Heri heri

Ingredients

Salt fish

• 500 gbakkeljauw, salt cod
• cold water, for soaking

Ground provisions

• 800 gcassava, sweet variety
• 4green plantains
• 800 gsweet potato
• or 800 g yam
• water, for boiling
• 2 teaspoonssalt

Fish preparation

• 2onions, sliced
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 1sweet pepper, sliced
• 1madame jeanette chilli, whole
• 4 tablespoonsoil
• juice of 1 lime
• black pepper

To finish

• 6eggs, hard boiled
• coconut oil, to drizzle
• sliced onion, to scatter

Directions

1. Peel away the whole pink layer under the bark. Never taste the raw root at any point. Rinse the surface salt off under cold water. Put the fish in a large bowl of cold water.
2. Cover it and put it in the refrigerator. Change the water every six to eight hours. Taste a small raw flake at the end. It should taste pleasantly seasoned, not harsh. Soak it longer if it is still too salty. Drain the soaked fish thoroughly. Put it in a pan and cover it with water.
3. Bring it to a simmer for ten minutes. Drain it and let it cool a little. Flake it, checking carefully for bones. Discard the skin if it is still attached. Peeling the provisions takes real effort. Cut the cassava into manageable lengths. Stand each length up on the board. Slice the skin off downwards in strips. A vegetable peeler is not strong enough.
4. Take off the whole pink layer beneath. Peeling green plantain takes a trick. Cut the ends off with a knife first. Score the skin lengthways in three places. Cut through the skin but not the flesh. Rub your hands with oil first if you can. Cut everything into large even chunks. Put the cassava in a large pot of salted water. Bring the whole pot up to a boil. Give the cassava about fifteen minutes.
5. Drain everything very thoroughly. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the sliced onions to the pan. Cook them for about six minutes. Add the garlic and the sweet pepper. Cook them for a good two minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan. Cook them down for about five minutes. Stir the flaked salt fish through the pan.
6. Add the whole chilli without breaking it. Madame jeanette is genuinely very hot indeed. Cook it all together for about five minutes. Squeeze in the lime juice at the end. Season it well with black pepper.
7. Boil the eggs for about nine minutes. Cool them under cold running water. Peel them and cut them in half. Arrange the boiled provisions on a platter. Keep each kind in its own section. Spoon the salt fish mixture beside them. Set the halved eggs around the edge. Scatter sliced raw onion over the top. Serving it is done warm rather than hot.

Technique

• Keti Koti means the chain is broken in Sranantongo and marks the abolition of slavery in Suriname on the first of July eighteen sixty-three, after which enslaved people were required to keep working through a ten year transition until eighteen seventy-three; the day is now commemorated in Suriname and the Netherlands.
• The foods on the plate are deliberate: cassava, plantain, sweet potato and imported salt fish were plantation staples, so eating them on Keti Koti is a remembrance, which is why the plate stays plain and unchanged.
• All cassava contains cyanogenic compounds, so it must be peeled thickly to remove the whole pink layer under the bark, the woody core pulled out, and the root boiled thoroughly; never taste it raw.

Substitutions

• Yam stands in for sweet potato among the boiled provisions.
• Any salt cod works as bakkeljauw, provided it is soaked for a full day.

Variations

• Some families add boiled cassava alone and others include yam and taro.
• A version with smoked fish in place of salt fish is also made.
• Coconut oil drizzled over the plate is standard but not universal.

History

Cassava, plantain and sweet potato with salt fish and egg, eaten by Creole families on Keti Koti, the emancipation day of 1 July.

Frequently asked questions

What is Heri heri?

Heri heri is a main from Suriname: boiled cassava, plantain, sweet potato and egg with bakkeljauw. Cassava, plantain and sweet potato with salt fish and egg, eaten by Creole families on Keti Koti, the emancipation day of 1 July.

How long does Heri heri take to make?

Heri heri takes 40 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Heri heri?

Yes, within limits. Yam stands in for sweet potato among the boiled provisions. Any salt cod works as bakkeljauw, provided it is soaked for a full day.

What is the most important thing to get right in Heri heri?

Peel away the whole pink layer under the bark. Never taste the raw root at any point. Rinse the surface salt off under cold water. Put the fish in a large bowl of cold water.