pumpkin soup

May, 2016 - Haitian Chef (Chef Stephan Durand) serving Mais Moulin, Aran so and Soup Joumou at the White House in Washington DC for the Caribbean-American Heritage Month Celebration

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Here is a picture of a major fire that took place in Queens on December 31, 2014. Louise Jean-Charles, husband Napoleon Michel, along with relative Nadia Donnay, all died in a fire that started as the family was preparing heir traditional Soup Joumou to celebrate Haiti Independence

A kitchen fire erupted at 11:45 p.m. in New York City's Elmhurst neighborhood, killing a Haitian couple and their cousin. Louise Jean-Charles, 59, and her husband Napoleon Michel, 69, became trapped inside their apartment. By the time fire crews arrived and rescued them, all three had suffered cardiac arrest.

The incident began when a pot of soup not attended to ignited a fire, quickly spreading to the dining room, living room, hallway, and bathroom, ending in the back bedrooms. When the firefighters entered they discovered the couple in the bedrooms. The cousin, Nadia Donnay, 37, was found jammed behind the door of the apartment. The three, who might've survived, could not be reached immediately because firefighters had to fight the blaze in the rooms leading to the bedrooms first.

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This is a presentation of a typical independence Day in Haiti where we all Haitians will drink the Independence Soup Joumou.

This is a uniquely Haitian tradition dated back to our history during the French colonization of Saint Domingue.

Many brave and zealous Haitians died by fighting for the independence of Haiti hoping that one day they would be free.

When the French were in control, they were the only people who could eat soup because they were in the upper class. Blacks weren't allowed.

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Here is a picture of the Haitian pumpkin soup also named Soup Joumou or Jiromon. The pumpkin soup became a tradition in Haiti after its independence.

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