in London.
It can be quite hard to find Surinamese restaurants around the world but roti shops can be found nearly anywhere and I highly recommend trying one it is the highlight of the Surinamese cuisine.