Remember Haiti for the Long Haul

Being asked to interview TiGeorges is a bit like being asked to eat at his restaurant-- something I would gladly do anyway, and something that is sure to leave me with some new pieces of wisdom and insight.

A lot has been happening in Haiti even before the earthquake, and now as Haiti is in the international eye much more is being said and written. "Kreyol pale Kreyol kompran" goes the proverb-- Kreyol spoken is Kreyol understood-- and one of the many meanings of this proverb is that those native to Haiti are the ones who are truly qualified to speak about it. With that in mind, I sat down to talk to TiGeorges LaGuerre, the proprietor of TiGeorges Chicken (in Echo Park) and the man who not only introduced me to Haiti, but also taught me to speak Kreyol.

Tom McNalley: As two people who have traveled around the world, we always talk about how a culture manifests itself for the visitor in its art/music and in its food. As a chef, how does Haiti show itself in its cuisine?

TiGeorges Laguerre: Well, Haiti has a most complex cuisine-- one because Haiti was colonized by both the Spaniards and the French, and being African, we mix those things together. So Haitian cuisine can be very difficult to analyze, because there are so many influences. But that mixture makes Haitian cooking the truly Creole cuisine.

TM: They also do a lot with relatively few ingredients..

GL: Well, people always say that Haiti is the poorest country this and that, but in cuisine we really take care of business-- you could go to the bottom of the barrel in Haiti and you will still have a great meal. As a matter of fact, I grew up on sidewalk cuisine-- my grandmother used to cook food so well that all the Europeans used to come eat her food, and eventually they asked her to come and cook for them, which basically how my family life started to be built up from poverty into having some money, through my grandmother's cooking over 100 years ago. And then my mother continued that.

TM: And you're doing it here in Los Angeles

GL: That's right. We take food very seriously in Haiti! We don't eat just to fill up the stomach-- we eat because we want to enjoy something good and have the pleasure of each others company. That's what Haitian cuisine is truly all about.

TM: When we're in Haiti we usually only eat one meal a day-- I don't really notice until I get back to the States and am eating more than that, but maybe you have an avocado or an orange in the morning, but mainly you are eating one small meal at about 4 or 5 in the evening, and that is enough.

GL: Well, like I said, its the idea of eating something of quality, and Haiti is well known for that. Even the fruits and vegetables, they are naturally grown. We do not use fertilizers or chemicals, and therefore when you eat something in Haiti, you do not have to eat a large portion of it to be satisfied.

TM: It's like what Remy said in Anse-a-Foleur: Americans are so crazy about organic this and that and all Haiti uses to grow its food is sun and rain! (laughs)

GL: That is correct-- so cuisine is like the backbone of the culture!

TM: One thing that ties the cuisine to other aspects of Haitian culture is the level of creativity involved-- art, music, you name it-- but the very idea of creativity is highly valued in Haiti.

GL: Creativity comes about in a society that has very little-- you see these kids who take a plastic container and make a toy car-- and they will use every piece of that container to make the car. It's free, nothing is going to waste-- low tech at its highest level, and yet, the creativity. Because someone truly has to be a thinker-- and Haitians are thinkers. We want to make sure, I don't know if its a good thing sometimes, because what happens is that we want to make sure before we jump-- we're not going to jump until we're certain, because we don't want to deal with failure, the negativity that comes with it-- that could be a bigger pill to swallow! Like with homework, we're going to pass the information along to Jerry, or a couple of other guys, so three or four people will have access to the information before it is submitted to the principal-- to make sure that it is correct.

TM: It makes for a very philosophical society, too. I mean, you and I know guys who live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere who can't even read or write, but have wisdom beyond wisdom-- you could bring them any problem and they could solve it.

GL: (laughs) Ooohhh yeah! As a matter of fact, if you really need to solve a problem in Haiti, go check out a peasant. That guy will give you wisdom that in your wildest imagination-- I swear, you could have a PhD and his answer will make it look like nothing! It's a sad thing that that guy cannot read and write, and he pays a very expensive price for it-- peasants are the majority, but the minority (meaning the elite class) somehow muffles it. Like they do everything in writing and in French, and the peasants do not speak French or read, so it's almost like they are torturing the peasants with French. I think this is definitely one of the biggest problems that has to be solved in Haiti-- Kreyol needs to be put in the forefront. It is a good thing to speak French, it is a good thing to speak Spanish, it is a good thing to speak English-- but Kreyol is truly the native tongue of Haiti. And this has been abandoned in the political landscape since day one! But the peasant is the one who has the wisdom.

And guess what? It's the peasant who cultivates the land. He is the guy who is going to bring food to your table-- but the guy who is speaking French, or enforcing the French, makes the peasant feel so embarrassed, so intimidated, so ashamed of who he is that he tries to move to the city and mingle with the French speakers-- this is the failure of Haiti also, because the guy who should be cultivating the land is in the city. And I'm not saying the quake is a good thing it was a very bad thing, but it did serve as a wake up call and now a lot of the peasants are returning back to their land. But those peasants provided a service-- and they are the backbone of the society. But when you leave the mountain and try to mingle in the city and you can't read, can't write, well how the hell are you going to function in a society that operates on those things? It's not going to happen. But when they return to their land and cultivate it, that is what is going to move Haiti to the next level.

TM: And at the same time, we're seeing reports of people being pulled out of the rubble six, seven days later and they're still alive-- this is the blood of the peasants-- survival.

GL: Definitely. These are people who have endured injustice, intimidation, they have been embarrassed on all possible levels and yet these are the people that have the strength, stamina and determination to move forward. And the government of Haiti has truly neglected its peasants. Like Edna (Delvarais, a mutual friend who lives in Port-au-Prince), she told me "Don't worry about me, I can manage my hunger for five days." In Haiti I know people who for sure only have 10 meals per month, and you wonder how they go about the every day, keeping their heads up and everything else.

TM: And you won't ever hear them complain.

GL: Haitians are not complainers. What is really required to satisfy us is so minimal-- we look for the small things, that is the mindset.

TM: It's even in the language, like Dayanna (Georges' cousin in Port-de-Paix and a good friend of mine) was explaining-- when someone asks how you are doing, you say, "N'ap Boule," "M'ap kampe"..

GL: Yeah, we're standing up, things are good..

TM: But if your house just burned down, both your legs are broken and your family has all died, then you would use, "Pa pi mal" ("Not too bad").

GL: Well yeah, because you're still alive. You know, even me, living in America all these years, there are certain things that have been disconnected. But I go to Haiti and hear Haitians using certain terms, and sometimes I try to undo that-- are you sure you want to accept and tolerate all that? And I think the international community takes advantage of that-- they tend to view Haitians as weak people, whatever they can feed us is acceptable-- but the Haitian will not complain in public. Behind closed doors, when he goes to bed and he is meditating, thats when he's going to say "look what so-and-so did to me". But he will never fight or go and show that he was disappointed with what was said or what was done to him.

TM: It's like any gift, no matter what, will be taken with humility, love and graciousness-- that is one line you don't cross.

GL: Definitely. Definitely.