Suriname's Maroon breakfast — boiled mashed cassava, sweet potato, and plantain served with salted cod (bakkeljauw) cooked with onion, tomato, garlic, and scotch bonnet. The African-Maroon heritage adapted to Surinamese tropics. The Saturday-morning ritual, the Maroon-Surinamese identity dish.
Heri heri is a Maroon (African-descendant) Surinamese breakfast tradition dating to the 17th-18th century escape-from-slavery period. Maroons settled in the Surinamese interior rainforest, where they preserved African food traditions while adapting to local ingredients (cassava, plantain, native cane). The boiled-mash-with-salt-fish combination is similar to West African (Ghanaian, Nigerian) breakfast traditions; the salt fish (bakkeljauw, salted cod) is the colonial European import. Heri heri is the universal Surinamese Maroon Saturday-morning ritual — the meal is hearty, satisfying, and sustains long days of work. The dish has spread to all Surinamese ethnic groups and the diaspora communities in the Netherlands, where it's a Saturday or Sunday brunch staple.
Spoon up a bite of heri heri — the chunky pale mash of cassava, sweet potato, and plantain on one side, the orange-red salt-fish stew on top. Bite: the mash is dense and starchy, with the cassava's slight chew, the sweet potato's mellow sweetness, the plantain's caramelized notes; the salt fish is intensely savory, the tomato-and-onion sauce brings acidity and aromatic depth, the Madame Janette pepper provides gentle heat; the cilantro brightens. It's a meal that has fed Maroon-Surinamese families since the 17th century. With strong coffee and a slice of bread, this is the Saturday morning.
Boiling the three different starches separately (then mashing together) creates the dish's signature texture — each retains some of its character. Soaking the salt cod 2x (with water changes) removes harsh salt while preserving flavor. Cooking the salt cod with tomatoes and aromatics integrates the fish into the sauce rather than leaving it as separate pieces.
Variations
Heri heri with smoked herring (instead of cod). With fresh fish (modern version). With chicken (less traditional). Vegetarian heri heri with vegetables only. Modern Amsterdam restaurant versions with truffle.
On the Palate
Where Heri Heri sits in the Surinamese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
9 steps · 25 min active + 35 min waiting
- 162 min
Soak 400 g salt cod (bakkeljauw) in cold water for 30 min; drain. Repeat with fresh cold water for another 30 min; drain. (This removes excess salt.)
Watch outSoak the salt cod twice with a full water change — taste a shred; it should be pleasantly savory, not harshly salty, before it goes in the pan.
- 222 min
Peel and cube 500 g cassava + 500 g sweet potato + 2 green plantains (cut into 4-cm rounds). Boil in salted water 20-25 min until tender. Drain.
Watch outBoil the cassava, sweet potato and plantain just to fork-tender — cassava takes longest, so check it, not the sweet potato.
- 34 min
Lightly mash the boiled vegetables together with 4 tbsp butter (or 4 tbsp coconut oil) + 1/2 tsp salt. The mash should be slightly chunky.
Watch outMash only to a rough, chunky texture — you want each starch to keep some of its own bite, not a smooth uniform purée.
- 49 min
Cook the salt fish: in a pan, heat 3 tbsp oil. Add the drained salt fish; break it apart with a fork while cooking 8 min.
Watch outFlake the cod apart with a fork as it cooks so it melts into the sauce rather than sitting as separate lumps.
- 56 min
Add 2 chopped onions + 6 minced garlic cloves; cook 6 min.
- 64 min
Add 2 chopped tomatoes + 2 minced Madame Janette peppers + 1 tsp ground black pepper + 1 tsp thyme; cook 4 min.
- 75 min
Add 200 ml water; simmer 5 min.
- 82 min
Stir in 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro + 2 chopped scallions.
- 94 min
Serve: on each plate, a mound of heri heri mash, topped with the salt-fish stew, garnished with extra fresh cilantro and a wedge of lime. Drink with coffee, tea, or sweet tea.
