Creole Kitchens cook-off and a mirliton soup

The mirliton soup recipe below is part of a food challenge. I created it in hopes of showcasing this vegetable under a new light. The text below will explain what that challenge is all about, and why I chose to go that unusual route with mirliton.

When my friend Joelle challenged me to a cook-off, I couldn’t help but agree. For years, we had talked about doing a joint culinary venture together. We even came up with a blog idea a few years back. It had a name and a logo. But it never came to life.

After college, we each went our separate route in both life and the culinary world. I moved back home, and stuck to the blog idea, which translated into Tchakayiti. And Joelle, being a fierce competitor, signed up for endless food competitions in the States. Among those food battles are the World Food Championships which she encouraged me to sign up for two years ago.

I enjoyed every second of that experience. Unfortunately, since I am based in Haiti, I cannot participate in as many food competitions as Joelle does.

To help me hone my skills for the next food contest I do take part in, we decided to challenge each other. So today, we’re bringing you Creole Kitchens, a Social Media cook-off. Once a month, we will pick one ingredient and turn it into a culinary masterpiece. We will share our creations with you on Tchakayiti and CookingBaeNola, and let YOU decide who used it best.

Our first cook-off features mirliton, as you may already know if you follow me on Instagram.

Mirliton better known as chayote or christophine around the world. | tchakayiti.com
What exactly is a mirliton?

Haiti and Louisiana are perhaps the only places where this vegetable is called mirliton. Better-known as chayote elsewhere, mirliton is a pear-shaped squash that grows in vines.

In Haiti, we mostly use it as the main ingredient in our touffe de legume. We also sometimes serve it sautéed alongside carrots, or as a gratin, but never as a soup. Our exploration of this vegetable seems to stop at those three dishes.

The mirliton soup I am serving you today is thus quite unusual in our culinary repertoire. I must confess I myself had never eaten this squash this way before. I was, however, delightfully surprised with the results. That is why I am sharing the recipe for my first ever mirliton soup with you today.

This soup features oven-roasted mirliton and potatoes pureed in a homemade seafood broth. To take my mirliton soup further, I topped it with the zesty crab salad I shared on the blog last week with cheesy cassava chips on the side.

That recipe is the perfect dish to launch our challenge. I believe it sums up perfectly our goal with Creole Kitchens. Joelle and I are not necessarily looking to replicate traditional recipes, though it may happen. Instead, we want to revisit ingredients that are common to both our culinary cultures.

Creole Kitchens is the perfect excuse to get our creativity going in the kitchen. And I hope you will enjoy following us on that journey.

A recipe for a creamy mirliton or chayote soup enhanced with flavors of shrimp and crab. | tchakayiti.com

Seafood infused creamy mirliton soup

This recipe calls for roasted mirliton, potatoes and garlic to enhance the flavors of this soup. It is prepared with a homemade shrimp broth and enhanced with blue crabs and hot piment bouc. 
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients
  

For the roasted vegetables

  • 3 mirliton
  • 3 small potatoes
  • 3 garlic heads
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • Olive oil

For the broth

  • 4 cups of water
  • Shrimp shells
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • Bunch of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 garlic heads
  • 1 piment bouc
  • 1 tsp Chili
  • 1 tsp Paprika
  • 1 tsp Cayenne

For the soup

  • 2 tsp salt
  • Blue crabs
  • 10 cl of cream

Instructions
 

For the roasted vegetables

  • Cut and peel the mirliton, potatoes and garlic in half
  • Coat each half with salt, pepper and oil
  • Place on a baking sheet
  • Roast in oven for about 1 ½ hour or until fork tender

For the broth

  • In a pot, add the water and shrimp shells
  • Add the seasoning
  • Bring to a boil
  • Strain the liquid and set aside

For the soup

  • Puree the roasted vegetables with some of the seafood broth
  • Transfer to a pot
  • Bring to a boil
  • Adjust the seasoning to taste
  • Add some blue crab
  • Let simmer for about 40 minutes until the soup thickens up
  • Add the cream and serve

To serve (optional)

Notes

Roasting the vegetables makes for a longer preparation time. To reduce time, you could boil the mirliton and potatoes. Please note that doing so will definitely alter the flavors. 
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5 Comments

  • Missmo

    Merci

  • Missmo

    Coucou Annick. Contente de vous relire à nouveau. Eh bin ce n’était pas encore fait mais désormais je vous suivrai sur instragram.

    • annick

      Coucou Missmo! Contente de vous retrouver. Je me demandais si je vous avait perdue après mes longs mois de silence. 🙂 J’ai repris depuis août dernier, je vais m’efforcer de tenir cette fois-ci. Merci de votre fidélité depuis le début!!! 🙂

      • Missmo

        Pas du tout. J’ai eu les notifications mais je n’avais pas le temps vraiment de m’arrêter. Je suis sur des projets qui me prennent du temps mais je me ferai un devoir de passer vous voir. D’ailleurs j’ai de la lecture en retard. On est en février mais peu importe je vous souhaite quand même une très bonne année 2019. À très bientôt.

        • annick

          Merci Heureuse Année à vous aussi! Et succès dans vos projets! 🙂

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