"Sometimes I think I could change my way of cooking," she said. "But I know I can never do that. I cook as we did in Haiti."

Laguerre,
who immigrated from Haiti 20 years ago, still cooks in the traditional
Haitian style, with the liberal use of spices, fresh vegetables, and
rice. Laguerre-who will be at the food table to talk about Haitian
cuisine-is one of the many local Haitians at this weekend's "La Grande
Fête: A Celebration of Haitian Culture" who helped the Somerville Arts
Council (SAC) make this event a true cultural celebration. The event is
sponsored by SAC as part of its ArtsUnion project series, and in
conjunction with the Haitian Coalition.

La Grande Fête will run
from 4 to 8:30 p.m. in the Union Square plaza (rain date September 13).
The program will commence with live drumming, followed by readings from
local writers and poets.

Laguerre said that people tend to
lump Haitian food with other Caribbean islands, but it is really quite
distinctive. Haitian food is full of flavor as nothing is cooked
without spices. Certain staples are included in all dishes, such as
onion, garlic, thyme, clove, black pepper, hot pepper, and parsley
(also sweet bell peppers and tomatoes). These ingredients are the base
for just about anything, whether it be chicken, beef, pork or rice and
beans.

Several dishes are specifically native to Haiti,
including rice djon-djon (jon-JON). It requires Haitian black
mushrooms, locally grown fungi. The stems of the mushrooms are used to
color the rice black, then the mushroom caps with lima beans are used
as a tasty topping. Calalou (kah-lah-LOO), consisting of crab meat,
salted pork, spinach, onion, okra, and peppers, and pain patate (pane
pah-TAT), a sweetened potato, fig, and banana pudding, are other native
dishes to Haiti. Soup jomou (pumpkin soup) is traditionally served for
lunch on Sundays.

Another popular dish is a porridge (moulin mais) made of a ground corn, sugar, and milk, cooked over a large fire.

In
general, the average Haitian diet is largely based on starch staples
such as rice (which is locally grown), corn, millet, yams, and beans.
However, wealthier residents can afford meats (usually pork and goat),
lobster, spiced shrimp, duck, and sweet desserts such as
French-influenced mousse and pastries.

Haitians traditionally
prepared food with a lot of salt, but in the United States people are
too health conscious to do so, Laguerre said. The meats are overcooked
in Haiti to kill bacteria.

In fact, a Haitian will feel sick
to his stomach if he sees rare meat, said William Pamphile, of Fiesta
Bakery in Union Square, as he put a fresh batch of Haitian meat patties
in the display case. "We don't want to see anything red," he said. "The
meat must be browned. Color is important, as well as the timing in the
oven."

La Fiesta will offer its fresh meat patties and passion mango guava juice at this weekend's festival.

Carbohydrates
are also an important staple in the Haitian diet, and particularly
taken in during breakfast and lunch, Laguerre said. In Haiti, the field
workers need to store up on their energy and dine of rice, beans and
plantains during the two main meals of the day. Legumes are only eaten
with meat, she said.

Haitians add a lot of vegetables to the
menu. Laguerre had a friend over for lunch the other day and used
eggplant to spice up a beef dish. She cut the eggplant and placed it on
top of the meat. The eggplant melted over the meat into one savory
mouthful.

Haitians also cook with a lot of oil for flavor.
They will use pork fat to fry their plantains. They also like to add
some acidity to their dishes, such as some vinegar and lemon to a
coleslaw.

Another traditional meal is squash (or pumpkin)
soup, Laguerre said. The meal is a celebration of the independence of
Haiti over the French, and consumed for good luck.

"On every
January 1 the Haitians will make their squash soup," Laguerre said. "I
will call people to wish them a Happy New Year and they will say, 'Have
you cooked your soup yet?'"

For dessert, Haitians love anything
sweet, Pamphile said with a quick laugh. Many desserts have added
coconut milk, a fruit that is plentiful on the island. Laguerre said
popular desserts are a bread made with white sweet potato and rice
pudding with plenty of sugar and milk.

A favorite place for
local Haitians to shop is La Internacional market in Union Square,
located next to the Fiesta Bakery. Owner Nora Cabrera smiles broadly
when she said that she and her husband, Eduardo, opened the business to
cater to South Americans in the square. But, her first customer was
Haitian. And amazingly enough, Haitians comprise the majority of her
customers. People come for the dried djon mushrooms that a Haitian
woman picks herself and then delivers to the store every six months.
One can get a decent sized bag of this delicacy for $3.75.

Cabrera
also supplies djon in cube form-similar to a bullion cube-for 50 cents.
The store additionally carries the Haitian ńame and malanga roots.
People like to peel and then boil them, along with watercress, to make
a savory bullion, Cabrera said. At La Internactional one can also find
Acassar, a Haitian cornmeal-based drink (in a can) that has a
consistency of a milkshake.

The Cabreras often take requests for
hard-to-find items like taro and cassova; and travel to the produce
market in Chelsea to see if they can find them.

The Cabreras have learned enough Creole to carry a conversation, especially their son, Byron, Nora said.

Rachel
Strutt, SAC's program manager, is appreciative of all the help from the
Haitian Coalition and local business owners who will provide music,
food and dance. "We are not from Haiti and not pretending that we can
replicate the Haitian culture, so they are really sharing with us to
make this a wonderful event," she said.

"Over the years we
have highlighted Latino and Indian cultures, but we never featured the
Haitian culture, of which there is a large population here in
Somerville," Strutt added. "Whenever we (SAC) put on an event like
this, we learn so much about local culture."

The music lineup
includes Gifrants, who blends Haitian music, Brazilian music and jazz
and overlays it with warm vocals, and Watch Out!, a local Haitian band
that plays rollicking Haitian Kompa music. Jean Appolon and Nailah
Bellinger will be on hand to lead the crowd in Kompa (Haitian house
dance).

As nightfall descends, several short documentaries
will be shown, including "Belo's Song of Peace," a documentary by
Natasha del Toro about a Haitian pop icon and the attempt to stage a
large music festival in Jacmel, Haiti. During the festival, authentic
Haitian food will be able for purchase and artists will be selling
their wares; notably the Atis Fanm Matenwa, a female cooperative will
be selling their hand painted silk scarves.

Social service
organizations will share information about the services they provide
the community, both locally and in Haiti. The Wayside Youth &
Family Support Network will showcase recent paintings by Haitian teens;
there will be an on-site Haitian flag making project for youth; and
artist Valentin Iviquel and other painters will showcase his paintings.

Schedule of events

4:00 – Play recorded music

4:30 – Live drumming

4:45 – Poetry and literary readings by Somerville youth and Jean-Dany Joachim

5:15 – Gifrants

5:45 – Kompa dance demo with Jean Appolon and Nailah Bellinger

6:30 – Watch Out!

7:30 – Screening of several Haitian documentaries