In Haitian Pikliz, Transformation and Tradition

Pikliz is an everyday Haitian condiment made from naturally crisp vegetables like cabbage and onion, plus the specific fruity heat of Scotch bonnet peppers, all pickled through submersion in vinegar and salt. At the restaurant Kann in Portland, Ore., the Haitian American chef Gregory Gourdet touches up his recipe with lime juice and shallots. “Finding that perfect balance of salt and acid and heat really makes the best pikliz,” says Gourdet, who adds that the condiment’s real magic is the transformation of pantry staples into something greater than their disparate parts, and in very little time.

(Pikliz only needs a few hours to ripen, though some say it’s better after a few days.) “It’s so humble, but the combination, it’s explosive,” he says. At Honeysuckle Provisions, a cafe and grocer opening in West Philadelphia later this month, chef Cybille St. Aude-Tate, also Haitian American, will serve homemade pikliz at Friday fish dinners and sell jars of it.

She’s sourcing the traditional ingredients from neighboring Black-owned farms and featuring allspice as the primary seasoning. “We want to introduce people to the culture first and how it connects to the island, how it connects to migration,” says St. Aude-Tate. In time, she may incorporate okra or green beans, acknowledging that substitutions are common within the diaspora.

“You had to make do with what you had,” she says. In Milford, N.H., chef Chris Viaud is serving pikliz in a fried-chicken sandwich at his family’s just-opened traditional Haitian restaurant, Ansanm. In New Orleans, pikliz shows up on a plate of fried tostones at the Pan-Caribbean restaurant Cane & Table.