{"id":59,"date":"2012-07-08T15:41:02","date_gmt":"2012-07-08T19:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?page_id=59"},"modified":"2021-11-24T18:24:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T23:24:04","slug":"love-haiti","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?page_id=59","title":{"rendered":"A Love-Haiti Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just got back from an ethnojunket to the Caribbean by way of Church Avenue in Brooklyn. Wandered into a shop that didn\u2019t look all that promising from the outside, but was harboring some interesting produce within. I picked up a ripe custard apple. (D\u2019ja ever fondle a ripe custard apple? They\u2019re about as sturdy as a dandelion that has gone to seed.) The Jamaican owner rushed over to me afraid that I, being a middle-aged, balding, white dude, probably had no idea what I was feeling up and would no doubt damage beyond the point of salability in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe careful wit’ dat, mon!\u201d he cautioned. Nearby, three Haitian women were staring at me as if I had three middle-aged, balding, white heads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay! I know these! They\u2019re delicious. They\u2019re my favorite fruit. Well, when I can\u2019t get fresh jackfruit, that is.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked at me out of the corner of one eye, certain that I was trying to pull the wool over it. \u201cYou know dis? What do you call dis?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019ve always called it a custard apple. Do you have a different name for it?\u201d<\/p>\n

His face brightened, illuminated by a huge toothy grin. We had bonded.<\/p>\n

But I still had one more task to complete. \u201cLook at all this great stuff!\u201d I beamed, casting a sidelong glance at the stern triumvirate of Haitian judges. Pointing at the unmarked veggies, I identified them one by one. \u201cThat breadfruit looks really good. Oh, and they\u2019ve got sorrel!\u201d And on and on. By then, the leader of the pack had softened to the point of being a fair match for the custard apple.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call that different in Haiti,\u201d she smiled, pointing at the fruit.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me, tell me!\u201d I dug deeply into my pocket and whipped out my trusty, pocket-sized, spiral-bound notebook. She mumbled something I could not decipher, having never been exposed to the word. \u201cWill you spell that for me?\u201d I asked eagerly.<\/p>\n

She tried but was obviously struggling with the names of the letters in English. \u201cUh, kah, no, kay, um…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d I said. \u201cJe parle fran\u00e7ais un petit peu. Mais je sais que krey\u00f2l c\u2019est diff\u00e9rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughed. \u201cKah, ah, say, ache, ee, em, ah, en.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKachiman?\u201d I essayed, honking the last syllable through my nez.<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly!\u201d she replied in perfect English.<\/p>\n

Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n

They then introduced me to a greenish fruit I\u2019d never seen called a golden apple. (Love how when there\u2019s no English word for a fruit they grab the nearest appropriate adjective and append \u201capple\u201d even though they\u2019re of a different genus. In Chinatown, they peddle something that looks like a small, pink pear made of wax. Tastes like it too. They call it a rose apple. But I digress.) Needless to say, all this was followed by delightfully convivial conversation.<\/p>\n

The owner gently lowered my custard apples into their own individual bag with such care you\u2019d think they were Faberg\u00e9 eggs, and showed me how to carry it so they wouldn\u2019t knock together.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll go back sometime just to say bonjou to the gang.<\/p>\n

\n

Golden apple addendum:
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nI found over 50 vernacular names for the golden apple and no, I won\u2019t list them all here, however I\u2019ve often seen it referred to as ambarella. Its sweet flavor is said to be a combination of pineapple and mango, but \u201ctropical\u201d is a blanket catchword that would be suitable. The pit has been described as fibrous, although if you ask me, lethal would be more appropriate; approach with caution! (Shown above, whole, half, and dangerous!)<\/p>\n

One time, while stocking up in a Sri Lankan market on Staten Island, I couldn\u2019t decide between ambarella chutney and ambarella jam. The proprietor was studying me, a jar in each hand, weighing my decision. Ultimately, I selected the chutney and brought it to the front of the shop.<\/p>\n

From behind the counter he questioned, \u201cYou don\u2019t want the jam?\u201d I said that the chutney would hold me until my next visit to which he replied, \u201cBut how will you eat bread?\u201d<\/p>\n

I love what I do.
\n 
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just got back from an ethnojunket to the Caribbean by way of Church Avenue in Brooklyn. Wandered into a shop that didn\u2019t look all that promising from the outside, but was harboring some interesting produce within. I picked up a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3336,"featured_media":0,"parent":12453,"menu_order":120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-59","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16096,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions\/16096"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}