The Book Eaters, by Sunyi Dean

The Book Eaters, by Sunyi Dean (Tor, 298 pages)

Does the world really need another story about mythical un-human creatures who hide in plain sight among us and need to destroy human beings in order to eat?

Why, yes, as it turns out, we do.

Despite its vague resemblance to Twilight, The Walking Dead and others in popular humans-as-foodstuff genre, Sunyi Dean has penned a marvelous, mind-bending novel about a class of creatures deposited on Earth as a science experiment of sorts. The majority of them don’t eat people, but instead eat books. Yes, that sounds ridiculous and would be garbage in the wrong hands, but Dean — an autistic American-born writer of fantasy novels who now lives in the U.K. — brings a sly wit to the enterprise and has produced a sophisticated fantasy world that will doubtless beget movies and sequels.

The story revolves around Devon, a young mother who is part of six family lines that hide among humans on Earth, their purpose being to absorb human knowledge through eating books and, for some of them, through consumption of human brains. You can’t tell them apart by looking at them; they all look like humans, but book eaters grow “bookteeth” at about age 3, and mind eaters have a mosquito-like proboscis and a serpent-like tongue.

Devon is a book eater. Her 5-year-old son, Cai, is not. And Devon has the choice of watching him starve to death, or bringing home some hapless human whose brain is suitable for consumption about once a month.

This is not a good way of living for either Devon or her son, so she is intent on finding a class of book eaters who possess an elixir called Redemption that can turn brain eaters into book eaters. (It’s not just a question of will, as it was for the Cullens in Twilight.) But there is more to her story than that.

Despite being fed a carefully planned diet of fairy tales as a child, designed to suppress her imagination and keep her from questioning the Family Rules, Devon grew up with a rebellious streak and would sometimes sneak a book she wasn’t supposed to consume. She would even do something that was forbidden — read the book. (Book eaters cannot write, and they are only supposed to consume books, not read them.)

Devon had a happy childhood, however, despite never knowing her mother. Among book eaters, women are precious and rare because of a genetic flaw that causes ovarian failure in their late 20s. Their marriages are both arranged and “enforced” — because of the dangers of inbreeding, the patriarchs of the families must place brides like chess pieces, and so at age 19, Devon had been sent to another family for the requisite term of three years to be a wife and bear a child, after which she is to return to her family of origin.

Book eaters, who drink “inktea” and large amounts of alcohol, are big on ceremony, and the lavish weddings give Dean’s fertile imagination room to run wild: The bountiful spread of food includes a “salad” — “shredded pages of Midsummer Night’s Dream that were dyed different shades of green” along with edible origami made of pages torn from books and made into the shape of swans, and a wedding “cake” in the shape of the biblical Tree of Knowledge, “printed pages carefully shaped into origami apples.” When Devon tastes wine for the first time, she reflects that it tastes a little bit like “a well-crafted romance novel. Complex, sweet, and a little stinging.”

The wedding cake is a metaphor for what is to come: Devon’s knowledge expands first with the consummation of her marriage and then with the birth of her first child. With that birth comes the first of several surprises that alter our perception of what is happening. The shrewd plotting switches constantly from present-day to the past but is easy to follow and reveals Devon’s back story and motivation in slow motion.

Another smart literary device is in the telling of the book eaters’ history in snippets of quotes from a book called Paper and Flesh: A Secret History, written by an unfortunate reporter who tried to infiltrate Devon’s family and paid a price for his interest.

To preserve their secrets, the families must keep distant from humans, whom they largely disdain. But Devon must navigate the human world — and learn the secrets of the other five book eater families — in order to get Redemption for her son, who, as he grows older, will need to eat not just once a month, but once a week.

Like baklava, The Book Eaters has complexity in its many layers: as a jacket blurb says, “Truth is found between the stories we’re fed and the stories we hunger for,” and readers can chew for days on the points the author is trying to make. But at the center of her sharp criticism of patriarchy and the cage of tradition and extended family, is a rollicking good story. Twilight had one, too, but the series was poorly written. The Book Eaters, in contrast,is sophisticated, thought-provoking and as immersive as a quality video game, whether or not you’re a fan of the fantasy genre.

And readers will become conversant with a wonderful, rarely used word: bibliosmia, which means the enjoyment derived from sniffing a good book. A+

Book Events

Author events

• DAMIEN KANE RIGDEN will be at the Toadstool in Nashua on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m. for his novella All Manor of Beast and Man.

• SUSIE SPIKOL, a naturalist at the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, will come to Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St. in Concord; gibsonsbookstore.com, 224-0562) to “teach your kiddos how to find critters in their neighborhood” on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m. with her book The Animal Adventurer’s Guide: How to Prowl for an Owl, Make Snail Slime, and Catch a Frog Bare-Handed, according to a press release. The book, which is slated for release Sept. 13, features “50 hands-on activities and adventures that bring you closer to wild animals than you’ve ever been,” the release said. Spikol will also bring supplies to do one of the crafts from the book.

• BETSY THOMASON will discuss her book Just Breathe Out: Using Your Breath to Create a New, Healthier You at the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough (12 Depot Square; toadbooks.com, 924-3543) on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m.

• HUMA ABEDIN The Historic Music Hall Theater (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, 436-2400, themusichall.org) will host Huma Abedin, longtime political advisor and aide for Hillary Clinton, to discuss her bookBoth/Andat the Music Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m.Tickets are $15 and include a book voucher.

• DONALD YACOVONE will discuss his new book Teaching White Supremacy: America’s Democratic Ordeal and the Forging of Our National Identity on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com).

History & lectures

• FRAN LEBOWITZ Author, humorist and social commentator Fran Lebowitz will appear at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord) on Friday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $45 to $65, plus fees.

Poetry

• KATHARINE GREGG & HOWARD FAERSTEIN will read from their collections of poetry (Mere Thread by Gregg and Googootz and Other Poems and Dreaming of the Rain in Brooklyn from Faerstein) at the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough (12 Depot Square; toadbooks.com, 924-3543) on Saturday, Sept. 24, at noon.

• MARTHA COLLINS and L.R. BERGER hosted by the Poetry Society of NH at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com) on Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

Album Reviews 22/09/22

Franklin Gothic, Into The Light (Very Jazzed & Pleasure Tapes)

Nothing I hate more than committing to writing up a new release and there’s literally nothing about them to be found through a basic Google search. After 10 minutes of backbreaking effort, all I really know about this one is that the principal — Jay DiBartolo of Portland, Oregon — has taken the name of a computer font as his stage name, and that he’s a really interesting songwriter. His stuff is out there but eminently accessible, in the eclectically hip manner of guys like Luke Temple and Winston Giles (I know, you’ve never heard of them, just trust me on this) but with a more mellow bent. DiBartolo stated that this 12-song EP’s mission was to mold something that was so genre-mixed as to be original, and I’d say he’s in the ballpark; opening tune “Beneath” is like a cross between Byrds and Zero 7, and that’s just for starters. Love this kind of stuff. A

Whitney, Spark (Secretly Canadian Tapes)

Fourth full-length from this Chicago band, although they’d describe it more as a debut of sorts, a departure from their first three. Vibe-wise that claim does pass the smell test; they were eminently more hip-hop/aughts-indie infused in their last LP Candid, which was often like a cross between Jamie Lidell, MGMT and Grizzly Bear. But their new thing is applying their samples and (spoiler alert) falsetto voices to things that speak more to an afterparty thing. That ties in with the environs in which these tunes were slapped together: (very) late-night recording sessions in a rented Portland, Oregon, bungalow, which appears to have dredged up a certain melancholy resident with all humans; what I’m saying is that there’s a bizarre but very tuneful trace element of Elton John’s Captain Fantastic to be heard if you pay close attention, a subdued, desperate, lonely-but-dealing-with it angle on tap here. The overall sound is a bit contrived, sure, but this is no Jr Jr wannabe, not at all. A+

Playlist

• As is tradition, Friday, Sept. 23, is the next date for CD releases, and guess what, gang, this week I get to riff on that TV show Stranger Things, because the first album on the docket is Maya Hawke’s second album, MOSS! Hawke is, of course, the daughter of actress Uma Thurman and actor Ethan Hawke, so we know that her path to stardom was a tough row to hoe, probably involving waiting tables at IHOP for six shifts straight, you people just don’t know what it’s like! On the show, she plays the chick who dresses up like Popeye the Sailor for whatever kinky reason. I’m trying to remember anything she did in the show other than annoy her coworker, she’s that great of an actress, but then again, to me, that show is just a big fat fricassee of random 1980s cultural tropes with an unfollowable storyline about — you know, I don’t honestly know what it’s about, even though I’ve seen the whole series twice already. Whatever, it’s about ecto-monsters from another dimension or some idiotic thing, and the biggest headline that it ever inspired was “Wow Look It’s That Kate Bush Song On A TV Show,” which just made me and all the other incorrigible grumps say, “Who cares.” Will the 80s craze ever fizzle out? and yes, it’s news to me that she did an album before this, but yes, she did, in 2020, an LP called Blush, a set of country and folk songs that received a 6.8 rating from our friends at Pitchfork. I haven’t the motivation to go listen to any of that, but as far as the MOSS album, there’s a single, “Sweet Tooth,” a half-there twee-quirk-pop trifle that’s pretty and catchy enough if not very tuneful or adventurous, but seriously, gang, you have to hand it to this hilariously privileged wombat-pop wannabe for hanging tough in the face of all her obstacles. Warms my heart.

• And moving on, let’s see, blah blah blah, etc., here’s a band called The Comet Is Coming, with an album titled Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam. I’ll assume since I’m completely unfamiliar that this is going to be a Flaming Lips trip or a Kaiser Chiefs clone, and either way I’ll hate every note their instruments and voices produce, let’s go see what this nonsense does to my sensitive stomach. Nope, they’re a nu-jazz band from London, England, and, just like every other techie-ish band, they have pseudonyms like “King Shabaka” and “Danalogue” because their real names — “Dan,” “Max” and something else — won’t get people to buy their albums, and — oh, let’s just get it over with; the teaser track is “Code” (see how techie they are, folks?), a stompy, big-beat thing with a lot of skronky saxophone. It’d make great background music for a YouTube of someone getting chased around by a moose in real life, Benny Hill-style, let’s keep moving.

• Makaya McCraven is a jazz drummer from France, and the big news here is that I almost never see actual jazz albums in my corporate “You need to talk about this” list. This dude’s new album, In These Times, includes a number called “Dream Another,” an unbelievably boring, mid-tempo song that makes me think of Ben Kweller but with no singing. The video uses an animation technique in which images are composed and laser etched on stone and played through a zoopraxiscope, not that anyone will know what that means other than that it looks kind of dumb.

• We’ll end the week with Oakland-based singer The Soft Moon and his sixth LP, Exister, whose tire-kicker single “Become The Lies” is like 1980s Duran Duran but with some Depeche Mode goth going on. It’s OK.

If you’re in a local band, now’s a great time to let me know about your EP, your single, whatever’s on your mind. Let me know how you’re holding yourself together without being able to play shows or jam with your homies. Send a recipe for keema matar. Message me on Twitter (@esaeger) or Facebook (eric.saeger.9).

The many faces of chardonnay

This ubiquitous grape can be a product of its upbringing

Chardonnay may have reached its peak in the 1980s as a “wine of choice,” where a number of labels were sold as bladder boxes, housed in the household refrigerator, ready to be savored after a long day of trials and tribulations. However, this grape should not be slighted. It is, after all, one of the most widely planted of grape varieties. With over 500,000 acres planted, virtually worldwide, it may be considered the entrée to grape-growing and the production of wine.

Its recognized origins lie in Burgundy, France, but the grape’s true origins are a bit clouded. Tales trace it to the Crusaders bringing the grape to Europe from indigenous vines in Cyprus. Modern DNA research suggests chardonnay is the result of crossing two indigenous varieties, pinot noir and gouais blanc, a Roman grape, first found in Croatia. Whatever the true source of the grape, it has been grown and cross-bred so that as of 2006, 34 clonal varieties of chardonnay could be found in vineyards throughout France. The Dijon clones are bred for their adaptability, and the New World varieties, such as Mendoza, produced some of the early California chardonnays.

Why is there this interest in chardonnay? There are some, including my wife, who are true believers in “ABC” (Anything But Chardonnay). However, these same “non-imbibers” will drink heartily of white Burgundy or Champagne! This is simply because many consider chardonnay to be a neutral grape, a chameleon that fully expresses its terroir, the climate and soils of where it is grown. Chardonnay has an affinity to three soil types: chalk, clay and limestone, all prevalent in Champagne and Burgundy. California, with its volcanic soils and climate warmer than France, produces a wine with tropical and citric notes. The story of chardonnay is long and complex in each of the regions wherein the grape is grown and the wine is produced.

Our first wine, a 2021 Josh Cellars Chardonnay (originally priced at $16.99, and on sale at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets until Sept. 25 for $11.45), is a Lake County California chardonnay. The color is light straw. To the nose there are notes of citrus and honey. These carry through to the tongue, with hints of peaches and the slightest touch of leather given by some exposure to oak. The flavor lingers on the palate with a fresh and clean finish. You could describe this as a classic California buttery chardonnay. This is an excellent value and would pair well with mild soft cheeses or rotisserie chicken.

Our second wine, a 2021 Maison Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay (originally priced at $15.99, and on sale at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets until Sept. 25 for $12.95). is a classic Cote d’Or White Burgundy wine. With grapes harvested from the Maconnais region of Burgundy, Louis Jadot produces some of the most prestigious Premier and Grand Cru wines. With its light straw color and floral notes to the nose, coupled with apple and citrus, this is a decidedly different chardonnay from the Josh Cellars. To the tongue, the taste is full of lemon curd or tangerine, but these flavors are coupled with the minerality of the chalk and limestone soils of Burgundy. This wine is 100 percent unoaked chardonnay to maximize the complex and vibrant nose and flavors it offers up. It can be sipped as an aperitif or paired to shellfish or goat cheese.

Our third wine, Pommery Brut Royal Champagne (originally priced at $46.99, and on sale at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets until Sept. 25 for $39.99), is a blanc de blanc Champagne. That is, it is made of 100 percent chardonnay grapes sourced from 40 selected villages in the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims areas of the Champagne region. The color is pale yellow with faint green highlights. To the nose, it is lively with that touch of brioche dough so closely linked to the yeast of the double fermentation. To the tongue the taste is rich and rounded, smooth and not dry with touches of apples. This is a wine for toasting, to be shared to acknowledge a special event.

Three examples of chardonnay that are so different from each other, and all to be enjoyed for their very different qualities. Give them a try!

Featured photo. Courtesy photo.

Baked cauliflower tots

I am all for making healthier versions of snacks, if they are still delicious. A great example is these cauliflower tots. They definitely deliver on crunch and flavor, while still being a fairly healthy snack.

This recipe has a lot of important notes, so let’s get right to them. I make these with raw cauliflower. You can use riced cauliflower, but the amount needed will be less. I’m guessing it will be closer to two cups when riced, but you should be able to tell by the consistency of the mixture. Also, although you need only two tablespoons of panko, it really is a better choice than plain bread crumbs for the crunch factor.

For the directions in this recipe, there also are notes. I suggested waiting 10 minutes before removing the moisture from the cauliflower. That’s based on its cooling. If the cauliflower is still hot, wait a bit longer to avoid getting burned. Next, when baking these tots, you want to see a deep golden brown exterior. That will provide the crunch that you’re seeking.

You can’t pass these off as actual Tater Tots, but they definitely make a delicious variation on the original.

Baked cauliflower tots
Makes 24

3 cups cauliflower florets
2 egg whites
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons panko
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place cauliflower florets in a food processor, and purée until the consistency of bread crumbs.
Place the ground cauliflower in a microwave-safe bowl, cover, and heat for 2 minutes on high.
Stir, re-cover, and return to the microwave for another 2 minutes.
Uncover and allow to sit for 10 minutes, then transfer to a double layer of paper towels.
Gently squeeze the paper towels to remove excess liquid.
Return cauliflower to the bowl.
Add egg whites, flour, panko, cheddar and garlic powder, and mix well.
Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop 1 tablespoon of the mixture, and form into an oval tot shape; place on the prepared pan.
When all tots are formed, place tray in oven and bake for 12 minutes.
Flip tots, and bake for another 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown on both sides.
Serve immediately with ketchup or preferred dipping sauce.

Featured Photo: Baked cauliflower tots. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.

In the kitchen with Jenn Spelas

Jenn Spelas and her husband, Troy Waterman, regularly appear across the Granite State with two food trailers — Monster’s Tacos (find them on Facebook @monsterstacos) specializes in made-to-order street tacos, while Let’s Get Loaded (find them on Facebook @letsgetloadedfries) features a menu of french fries and hot dogs loaded with all kinds of ingredients, as well as fried dough. The pair took over ownership of the two trailers back in April, and since then have held pop-ups in several local spots. Find them next at the Contoocook Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural fall festival on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Elm Brook Park in Hopkinton, where Spelas and Waterman will be with both food trailers. Then on Thursday, Oct. 6, Monster’s Tacos will hold a pop-up at Lithermans Limited Brewery (126B Hall St., Concord). Both trailers are also available to hire for private catering. This winter, Spelas said she and Waterman plan to change the Monster’s Tacos and Let’s Get Loaded trailer names to Truck Off Tacos and Fork Up Ahead, respectively.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A good knife is really important … but there’s also nothing more frustrating than a can opener that won’t open the can. So a good can opener. And I also have to have my personal favorite spatula.

What would you have for your last meal?

It would have to be steak and potatoes.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

The Flying Goose [Brew Pub & Grille in New London]. That is my favorite date-night place to go. … They do a really solid fish, and they have a really good spinach dip. And I love their daily seasonal soups.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from one of your trailers?

I would like to see Matthew McConaughey.

What is your favorite thing on your menu from each trailer?

On the taco truck, I love the carnitas pork, and then I add black beans. … Then for Let’s Get Loaded, I can make my own fried dough every day of the week if I want to, which is pretty awesome. But I also definitely dig the pulled pork sundae. You cannot go wrong.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

I think non-alcoholic beverages are becoming a thing. … The other thing we’ve gotten a lot of calls for are vegan and vegetarian options.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

We’ve started doing some of those meal subscription boxes, and those have been a really big hit. It’s been really fun to try out different things that we wouldn’t normally do … and the kids have really gotten into helping us out with those. … We made pork flautas, and those were super yummy.

Homemade lime crema
From the kitchen of Jenn Spelas and Troy Waterman of the Monster’s Tacos and Let’s Get Loaded food trailers

8 ounces sour cream
1 lime
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
Salt and pepper to taste

Zest the lime and set aside (you may not need all of the zest). Squeeze the lime juice into a small bowl. Add the sour cream and the garlic. Add in your desired amount of lime zest, then add the salt and pepper to taste. (Optional: If using the crema as a drizzle, add small amounts of milk or cold water until you’ve reached the desired consistency).

Featured photo: Jenn Spelas with her husband, Troy Waterman.

Together at the table

Ansanm to open new restaurant space in Milford

After a year and a half of hosting successful monthly pop-up dinners, the Viaud family is gearing up to open a brick-and-mortar spot in Milford, where you’ll soon be able to get their authentic Haitian meals on a regular basis for the first time, along with some new spins on classic flavors.

Ansanm, which gets its name from the word meaning “together” in Haitian Creole, is due to open on Thursday, Sept. 29, in the former Wicked Pissah Chowdah storefront, just a stone’s throw away from the Milford Oval. It’s the latest phase of a venture that started back on New Year’s Day 2021, when Greenleaf owner and chef Chris Viaud and his mother, Myrlene, ran a menu special of soup joumou, a traditional Haitian squash soup widely referred to as “freedom soup.” The response was so positive that it inspired Viaud, a James Beard Award nominee and a featured contestant on Season 18 of Bravo’s Top Chef, to turn it into a dinner series, bringing his entire family together to share their Haitian heritage with authentic dishes presented at Greenleaf each month.

Myrlene — who is originally from the Port-au-Prince suburb of Pétion-Ville and whom Viaud endearingly refers to as “Chef Mom” — has been the primary head chef of the series, while his dad, Yves; siblings Phil, Kassie and Katie; wife, Emilee, and sister-in-law Sarah have all also taken part. Most of the dinners have been at Greenleaf, although Ansanm has participated in a number of other local events since its inception, most recently at the Concord Multicultural Festival.

Expanding Ansanm into a full-service restaurant first entered the conversation a few months ago, when Myrlene Viaud came across a video online featuring a Haitian food truck in New York.

“I sent the video to Chris and I said, ‘Oh, wouldn’t that be cool!’ We can go to different places, park our truck and sell our food,” she said. “So he was like, ‘Sure, yeah, let me look into it.’ So he started looking around online for a food truck and then this building popped up on his feed.”

Coincidentally, the available space not only ended up being within walking distance of Greenleaf, but it was already outfitted as a restaurant. Wicked Pissah Chowdah, as it turned out, had been operating out of the storefront seasonally and was temporarily closed for the summer — it became vacant once the owners moved across the Oval to rebrand as Bouillon Bistro.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but once I came in here, I was like, ‘Oh, this is really neat,’” Myrlene Viaud said. “It’s already all set up. We don’t have to do much work. … It’s not a huge space, but it’s good enough, and then kitchen-wise I was like, ‘OK, we can do this.’”

Upon walking into the restaurant, you’ll likely immediately notice a transformation, with bright and vibrant colors, hanging artwork and thatch roofing. Myrlene Viaud’s younger sister even brought back all kinds of items she purchased in some Haitian markets that are displayed inside.

Ansanm’s menu will continue to include items that have been main staples at the pop-ups — the griot, or a marinated twice-cooked pork, and the poule nan sós, or braised chicken in Creole sauce, to name a couple — as well as all kinds of authentic dishes totally new to the space.

“I was always telling Chris that there is so much more that we can offer,” Myrlene Viaud said. “[With] the once-a-month thing we were doing, we were limited to two proteins and then the rice and the plantains. So it’s kind of exciting in a way to start opening it up to more and showing off more of the Haitian food that we actually eat on a daily basis, not just the chicken and the griot.”

She has plans to expand into offering Haitian oxtail, stewed goat and stewed fish in a Creole sauce, for instance, in addition to all kinds of options that appeal to vegans and vegetarians, from legume, a stewed vegetable dish made with eggplant, squash, watercress, carrots and spinach, to espagheti (Haitian spaghetti) and macaroni au gratin (Haitian baked macaroni and cheese).

For drinks, there will be some traditional Haitian juices and sodas, including bottles of Cola Couronne, a tropical fruit soda known as the oldest manufactured soft drink from Haiti.

Akasan, which Myrlene Viaud described as a milkshake that’s made from cornmeal flour and served either warm or cold, is also a drink she’s excited to offer. Soon, she said, she’d like to also begin serving menu specials of Haitian fritay, or an assortment of various fried foods.

“Basically what it is is a platter of fried everything. It could be the griot, it could be a fried turkey or beef, but your proteins and everything else on that platter is always fried,” she said.

One facet of Haitian cooking she said is universal is the epis, or a blend of herbs and spices that’s used as a seasoning base for almost everything. Epis is made with scallions, onions, parsley, garlic, peppers, thyme and cloves. Additionally, one of the more hot-ticket items during Ansanm’s pop-ups was pikliz, a spicy pickled vegetable slaw consisting of cabbage, carrots, onion and peppers — just like before, jars of fresh pikliz will be available for purchase.

Ansanm will also feature some of its own sandwich creations that uniquely embrace Haitian ingredients and techniques. The “V.O. Griot,” for example, will feature pork shoulder that’s marinated in epis before it’s roasted, sliced and served on a house adobo-seasoned brioche bun with smoked ham, cheese, spicy pickled cucumber and a pikliz aioli.

“A lot of the sandwich inspiration is going to be just based on the same ingredients … or cooking processes that we use for the meats, but applied to sandwich form,” Chris Viaud said.

As for dessert, you can expect Myrlene Viaud’s famous scratch-made pineapple upside down cake, another favorite from Ansanm’s pop-ups. Tablet, commonly referred to as brittle but described by Chris Viaud as being more like a praline-style treat, will also be available — that, he said, is typically made with either peanuts, cashews or shredded coconut.

To start, Ansanm will be open Thursday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, and while there is available seating inside, Myrlene Viaud said she expects most of the service to be takeout. Limited hours on Sunday mornings will also likely be coming soon.

Even though she never thought she’d open her own restaurant, Myrlene Viaud said she’s humbled by the interest and support that Ansanm has received.

“The evolution has been something special … and it’s been very exciting to offer and to see the interest that people have and the willingness to try the food,” she said.

Ansanm
Opening Thursday, Sept. 29, at 11 a.m.
Where: 20 South St., Milford
Anticipated hours: Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with expanded hours likely early on Sunday mornings
More info: Visit ansanmnh.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram or call 605-1185

Featured photo: Braised chicken in a Creole sauce, with plantains, rice and pikliz, a spicy slaw. Photo courtesy of Ansanm.

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