Jamdung Eats: Ital Suup (Vegetarian/Vegan Soup)

I know what you might be thinking. "Is Jamaican cuisine more for the carnivore?" And the answer is absolutely not! As a matter of fact, we have an ever-evolving vegetarian/vegan cuisine to match the growing need. Many of the Rastafarian mansions (tribes) along with many Judeo-Christian religious groups follow the biblical dietary laws found in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy as well as practice a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.

"Ital food is derived from the word "vital food" (Self-determination of the black race resulted in the Rastafarians usage of the word 'I" to replace the first letter of many words). Ital food means it is natural, pure and clean food. For a Rastafarian it means no salt, no chemicals, no flesh, no blood, no whites (called whiteblood), no alcohol, no cigarettes and no drugs (herbs are not considered drugs)."—Jamaicans.com (retrieved 03/30/2014) Read more here.

Although I am a flexitarian (I eat vegetarian and vegan foods as well as certain meat products depending on my mood) I do adhere to the biblical dietary law so no unclean foods for me.

One Friday night, I cooked some ital soup and it was delightful. Growing up, having soup on a Friday night was somewhat of a tradition. Feeling nostalgic, I prepared a 16 bean soup with white potatoes, carrots and corn on the cob. Jamaican soups are rich and packed with various vegetables, dumplings (wheat, cornmeal or white flour) and whatever else we have in the fridge. It is NOT the watery stuff you buy in the can at the supermarket. It is a hearty meal. Let me tell you what's in this one.

1/2 bag of Goya's 16 Bean soup mix (minus the flavor packet—THROW THAT OUT!)
Water
3 peeled chef potatoes
6 halves of corn on the cob
A bunch of baby carrots
Thyme
Rosemary
Pimento (grounded)
Salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
A bunch of herbs and spices (of which I do not remember)
Lots of love!

So I parboiled the beans before I added the other ingredients. I added the seasonings, herbs and spices. Lastly, the vegetables. I allowed this to cook low and slow for 3 hours and this is the end result: