I feel like I should start this article with an apology. Last week, I promised you a risotto-style djondjon pitimi. Yet, today, here I am serving you a risotto-style giraumon millet instead.
In my defense, we had just handpicked a giraumon in our orchard. It was sitting there, staring at me. It even looked a bit lonely and bored. It was almost as if it was begging me to use it. But if I was to cut into it, it had to be creatively and, in a dish other than a soup. Okay, I admit, this excuse sounds far-fetched. A giraumon cannot speak to you. Unless you stare at it long enough, that is. But, that’s a whole other debate I shall leave for another day.
Let’s get back to my excuse for serving you a different dish from the one I promised. We did have a freshly handpicked giraumon. It did come from our backyard, our lakou lakay. But I am the one who didn’t want to eat it in a soup. I absolutely had to come up with a solution and quickly, before my mom got her hands on it. Speaking of my mother, she always told me the following:
“pitit, manyen manje bagay ki soti nan lakou lakay ou” – child, you need to eat the fruits of your own backyard.
You now understand that there is no way I could go out and buy some djondjon when I already had the perfect complement to my risotto in my own backyard. I had to oblige.
But a risotto-style giraumon millet in the Spring?
Now I know, technically, elsewhere, it is not pumpkin season. And I would have to wait another six months or so for a pumpkin recipe to get popular again. But, I live in the Caribbean. We don’t have that issue. Our pumpkin variety grows all year-long. We thus do not have to wait till the Fall to indulge in its wonderful flavors. That’s one of the perks of our small corner of the world.
With that said, I chose to go the risotto route to test out the millet. I wanted to find out whether or not I would like it creamy since I often complained about its mushiness growing up. Turns out, pitimi is perfectly suitable for a risotto. It becomes velvety without turning into a mush. And the giraumon, wine, sage and parmesan complement it perfectly.
With both this risotto-style giraumon millet and my tabbouleh-style millet salad, I am finally acquiring a taste for this grain so many children in Haiti grow up hating. If only, Haitian parents revisited the way they serve it to their kids… Perhaps, then and only then, would we stop hearing so many pitimi horror stories similar to the one I shared with you, and to the ones some of my followers shared with me on Instagram.
Giraumon Millet Risotto-Style
Ingredients
For the giraumon puree
- half a giraumon
- water
For the bouillon
- 3 cups of water
- thyme
- bay leaves
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of pepper
- 1 garlic clove
For the risotto
- 1 cup of millet
- 1 cup of giraumon puree
- ½ cup of white wine
- ½ onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 tbsp of oil
- sage leaves
- parmesan to taste
Instructions
For the giraumon puree
- Cook the giraumon in a pot filled with water until fork tender
- Once the giraumon is fully cooked, take out the pulp and puree it
- If needed, run it through a strainer using the cooking water. This step makes for a smoother puree
- Measure one (1) cup of puree and set aside
For the bouillon
- In a pot, combine the water and seasonings
- Bring to a boil
- Let simmer for about 20 minutes
For the risotto
- In a saucepan, heat the oil
- Add the chopped onions and cook until translucent
- Incorporate the chopped garlic
- Cook until fragrant
- Add the millet to the oil mixture
- Cook while stirring until the grains acquire a pearl like color
- Deglaze the pan with the wine
- Once the wine is absorbed, laddle the bouillon a few spoonful at a time making sure each spoonful is absorbed before adding more
- Keep stirring to keep the millet from sticking to the pot
- Repeat this process until the grains are cooked
- Incorporate the giraumon puree and stir
- Add the parmesan
- Sprinkle with some chopped sage
- At this point you can season it with salt and pepper to your taste before serving
- Enjoy
