A Guesthouse Treasure

We are getting to the point that our Kreyol is good enough that we are communicating pretty well with the staff here at the guesthouse.  This means we can begin to tell some of their stories, too.

One of the treasures here Leogane is Yvette Joassaint, our cook.

She is in perpetual motion, arriving about 6:30 am and working until 6:30 pm.  She works seven days a week if we have guests every day, although we give her the weekends off when we can.

During the day, besides cooking all the meals, she goes to the market to buy supplies.

And, in the recent weeks, when we've had Jocelyne's daughters here to help while Jocelyne has been sick, Yvette has supervvised them, too.

 

"Artist" is not part of Yvette's job description.  But it could certainly could go on her resume.  The photo above shows a "simple" supper that she made for Jeff and me.  She pays attention to the colors and the arrangement of the food as well as the taste.  In the small bowl at the left is the fish stew she made to go with the rice, assorted vegetables, and potatoes.

 

 

Yvette spends hours slicing and chopping after she gets home from the market.  The kitchen gets extremely hot and stays hot, but there she is, frying and boiling, making most dishes on the stove top. 

 

Here is our dining area with the bright, jewel tones of our new painting reflected in the food, along with Yvette's most recent assistant, Loudie, who always seems ready to help.

 

Yvette lives in Port-au-Prince with her family, commutes to Leogane and stays with a friend when she is working. After she attended secondary school in PAP, Yvette went on to college to be a cosmetologist, learing to color hair, and do nails.  Perhaps she learned some artistry there?

 

Then she went to cooking school for an entire year.

 

Yvette is committed to making sure the guesthouse runs well and has lots of visitors. 

 

We hope that all of you who have tasted her great cooking will come back again, and will spread the word for us about our guesthouse jewel.