[Music] pickles piy yes Pi i.. out it looks like spicy uh it looks like Co yeah but you told me don't eat it like COA I said don't let it fool you because it looks like COA but it's [Laughter] not hi I'm Meg executive producer at Nashville Public Television and on this series we talk about the little things that stood out to folks when they first moved to the region from another country today I'm here with Lamar Alvarez Lamar lives in Nashville Tennessee but is originally from P of Prince Haiti he is a chef and business owner at shama in Nashville and I wanted to start off by asking you where does Your Love of Cooking stem from well I'm happy to share with you that uh My Love of Cooking came from my mom and she used to teach culinary art in Haiti and growing up in that environment helped me to fall in love with looking it seems like from a very young age I love that how were were meal times at your house was it kind of a big Affair oh yes it is because we had big family but uh six of us and when whenever meal time is always fun because um whenever the meal is ready they ring a little bell oh and then everybody knows that the food is ready so it's time to come and eat and we all sit around the table and have fun and enjoy meal together that's one thing I I do miss I bet yes in the South we're kind of f or maybe the whole United States really we're famous for like big portion size compared to other countries what's that like in Haiti how are the portion sizes comparatively well in Haiti I would say that uh the size is like triple what triple like a Tennessee plate okay oh I wouldn't consider Tennessee plate a big plate wow because maybe like they'll take one cup of rice that would be like maybe like a portion okay compared to Haiti it would be like three cup 3 to four cups of rice that would be the normal portion for even little kids so okay well so what's the biggest meal of the day then is it dinner like here or more it's more like uh lunch okay um anywhere from 12: until you know 4: 5:00 supper is usually something light not heavy so it gives you more time to digest that big meal guess I guess so yes makes sense for a lot of people too that could be the only meal for the day oh wow okay so if they didn't really have breakfast so they didn't they not they don't plan to have supper so they have a big uh big lunch you can say and of course we can't talk about traditional Haitian food without talking about soup shimu you tell us about the history and cultural significance of that dish well sub jumu is something that every Haitian around the world celebrate every time we eat a bowl of soup you know we remember the freedom that our our ancestors fought to give us today but nevertheless the freedom never it doesn't stop here because we have to continue to fight because the struggle goes on and as everybody know it's not easy right now but we continue to hope that we will have a complete Freedom uh one day and tell me if I'm remembering kind of the history correctly was it that this was a dish that a lot of people weren't able to eat um back historically and then after Independence which is January 1st I think this was kind of a symbolic say hey we you know we're doing exactly what we want now we have freedom is that how would you yes it was um for in history they they they told us that um uh the sub jumu was something uh that only the elite were able to eat or the slave master even though the slave cook it but they were not able to eat it and after that day they this is just one of the symbol that U hatian people take up and said you know from this day forward we going to celebrate every first of the year uh with the B of jumu symbolizing uh our freedom it is an inspiring uh story beautiful symbol and and and I think we need to tell a little bit more and more about it because not everybody knows but you know I had the opportunity last year to for the first time off Haitian sou at shil so we we we we had a great day because so many people came out and enjoy the sub it was super popular that did you s out yes I did I did that's awesome it was it was unbelievable because I got to meet a lot of people not just Haitian people but other uh people that are familiar with Haitian culture or wants to enjoy a b because that's something they haven't had for many years oh that's wonderful so I know what I need to do now for my meal plan for January that's right that's right so so kind of continuing with food what did you think then about American food when you moved in your early teens right to the US well um it was a it was very interesting because I mean we grew up eating rice and beans you know um cornmeal and uh um B yum and and you come to this country and you find Burgers what is burger oh oh yeah so you had really had Burgers no we didn't really have Burgers we we did make sandwiches but uh it wasn't anything like burgers or pizza and things like that but uh because I was here at a very young age it was very easy to just get used to burgers and pizza so I enjoy them very much at the beginning yeah they don't like me too much but I love them well so you've been in Nashville for number of years now and seen a lot of changes what are your thoughts on this concept that I hear folks talk about sometimes of new Nashville versus old Nashville what do you like about Nashville well to me I've been in Nashville for over 20 years but when I first moved to Nashville I loved it because it was quiet compared to compared to Florida where I was living at the time I mean now I wouldn't say Nashville is a quiet City uhuh pretty well so definitely a lot of changes happen in a good way I believe because it bring a lot of opportunity for people to grow their business and have other things uh in Nashville so I'm I'm I'm excited for Nashville I'm I love Nashville I I was born in Haiti but nille is my home and I spent I believe I spent most of my time here uh in Nashville so I I feel like this is home for me one thing I've been wondering about is you know starting first Haitian restaurant in Nashville that you know did you run into any issues trying to explain the dishes to folks who might not be familiar because I know we've got a language barrier with French and Haitian Creole and then just maybe dishes people have never seen before how how did you go about describing everything well it it is a challenge because sometime like U we have something called P but uh to most people understand what empinada is so I will all Jamaican patties or something like that so when I tell people oh have you ever tried Patti C they said what's that I said well it's similar to Jamaican patties or in pinata it just tastes 10 times better yeah that was spark interest so yes so that's the way I try to explain it to people so that way can um understand have a little idea because I mean I I could have just call it infin or call it a chicken patties but it's different it is a little different but I want people to know the name in cre because if you get in the environment where you're talking about Haitian culture and people are saying par day or something or Grio and pickles Pi yes Pi is that really stands out it looks like spicy uh looks like U Co yeah yeah but you told me don't eat it like COA I said don't let it fool you because it looks like COA but it's not than you that's that's all those a part of what I love doing is sharing that culture and letting people know and that's kind of give me a lot of joy to be able to do and when people try something new and they enjoy it that makes me very happy I had a blast getting to try some of your favorite dishes the other week so thank you so much for Anytime inviting us into the kitchen letting us show off that amazing food and for sharing a little bit about your background and Haiti Haitian culture with us today well we we love sharing that's what I live for that's what shil is here for and that's one way you can get start getting to know our culture is through food well and thank you all for taking the time to join us for this conversation if you enjoyed it please give us a thumbs up And subscribe to catch more videos in the series until next time until next time thank you next door neighbors is made possible by the support of the Nissan Foundation