Suriname’s Exotic Delights and Culinary Traditions

Paramaribo, Suriname: Suriname is a country located on the northeastern coast of South America. Suriname’s cuisine is substantial and a combination of many international cuisines. Its population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the South American region.

About 90 per cent of the natives of Suriname have ancestors from other regions and countries across the world. The food is a mixture of many other countries’ cuisines and thus, is unique in its own right.

Suriname Cuisine

Food holds a special place in the culture of Suriname. The country has a wide variety of delicious delicacies produced by their locals, Indians, Chinese, Creoles and Javanese. Some of them are as follows:

1. Moksi Alesi (Mixed rice)

Moksi Alesi is served with plantain along with oven-roasted or baked chicken and garter, which is a local green bean. Initially, the dish was prepared with the enslaved people who generally used leftover meat, beans, chicken, dried fish, vegetables and anything available to them with rice as a base. Nowadays, the dish is very famous in the country as it is served at most parties, gatherings or any occasion/event.

1. Grietbana Soep Met Tomtom

The dish is basically Grated Plantain Soup with Tomtom and is popularly known as the Surinamese love soup. It is prepared with green plantains, salted meat, root vegetables, coconut milk and dried fish.

The soup is made of cassava and grated plantain mixed together till it looks like a spongy dough. While cooking, a little portion of the dough is added to the soup. It is one of the mouthwatering and nutritious soups of the creole cuisine.

1. Heri Heri

Heri Heri is one of the tasty and healthy foods in Suriname, consisting of green bananas, eggs, cassava and sweet potatoes. All of these are boiled and then placed together. The dish is topped with salted shredded fish.

This meal is rich in flavour and sparks up the energy. It has a history to Moksi Alesi, where enslaved people used to prepare this dish to boost their energy.

1. Roti 

Roti is a famous Indian dish which is introduced by the Indian immigrants who lived and worked in Suriname in 1873. They brought their own food and culture into their daily day-to-day life.

Roti is prepared with flour and loaded with potato or yellow peas. It is rolled into circles and baked on a flat pan. It is served with chicken or duck in potato sauce, curry sauce and vegetables on the side.

In many restaurants, roti is accompanied by pumpkin and garter, and sometimes eggplant also goes well with it. The dish is also popular in neighbouring countries such as Guyana and Grenada, which are home to the Indian community as well.

1. Javanese noodles

Javanese noodles are counted as one of the most popular dishes in Suriname, which came from the Javanese people. In the beginning, the noodles are soaked in boiling water to soften them. After that, they baked with the various spices along with the soy sauce.

It is served hot with vegetables on the side, topped with baked chicken, and the peanut sauce is drizzled on the top to make it even better.

Suriname also displayed a number of Desserts, such as,

– Fiadu, a cake that includes currants, succade, almonds and raisins

– Maizena koek, cornstarch cookies prepared with Vanilla

– Boyo, a sweet cake made up of cassava and coconut