What to do in Montrouis

Travellers who drive straight through Montrouis miss out on a local speciality: creole cuisine called lalo - the signature dish of Artibonite.

Driving into the township from the south, foot traffic swells with men and women carrying produce in baskets and old rice sacks. Just outside of town, colorful kiosks line the road, most of them serving up plates of rice, beans and lalo.

Also called Egyptian spinach and West African sorrel, lalo is the local name for jute. In the US and Europe, jute might be better known as a source of rope fibre, but here in Haiti (and across most of Africa and Asia) it is more widely used in cooking.

Lalo is the magic that happens when fresh, bright jute leaves are picked off of the plant and stewed with spinach, onions, peppers, and garlic as well as creole-seasoned cuts of beef. As the flavors mingle in the pot, the jute and spinach leaves grow soft, dark, and flavorful.

Setting itself apart from lalo available throughout the province - and making it especially worth stopping to try - Montrouis lalo is made with freshly caught sea crabs. With the help of the hot stew and steam inside the pot, the broken crab shells and legs turn a vivid pink, lending the dish a heightened, warming flavor which mingles wonderfully with earthy black bean sauce and light-as-air white rice.

“It’s hard work, but people keep coming back,” one vendor says. She takes a small break from spooning rice into Styrofoam plates, but just as quickly, a young woman comes from the back kitchen to pick up the slack. “I have regular customers who will come from the fancy resorts because they love the lalo here.” The evidence is in front of us while we chat - the cars parked in front of the kiosks have license plates ranging from rentals, to personal cars, to state-owned vehicles. It seems like everyone in the know makes time to stop in Montrouis for a plate of Lalo.

For desert, treat yourself to a tablèt nwa, a delicious candied cashew bar, or tablèt pistach, a candied peanut bar. Don’t miss the wonderfully decadent dous makòs, a tri-colored milk fudge bar. You’ll find all of these sold by the side of the street.

Montrouis is a popular destination for fishing in Haiti, supplying a large part of all seafood consumed on the coasts as well as inland.

Moulin sur Mer houses the Ogier-Fombrun museum, which retraces the history of Haiti from the Indian era up until the colonial times – specifically, 1794.

Guided visits – the best way to explore Kay Piat, since trail signage isn't great, and because local guides can negotiate on your behalf to keep costs down.

Lalo – jute leaf and spinach stew served with white rice and black or red bean sauce.

Tablèt nwa – delicious candied cashew bar, sold by the side of the street.

Tablèt pistach – delicious candied peanut bar, sold by the side of the street.

Dous makòs – tri-colored milk fudge bar, sold by the side of the street.

Written by Kelly Paulemon.

Published June 2019