epis: haitian green seasoning

You cannot cook Haitian food without Epis. It is the foundation of our cuisine and even though everyone does it a little differently, it remains an essential starting point for any delicious dish we make.

Some people add dry seasoning to their recipe, but because many of them contain MSGs, added flavors and artificial colors, I steer away from them. Fresh organic ingredients are essential for my version of this recipe and the olive oil and salt serve as a natural preservative which allows it to be stored for up to a month in the fridge.

This recipe is not precise but it always comes out tasting good. We use whatever ingredients we can find at any given point and at times we may have to move forward without some of the ingredients due to seasonal and local availability.

You can also add garlic cloves to your epis, but I like to add my garlic separately when I cook so this recipe does not include it.

If you plan on using your epis only to season meat and fish, you can add some sour orange juice to this recipe. I usually prepare my epis without sour orange juice in order to use it on rice and vegetarian recipes.

Lastly, since I like spicy food, I alway add some scotch bonnet peppers to my recipe. You can forgo the scotch bonnets if you don’t like spicy food, or you can use some gloves and cut out the seeds to make it less spicy.

To get started, you will need:

• 2 onions

• 2 bell pepper

• 4 shallots

• 1 bunch of thyme

• 1 bunch of green onions

• 1 bunch of parsley

• 4 scotch bonnet peppers

• 3 tablespoons salt

• 1/4 cup olive oil

Method:

1. Rinse all the vegetables in a water and vinegar mixture and drain.

2. Peel the onions and shallots and chop them up to fit in the blender.

3. Cut the roots off the green onions.

4. Chop the parsley up and discard the stems.

5. In a blender, add your olive oil, onions and peppers and blend thoroughly.

6. Add the remaining ingredients and finish blending it all together.

7. Store your epis in an airtight container for up to a month.

8. Optional: Mix some sour orange juice with the epis if using to season meat and fish.

9. Use your epis to season meat, rice and other delicious Haitian food.

To name a few, here are a few things you can season with epis:

• Chicken

• Red Snapper

• Rice

• Pasta

• Beef

• Soup

• & more

Check out my other recipes for inspiration on how to use your epis. I’ll also post step-by-step videos on my social media pages below.