Undiscovered Haiti with Jose Andres

JOSE ANDRES: Just two hours from Miami is one of my favorite places on Earth, but somehow nobody knows about it.

And the less you know about this place, the more it will surprise you.

This is Haiti.

I'm here in the middle of nowhere, and I'm looking for what will be my first vodou experience.

What I know is that vodou is very deep in the hearts and the spirits of the people of Haiti.

I've been invited to, like, a sacred room.

People say vodou is mystical and evil, where animals are sacrificed and people drink blood.

Let's check it out.

My name is Jos Andrs, and I am a chef.

I've traveled across the world, infusing the stories of different cultures into my restaurants.

And along the way, I realized that food holds the key to understanding the people and places around us.

My belief that we can change the world through the power of food brought me here, to Haiti.

Despite being so close to the United States and on the same island as the Dominican Republic, most people only know Haiti from the devastating 2010 earthquake.

These images have become the only story we know about Haiti.

But this is also Haiti.

Food is at the center of everything here.

And nobody knows food like a chef.

It's time to discover the real story of Haiti.

Are you ready?

Hey Paradise, enjoy ANNOUNCER: Undiscovered Haiti with Jos Andrs SE: Here in the north of Haiti, where vodou's influence is highly visible, a ceremony begins in the inner sanctum.

This is like the back in the altar where the priest is.

MAN: Exactly, exactly.

JOSE: So, in vodou, they also honor some of the religious saints of other religions.

MAN: Yes.

JOSE: I see a lot of alcohol, and I like alcohol.

JOSE: Haitian vodou has been associated with witchcraft, vodou dolls, and even zombies.

But this is so far away from that.

It's a celebration.

Followers of vodou believe in bondye, which translates to "Good God."

The songs are a call to the spirits, known as loa, who will take possession of individuals and speak through them.

Loa are present in all aspects of daily life, and pleasing them will get you health, wealth, and happiness.

It's going to be a late night, but tomorrow we get to enjoy a vodou feast.

It's my first time ever I'm having a traditional vodou menu.

But before I go eat, they've decided to put the chef to work, collecting one of the most important ingredients of the feast.

So I'm so excited.

My friend here is an expert on crab hunting.

Wow, this is really muddy.

His name is Emanuel, and he's a man of the mountain.

You see, all the holes... all of those are crabs.

Bigger holes, bigger crabs, smaller holes, smaller crabs.

So it's kind of easy to know where they are.

What is not easy is the technique to catch them.

They live under the mud, and so they cover them with leaves, a lot of leaves.

So what that does is makes kind of a cover so the oxygen doesn't go in.

In the moment they take the leaves out, the crab wants to come out.

In that moment he goes with the hand and he grabs the crab.

You have to grab them quick before they go back in.

An experienced hunter, Emanuel carefully grabs the back of the crab so he doesn't get pinched.

Oh!

Look at that!

Don't tell me that's not unbelievable!

What an amazing technique to grab a crab.

Ha ha ha ha!

I love this hunting of the crab.

Let's go!

He has more traps.

Let's see if we're lucky in the next one.

Finding food like this is how humanity was feeding itself thousands of years ago, and the tradition remains here in Haiti.

He offered to let me catch one, but I'm not going to put my hand in the black hole.

Would you?

[rooster crows] Do you see that claw?

I am a cook.

I don't like to get bitten by my food.

Man, this crab!

When I see things like this, I see how difficult it is to feed humanity, but at the same time, how a forest can be part of feeding the world.

Only we need to make sure that we take care of them so the forest can take care of the people.

Simple.

Back to the kitchen to see what's being prepared.

Marie, the vodou priestess presiding over our meal... Wow.

...tells me that loa must eat and drink, so vodou ceremonies are often called manje loa, or food for the spirits.

Over here we have the crabs happening.

Over there we have the beans.

Over here the fish.

I'm falling in love every day more and more with Haitian cooking.

If this is the cooking of Haiti, Haiti has an unbelievable future.

The best of Africa, the best of the Caribbean, the best of America all here.

I ask our vodou priestess how the spirits connect to the food.

JOSE: Food and dishes tell histories and stories of the people of any land.

I'm from Spain.

The Caribbean has been part of the history of my country.

I live in America, in Washington.

The Caribbean is so close.

But somehow it's so much we don't know... so much we don't know about the things that they are right in front of our eyes.

There are few people who know Haiti better than my friend and former president Bill Clinton, the United Nations epecial envoy for the country.

BILL CLINTON: Haiti is historically very important.

It was the first and so far the only country in history where people who were slaves overthrew their masters and established a republic.

JOSE: President Clinton made me promise to visit a fortress in the north of Haiti called the Citadel to truly understand the history.

But this poor guy has to help me get there.

[men speaking Haitian Creole] [laughs] [sigh] CLINTON: The Citadel was built almost 200 years ago on a sheer cliff by hand labor, designed by people who not only were not architects; who had never been to school.

But they imagined this.

It remains the most impressive architectural achievement in the entire Caribbean.

JOSE: In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed here from Spain.

Over a hundred years later, the French took control of Haiti and brought tens of thousands of slaves from Africa.

But the slaves revolted and beat Napoleon's army.

Haiti's revolutionary Henri Christophe built this citadel to protect his people's newfound freedom, while crowning himself king of Haiti's north.

I am meeting up with Haitian historian Maurice, who knows more about this place than anyone.

JOSE: The thousands of former slaves mixed some unlikely ingredients to build this huge fortress for Christophe.

JOSE: Wow.

[straining] Oh!

How this came here?

I cannot move it.

[straining] JOSE: What?

MAURICE: Explosive.

They are put--ha ha!

JOSE: Well...OK. JOSE: Tourists of the world, don't touch what you see.

Sorry.

JOSE: Wow!

Even if they attack from here, there's nowhere to come in, 'cause this is just a big, big wall.

To a degree they were protecting freedom.

That's what it feels like.

Uh, you feel very free, very peaceful.

JOSE: Wow.

Ah!

Freedom!

Freedom!

MAURICE: Boom!

JOSE: Freedom!

JOSE: Freedom!

MAURICE: Boom!

JOSE: I like these people already.

MAURICE: Ha ha ha ha!

JOSE: This was like the bakery.

JOSE: When an army is able to feed itself, it's invincible.

Outside the Citadel, at the foot of the mountain, lies Christophe's palace called Sans-Souci.

Before being mostly destroyed by an earthquake in 1842, it was regarded to be the most magnificent structure in the Americas, as impressive as the palace of Versailles in France.

The Haitians became free 60 years before slavery was ended in the United States.

This was their way of showing the world what they could do.

Man, sometimes I wish I could go back in history and be part of... of moments like this, right?

I cannot travel back in time, but I can taste some of the same foods they ate back then.

I'm headed to a nearby bakery in Limonade to make my first cassava bread, using the same recipe they've used for hundreds of years.

The cassava root is also known as manioc and yucca.

If cooked incorrectly, two elements in cassava combine to create cyanide-- not something we want to eat.

So it needs to be carefully prepared.

They peel it, they wash it, and they put it through this mill.

And right here you're gonna have like a paste of grated yucca.

And then from here, it's coming to this machine, to the press.

They take the water out until they only have kind of the grated yucca meat.

It's a very nice texture.

It's almost like fresh dried coconut meat.

And then they're ready to make cassava bread.

Because it's made without liquids, if it's stored carefully, this bread can be kept for over a year.

The heat breaks down the cassava's natural sugars, gluing the bread together.

This is a very delicate process.

Here, the temperature is very important.

If it's too hot, it's going to burn.

If it's too low, it's going to stick.

So controlling the fire is key to having a successful cassava bread.

Now he puts some fire in the edges.

I'm so excited!

They use a small broom to keep the cassava flour even as it cooks.

Rolling the edges keeps the bread from falling apart.

Then you have to flip the bread.

Of course... Hey!

They make it look easy.

[speaking Spanish] [cheering] JOSE: Hey!

Yeah!

I'm not going to lie to you.

It looks easy.

It's not, because it's very delicate.

It's hot.

And, oh, my God, it's like you have to believe.

But they were guiding me so well.

They are such good teachers.

And then, it's very gentle.

And they are really celebrating my success in making my first cassava bread.

So now, we're going to eat not any cassava bread, but we're going to eat one that is sweet and that has grated coconut.

Take a look.

[tapping rhythmically] Hey.

They are making the one with the sugar and with the coconut.

So, you see, this one has the coconut all around, and then the sugar.

OK?

And this is going to be for us.

Freshly made.

Mmm!

So, one of those very big circles of the cassava bread will go roughly between $1.50 to $2 right here at the factory.

Then it goes into the market, and then, well, everyone keeps adding their percentage.

Everyone makes money in the process: the farmer, the producers, the retailers.

Au revoir.

Merci beaucoup.

The cassava is a staple in Haiti, just like coconuts and mangoes.

Haiti has some of the best mangoes in the world, but few people know this.

So we're headed down south to visit some farms with Haitian agronomist Patrick.

Most people think mangoes are the same, but I can tell you there is nothing like a mango from Haiti.

They have a sweet, intense tropical taste with buttery smooth flesh.

And I love the leaf.

It smells like a mango.

PATRICK: Yeah.

JOSE: It's too bad mangoes are not in season right now, so we cannot try them.

But we can try the coconuts... if we can get to them.

PATRICK: You can do it.

JOSE: Ugh.

OK!

That's as far as I go.

I will let the experts handle this.

Coconuts have been harvested this way for generations, and it's amazing how quickly the picker can get them off the tree.

Oh!

Ha!

Hey!

They are heavy!

Oh, look at this!

Fresh from a coconut is a totally different experience than fresh from your grocery store.

Ah, so good!

Before coconuts fully mature, the meat is soft and juicy.

Wow, look at this.

This is like a natural gelatin.

PATRICK: Yeah.

JOSE: Oh.

Oh, my God.

This is extraordinary.

Mmm.

I mean, I hope this thing doesn't run.

PATRICK: No, it's no problem.

JOSE: Yeah, yeah, but I come from the bull-- [mooing] PATRICK: No, no, no, no.

JOSE: My country has bulls, OK?

We are very afraid of these things.

I'm not Superman here.

It may seem surprising that Haiti struggles to feed itself when it has such incredible agriculture.

What a view.

But production and infrastructure remain big problems.

Patrick tells me nearly half of mangoes are lost due to poor handling and bad roads.

Watching how fertile this area is and seeing how well farming is developing here... they need to keep replicating this success.

Still a way to go, but this is awesome.

The hard reality of Haiti is that they need jobs and they need employment and they need things happening.

And the truth is that job creation in a place like Haiti is going to be slow.

But because Haiti has such natural resources...

It's a tropical island.

It's next to the Dominican Republic, one of the tourist powerhouses of the Caribbean.

Every time I tell people about the great meal I had in the streets of Port-au-Prince with a rum sour, they look at me weird, like thinking like people cannot be enjoying themselves or that people cannot have a rum sour or that you cannot tweet about having a great time in Haiti.

I am hoping that this is about to change.

[rooster crows] Very early morning here in Les Cayes.

And I'm coming to see what it seems is a very traditional breakfast, akasan.

My friend Karine told me about this place and said the recipe for akasan has been passed on for hundreds of years, just like the cassava bread.

Bonjour, bonjour.

MAN: Bonjour, bonjour.

JOSE: So it's on water all night to soften the corn, and then they pass it through the mill to make this kind of a paste.

They have to keep it stirring, or if not, the corn is going to stick to the bottom.

So, everywhere around Haiti very much, you are going to see coconut trees, everywhere, full of coconuts.

So, you have to imagine that coconut milk is an important ingredient in akasan.

So it's a tradition that is being lost.

KARINE: Yes.

JOSE: And taking away from this.

KARINE: Yeah.

JOSE: So we need to protect places like this, for the locals and for the tourists.

I grew up drinking something like this, also with corn, also with milk.

Not coconut.

Cow's milk.

And also with cinnamon.

If you're not careful, you're going to miss so many ingredients here.

These people are quick cooks.

Man, they don't want to share their secrets.

As much as I ask, something new shows up.

Already, I see people here in this room, waiting for the akasan.

Again, it's a ritual.

It's, uh, every morning.

So, the sugar goes in.

Haiti has more sugarcane than anybody, and the quality of the sugar is very, very good... with molasses and everything.

The way sugar should be, actually.

OK, the master is tasting.

And he keeps adding salt or sugar or vanilla until he thinks that the akasan is ready to be served.

Bonjour.

Bonjour, monsieur.

KARINE: Some people are going to be coming in, buying it.

Some people are going to sit there, some people are going to come with, like, pots and buy a quantity and go back home and serve it to their kids.

JOSE: Hmm.

This is my first akasan!

Oh, my God, it's hot.

You know when we talk about comfort food?

This is as comforting as corn can be.

So tasty!

All the aromas... the lime flavor, the cinnamon... the coconut, the corn.

Man!

I can drink akasan every day of my life.

JOSE: Very hot!

Yes!

[woman speaking French on radio] JOSE: It's hard to describe akasan, but it's like a warm corn coconut milkshake.

Now, you guys, I need to show you one of my favorite places.

Just a quick boat trip from Les Cayes is a small island with crystal clear water that rivals any Caribbean destination.

We're going to Ile--Vache.

Bonsoir!

MEN: Bonsoir!

JOSE: Guys, I think we have rum sours waiting for us!

Merci.

Oh, ho ho ho!

Ah.

I'm going to have a good time here.

But I need to get some sleep if I want to be able to enjoy the water tomorrow.

So, the story everybody tells you about this island is that Captain Morgan sank his ship somewhere around here.

You know, I'm going snorkeling.

I may be lucky and find a pot of gold.

The pirate captain Henry Morgan used this island as his base of operations for his raids.

Shipwrecks can be found all around the island, and it's rumored that gold may still be hidden beneath the surface.

You know what I'm dreaming now?

To have a tiny bar every day for a sunset, right here.

Ha!

It would be amazing.

I am the king of the world!

Look at the sea stars!

[splash] I may not have found any shipwrecks or gold, but the starfish are everywhere.

When we think about the perfect beach vacation, Ile--Vache should be on everyone's mind.

We are always shown the tragedy in Haiti, but rarely the possibility.

How come this isn't the image of Haiti that we think about?

I feel like I have discovered a secret paradise.

Honestly, I could stay here all day, but I'm getting hungry, and the place to eat fish is back on the mainland, in the coastal city of Jacmel.

With Spanish roots dating back to 1504, Jacmel was booming by the 1800s, when Haiti supplied half of the world's coffee.

You can still see many ornate mansions built by wealthy coffee merchants with cast-iron pillars and balconies shipped here from France.

And the central part of Jacmel has changed little in the past hundred years.

But due to overtaxation and low prices, coffee has given way to professions like fishing.

And many Haitians who live along coastal cities like Jacmel nowadays rely on the sea for income.

The colorful boats are charming, but the beauty belies a tough life.

The fishermen often have no motors and use handmade nets to catch their fish, which are usually sold only in local restaurants and markets.

So we'll buy those.

MAN: Yeah, OK. JOSE: I've been told that Jacmel has one of the best markets in Haiti.

And we are lucky enough to have the best tour guide in town, the famous Madame Jacmel.

JOSE: Everybody knows Mrs. Jacmel here in Jacmel.

Everybody.

I don't know where you've been, but to me, quite frankly, this is one of the most beautiful markets.

What's the name of this?

MADAME JACMEL: Pwa kongo.

JOSE: Green peas, from Congo.

I'm a chef, and I don't know how to open it.

She wants to show it to me.

What?

Let me see.

She's quick.

Man, they have good diversity around here, you know?

Here you see some of the grains that people in Haiti love.

This is like a polenta, you make like a puree.

I can cook with this, I can tell you that.

They eat that with the pwa kongo, the green pea, the small green pea we saw.

Mm-hmm.

JOSE: Haitians, in general, they love spices.

MAN: They love spices.

JOSE: Not spicy food, but spices that flavor their grains, their corn, their rice.

Mmm.

Qu-est-ce que ce'st a?

MADAME JACMEL: Caf.

JOSE: Le caf d'ici?

MADAME JACMEL: Oui.

JOSE: This is Haitian coffee.

Actually, these mountains produce some of the best coffee anywhere in the world.

They are very, very proud, and they sell these tiny, tiny bags, because for many of these people, that's expensive.

They love their fish.

The great way to keep the fish is drying the fish, like every single culture has done also for centuries.

Sometimes the dried fish is tastier than the fresh fish.

That's great.

I love it.

Markets are the best place to really get to know a culture and country.

Un, deux, trois, quatre.

You cannot go to the market without picking up some limes for a rum sour.

As we said goodbye to Madame Jacmel, she pointed us to her favorite place for fish.

Let's go.

Let's go.

After a long day in the market visiting this amazing city of Jacmel, nothing like a passionfruit rum sour.

Wow.

I am sneaking into the kitchen to see how the chefs are preparing the local fish from Jacmel.

JOSE: They are poaching the fish in water with the amazing sea salt of Jacmel.

And now they are going to make a beautiful kind of sauce with all these ingredients, and they're going to top the fish with this.

Wow!

Trs jolie.

And it smells so good!

You don't know how happy I am to be here and seeing them using a kitchen with gas.

You know, it's a big problem cooking with charcoal in Haiti.

Over four million people on the planet die prematurely every year due to smoke from cooking with fire and charcoal.

It's a vicious cycle.

Food is energy.

But to cook the food, they need energy.

The smoke makes families unhealthy, and the children are sent to gather firewood instead of going to school.

And in the process of cutting trees, forests disappear and hillsides erode.

All of this from cooking.

But things are getting better.

Clean cook stoves are now in Haiti, powered by natural gas... and even the sun.

I really believe we can break the cycle of unhealthy cooking, and I love seeing clean cook stoves in local restaurants like this one in Jacmel.

Oh!

Les poissons sont ici.

Ah!

Mmm.

The place to stay in Jacmel is Hotel Florita, built in 1888.

The old mansion retains its historic charm and is filled with beautiful Haitian art.

The market in Jacmel continues even into the night, but the food is replaced by local art.

Jacmel is known worldwide for its papier-mch creations.

But of course, you can still get local Haitian beer.

If they don't have change, I buy more beers.

Maybe I make some friends.

They didn't have change, so I had to buy more.

Hey, amigo!

Hey!

I think with these chickens, I'm going vegetarian.

A young artist, Javier, working hard, making his living...

I love it!

Jacmel's artisans work late into the night, but I'm just thinking about tomorrow morning's Sunday soup.

You have to come early in the morning to get the traditional Sunday soup... Bonjour.

Un petit peu de la soupe?

...which is made of pumpkin.

Wow!

I've been trying to see how they make it from scratch, but I'm always late, and it's already made.

Wow!

Guys, do you see this?

This is unbelievable!

I think this is fascinating because they fill up a bottle with all those hot peppers, like the Scotch bonnet peppers, and then they add some vinegar and some water, and this gets kind of an infusion.

And it's so spicy.

Mmm-hmmm.

You can really smell it!

I see a little bit of celery.

Le chou, this is like cabbage.

Like a macaroni.

Short spaghetti.

And this soup is a lot of pieces of meat and fat of beef that gives all the flavor to the soup.

This is brilliant!

You come to Haiti, you wake up Sunday morning, and you're hungry, and you don't even need to speak Haitian or Creole.

You only have to say, "S'il vous plat, la soupe."

La soupe.

The soup.

Come on, people, this is easy!

Life is very tasty in Haiti.

A short drive into the mountains outside of Jacmel is a special place known to the locals as Bassin Bleu.

I am meeting up with a local artist named Bayard to take us there.

BAYARD: This is something that you absolutely have to see.

If you visit Haiti, you have to visit Bassin Bleu of Jacmel.

JOSE: Incredible waterfalls connect three cobalt blue pools, which get their color from minerals in the rocks.

There is a myth that a vodou spirit named Simbi sits on the rocks by Bassin Bleu, looking gorgeous and combing her hair.

And if she gives you her golden comb, you will be rich forever.

BAYARD: And you can see kids drumming in the water, doing the... [imitating drumming] And Simbi is just... JOSE: I don't have so much hair left, but maybe we can find Simbi.

BAYARD: Please, Simbi, give me your comb!

[Bayard singing] JOSE: I...I love this guy.

[Bayard singing] JOSE: I'll be honest, getting to Bassin Bleu is not easy.

It's a challenging hike through the forest, across streams and over rocks.

Some parts are a little precarious.

But it's totally worth it.

Yeah!

When I'm here, it's like I'm a kid again!

The only thing that can make this better is to enjoy Bassin Bleu with some rum sours.

I'm thirsty now.

Mmmm.

Let's make a rum sour.

BAYARD: Rum sour.

Ooh, let's go for it!

JOSE: Help me out.

Squeeze me all the limes as much as you can, in there.

Some of them have more juice than others, yeah.

BAYARD: Good perfume.

Zest.

JOSE: Hand me the sugar over there.

BAYARD: This is going to be like local sugar, sugar from sugarcane.

JOSE: Oh, yeah.

A-ha.

BAYARD: Ooh la la!

Rhum Barbancourt.

JOSE: Oh.

OK. No more!

Stop it!

Mm-hmm.

Ice in there.

We put a little bit of this, too?

BAYARD: Ah, yeah, the pamplemousse.

JOSE: Look at this.

Oh, my God!

OK, you want a little bit more?

Put a little bit more.

Don't be shy.

Pamplemousse, or grapefruit, adds its signature acidity to the drink.

And now, you're going to shake it.

[Bayard singing] OK!

I think it's finished!

Good job!

Wow, cold!

I think it's ready.

BAYARD: I can't wait to taste this.

Merci... JOSE: Merci beaucoup.

Thank you very much!

BAYARD: A l'amiti.

JOSE: A l'amiti.

And thank you for bringing me to this astonishing place.

BAYARD: Pleasure.

Thank you for being here with Simbi, in Jacmel.

Salud.

Mmm.

JOSE: Oh, my God.

Oh, man.

BAYARD: This is magical.

JOSE: OK, I'm hungry.

Avocado!

BAYARD: Yes.

Zaboka.

JOSE: This is one of my favorite avocados in the whole world.

So big!

I mean, look at them.

BAYARD: Mmm, ooh, la la la.

Ah, yeah.

Mmm.

JOSE: This is almost like butter!

Oh, yeah.

Perfect!

So, grab me some of the leaves of the parsley and some of the leaves of the watercress.

Let's go.

And me, I'm going to get the amazing grapefruit.

And then, in a very simple motion, we take the flesh of the grapefruit.

Take a look.

Take a look.

BAYARD: Yes.

JOSE: Avocat... BAYARD: Chadek.

JOSE: Avocado Chadek, the grapefruit.

And le tomate, the tomato.

So now let's finish.

BAYARD: Ooh la la.

JOSE: It's amazing what you can do with such simple, fresh ingredients.

Even the rum comes from local sugarcane.

Sugarcane was brought to Haiti by Columbus, and it became the country's most important resource.

And for a while, Haiti exported more sugar than anyone else in the world.

But today, farming is done on a much smaller scale, and much of Haiti's sugar ends up here, at the Rhum Barbancourt factory.

Actually, it's a very funny smell in the air.

It's like, I don't know, like smelling cotton candy.

The sugarcane is brought from the farms to the factory, where it's ground and pressed to get the juice.

Some of the leftover sugarcane stalk is burned to create energy that runs the distillery, and the rest goes back to the fields as fertilizer.

Dun dun da da dun dun... Time to see how the rum is made.

Dun dun da dun dun MAN: So, all of these are the distillation columns.

This is where the juice is taken and is processed to become pure alcohol.

This is where we make, not the rum, but the alcohol that's going to make the rum.

JOSE: This fermentation lasts for three days.

See these bubbles?

And after distilling, they end up with minimum 90% pure alcohol.

Of course, I had to taste it.

The alcohol from the sugarcane is stored in temperature-controlled French oak barrels for years.

Wow.

What gives the brown color to the rum?

The caramel?

MAN: This is a mix between the wood and the alcohol after years.

JOSE: What makes this rum so unique is the recipe, which hasn't changed since 1862.

Most rums come from the molasses byproduct of sugar, but this is made from the pure sugarcane juice.

MAN: This one is for exporting... JOSE: How much do you export?

MAN: 40%.

JOSE: 40%?

MAN: And 60% in the country.

JOSE: That's great.

That tells you that really locals, Haitians, love this rum.

Imagine the potential they have of exporting.

MAN: We can make 25,000 bottles in one day.

JOSE: 25,000 bottles in one day.

Barbancourt's Aurelie invited me to taste a special rum they made for their 150-year anniversary.

This is an important year for you because you-- AURELIE: We're celebrating this year, 150 years.

We're the oldest company in Haiti, and we can brag about it.

JOSE: Everywhere I go... AURELIE: They talk about Barbancourt.

JOSE: They are so proud of Barbancourt.

And you know what?

You don't see very often, that in this case a drink, uh, brings so much pride to people.

It's more than a rum; it's pride.

AURELIE: It's a statement, also.

JOSE: It's like, to me it's like the blood of Haiti.

AURELIE: After the earthquake, we lost about 50% of our production.

And we were making a special rum to celebrate the 150 anniversary.

So we took all that we had left and we mixed everything, and then that's the result.

JOSE: It's very smooth.

Your entire production is beautiful.

Another big opportunity for economic development is Haiti's cocoa.

The country has naturally growing super-trees called Maman Pye, which produce 20 times more cocoa than normal trees.

We are exploring an old plantation in the north of Haiti to look for one of these super-trees.

Beautiful, what trees they have here.

Banana trees, cocoa trees, breadfruit trees.

Wow!

This is the pure tropics.

MAN: Yeah.

JOSE: Is this one ripe?

MAN: No.

JOSE: It's small.

Wow.

Here you see a cocoa that is green.

And at this point, even this part, when it's very ripe, it's very tasty, and people don't know this.

It has a very fruity, sweeter smell.

Now the cocoa is very tender.

It's almost like, like a very fresh bean.

Actually you could be cooking with this at this point, very much like it was a green pea.

Mmm.

What happened?

You need the cocoa really to be really ripe to make chocolate in the way we understand chocolate-- toasting it, drying it, toasting it.

[speaking French] MAN: He says that he never tried it before, but he didn't really know if it was so good.

[laughing] JOSE: These leaves smell so amazing.

Those are orange and what they call chadek, the grapefruit trees.

And the leaves are astonishing.

I mean, if you smash them with your fingers... Oh!

It's like an amazing flavor and aroma to oranges.

Wow!

Man!

Hey, I smell good now.

Ha ha ha!

I love the breadfruit.

MAN: This is, this is the djon djon.

This is a little piece of djon djon.

JOSE: Look it, look it, look it.

Djon djon!

We found them!

[laughing] The djon djon is an almost mythical mushroom in Haiti.

It grows in the wild, and for me, finding one is like treasure.

Djon djon is often served with fish, chicken, or beef, and you can recognize it by its deep black color.

This may be the biggest discovery in the history of my life!

And you see, they grow in the rotten wood of this tropical forest.

And this is very much why here, in the north end of Haiti, djon djon is like the delicacy.

Take a look at this!

Take a look at this!

It's funny because here, look at how white it is.

And the moment you pick them up, they become very brown and dark.

That gives such a distinctive flavor and color to the sauce.

We found more!

Come!

Take a look!

Come!

Djon djon here, djon djon there... Djon djon djon I'm surrounded by djon djon!

Djon djon.

[laughter] Oh, djon djon.

We came for cocoa, and we're leaving with djon djon.

This is the amazing thing in Haiti.

You come for something, you may leave with something completely different.

And that's always good.

Wait!

Man, I'm going to get lost here.

I'm going to take you to one of my favorite places to eat djon djon.

We've been all over Haiti, but now we're finally in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Poulet djon djon.

Oh, ho ho.

Look at this!

Merci, monsieur.

If you could only smell the aroma coming from the sauce.

Really, the djon djon has a very, very unique smell.

Take a look at the color of the sauce.

It's so dark, so black.

This is what they love the most, the deep dark color and the amazing smell.

I cannot tell you anything.

It's so delicious!

Mmm!

Most people get around Port-au-Prince using shared taxis called tap taps, named after the sound people make when they want to get off.

They are everywhere in the city.

You will know what the owners of these buses love by taking a look at all the paintings and phrases that they have around the tap taps.

You can go anywhere around Port-au-Prince with the tap tap.

JOSE: My new tap tap friend Carlos wants to take me to his favorite restaurant.

While there are plenty of fancy places to go in Port-au-Prince, the best way to learn about the realities in Haiti is to go where the locals go.

On every table in Haiti is pikliz, a super spicy topping.

Like ketchup in the U.S., pikliz is used everywhere here.

It's made from cabbage and chiles in vinegar to create like a relish.

I love eating at new places... especially with new friends like Carlos.

They say you cannot know the real Haiti unless you experience the nightlife.

My friend and fellow chef Mario Batali is in town, so I'm taking him to one of my favorite restaurants, Quartier Latin.

MARIO BATALI: We're in Haiti.

Bravo!

JOSE: Mario, I'm so happy you came to Haiti.

MARIO: Obviously I was in your hands, which is always a comfortable place to be.

I must admit, all of the things that I read before I got here warned me about the dangers here, and I was overcome with joy at the magnificent experience that this town could be.

Now I'm thinking about hanging out here a little bit more.

JOSE: If you can keep up, the nights in Port-au-Prince never end.

The classic Oloffson Hotel is known for its weekly concerts by vodou-infused group RAM.

Just like its food, Haiti's music is a direct link to its culture and history.

It blends together the country's African roots, its vodou spirit, and Caribbean energy.

As a chef, I make my living feeding the few, but my dream is to help feed the many.

That's what brought me to Haiti.

And along the way, I realized this country has so much to offer us, so much untapped potential in a place that is ripe for adventure.

Throughout this journey, I've met Haitians in every corner, in every city, in every village.

They know what to do.

They have a plan and are on the edge of transforming this country.

We only need to give them a little push.

Hey!

I truly believe that what Haiti needs to thrive is for us to show up, for us to visit the beaches and the waterfalls, to taste the food and dance to the music.

Mmm!

To explore the bustling cities and significant history, to drink the rum sours.

This is the real story of Haiti, a story that needs to be experienced and shared.

So, what are you waiting for?

MAURICE: We have a lot of things to show to the rest of the world.

So, please, anybody who would decide to come down here, come here and we are waiting to welcome you to Haiti.

CLINTON: You can see the spirit of the people, the beauty of the place.

If people would just give it a chance, they would fall in love with it the way you and I have.

MAN: Paradise is not far from here.

You know, paradise is close to here.

The rubble is rebirth as long as you do something with it, you know?

JOSE: That's a big dream.

MAN: Well, yeah.

I dream big.

ANNOUNCER: Undiscovered Haiti with Jos Andrs about this program, visit pbs.org.

[engine revving] Undiscovered Haiti with Jos Andrs is available on DVD.

To order, visit shopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

Also available for download from iTunes.