As late as the 1990s, food in Haiti probably was the best in the Caribbean, and it certainly was regarded as such. There were fancy French-Caribbean fusion restaurants in Petitionville with amazing seafood, and there was high quality street and diner-level food in Port-au-Prince. Lambi (conch) was consistently the best I ever have had, and the dish with rice cooked in the juice of those special mushrooms was outstanding — Djon Djon they call it. A simple breakfast with eggs and “combi hash” could be memorable. Griot (with sour oranges) was another option, and once I had the best (small) turkey I ate in my life, “dinde,” as it was called from the French. The food was indeed a reason to visit Haiti, at least if you had outside dollars to spend.
As for poorer Haitians, and there are many of them, eating dirt cookies [bonbon tè], mixed with a bit of fat and salt, is indeed a thing.
Haitian food in the United States can be decent, but it is far inferior. The conch is never truly fresh. The servings are far too carbohydrate heavy, with lots of plantains and rice. The stews can be decent, but there isn’t much variety of flavors. It is worth eating such Haitian food once or twice a year, partly for nostalgia value, but it is not really something I crave. I can recommend the sociology you observe in those restaurants, including their reactions to you.
Maybe Brooklyn is best for Haitian food in this country? Some of the North Miami venues are skimpy on the infrastructure side, and not that many Haitians seem to live in Los Angeles. Maryland has a few decent places, and a few times I had tasty Haitian snacks served at late night Haitian concerts there. Possibly in Florida, but not in Little Haiti, would be another option, as I’ve had good Haitian food in both Tampa and Orlando.
Addendum: The Chris Rufo bounty (supply is elastic!) did yield a video of some Africans barbecuing a cat, or is it rather a chicken?, but so far nothing of the Haitians.
