Friday, January 27, 2012

Manje Ayisyen (Haitan Food)

Found on Haiti Tourism inc's Facebook Page
Haitian food. You’ve had it. Or you’ve heard of it. Our food is no doubt the tastiest of this region.

Let’s elaborate: 
When a country’s taste buds and cuisine has been influenced by the likes of French, African, Spanish and Amerindian delights, it’s natural for its food to be so scrumptious and unique. Throughout our history, several foreign countries occupied our island, and introduced food and ideas from their native lands, many of which significantly affected the menus we modern Haitians eat. A true melting pot indeed. 

Though Haitian food is often grouped together with other Caribbean lands as "Caribbean cuisine", our country maintains exceptional and unique flavors. From endemic ingredients to distinctive recipes, Zagat or the Michelin guide would surely have fun sampling and rating our local restaurants and dishes. Ever had a good Bouillon cooked with the goat's head, simmered pork knees, Rum green pea pigeon, or Di Ri Djondjon ? The latter is one of our many specifically native dishes to Haiti. Diri djondjon is “black mushroom flavored rice”. It requires the juice from an endemic black mushrooms call Djon Djon, a locally grown fungi used to color the rice black. Trust us, it’s delicious, like rice with attitude. 

Some other truly Haitian dishes include TonmTonm ak Calalou, which consists of a bread fruit puree accompanied by seasoned okra; Finish that off with a pain patate desert, a sweetened potato, fig, and banana pudding (add some condensed milk to it)...and voilà! Make sure you have a good Rhum Barbancourt around to complement as a digestive and call it a feast fit for a king. 

There are a myriad of other dishes, and so we strongly suggest you buy yourself one of the great Haitian cooking books available in local libraries. May we suggest "My Favorite Recipes" by Marie-Denise Célestin

Ah! We started salivating at the idea of the food we’ve listed so far, but this blog wouldn’t be complete if we didn't list the following: Riz et Pois National (rice and kidney beans much like the Cuban dish), Mayi moulen (cornmeal mush), pikliz (spicy pickled carrots and cabbage), Bannann peze (fried plantains, similar to bananas), tasso (deep-fried beef), griot (fried pork), etc, etc...

If you haven’t had a chance to sample our cuisine, we can recommend a few places in Haiti and abroad to get a feel of what you've been missing:

In Haiti, try La Coquille: a very clean buffet style restaurant right in the heart of Petion-Ville.

In Miami, try TapTap: a typical Haitian a-la-carte menu. We recommend the poisson gwosèl.

In New York City, try Krik KrakKrik Krak's dishes are full of flavors that are marinaded with celestial Haitian spices that will leave a smile on your face.   

Once you’ve had our food, you will open up your buds to our land and magic. Tasting our chow makes your understand our culture. Food for soul and satisfaction guaranteed.

Do you have a favorite Haitian flavored restaurant? In Montreal, Canada? In Washington DC? In Paris, France? In Atlanta? Wherever you are located. Share them all with us. Comment below. :)

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

We're Hiring - Web Designer

by mashedpotatomonkey
Our Digital Marketing Department is growing, and we are hiring. Who are we looking for? That guy. Or gal. That person with the expertise to create a website from scratch, from front-end to back-end. That person who works at code level. That person who can design aesthetically, beautifully. That person who doesn’t have to be constantly looked after…we’re not in kindergarten.

That person who has the following technical skills:
1- Expert in Adobe Photoshop
2- Skilled in Adobe Illustration 
3- Expert in HTML & XHTML
4- Expert in CSS
5- Skilled in DHTML/JavaScript

At PG, each member of the team is an independent piece to the puzzle, and right now, we are missing a piece: YOU. You are talented. You are a team player. You are passionate about the interwebs. You are a creative being who gets inspired by the God(s) from above. Yeah? Yeah…you. You’re THAT person. Aren’t you? Yeah. You. Are. Email us: letstalk@publigestion.biz. Let’s Talk.

Below is a list of things not to include in the email you will be sending our way.

Ok, what we don’t want:
1- You call yourself a "Webmaster"
Any web person who calls himself a "Webmaster" probably isn't a master of anything. Okay, maybe of his own domain. The term "webmaster" has become a translation for the word "amateur" and is so passé. 

2-You’re a FrontPage expert
FrontPage will pass for your girlfriend who wants to create a website dedicated to your first time…at the park - not for brand or a service. It's not a professional look.

3- You have added a "Designed By ...." plug on the bottom of every website you’ve created
Our clients will pay us to create a marketing tool for them – not a billboard for yourself. Be professional.

4- You think a great splash page has to be done with Flash Animation
Translation: “You’re a dinosaur.” A- Flash is not cool these days. B- A splash page can be a barrier to entry.

5- You have recently added fit a “cool” counter to websites
You want to add an ugly plug-in so that our clients’ competitors have an idea of our clients’ web stats? Sweet! Not.

6- You’ve placed a "Best If Viewed in..." message on a website
No responsible programmer would place a "best if view in..." message on the front-end of a website.

If you are over-thinking it, think this:
If you come work with our team, you will become the teammate of the best of the best that there is in Haiti. Our team is highly specialized at an international level. We have the best in web development and design, as well as the best in online marketing (social media). You will work alongside the number one team in the country. The cream. Of. The crop. Join us. Let’s Talk.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

New Year. New Bloggers' Block.

Sorta.

So there we are, a few bloggers under one rooftop at PubliGestion. We dubbed our blog "Bloggers' Block", a merger of six very distinct blogging voices: Olivier (Ob) our Marketing Director, Pong our Head Graphic Designer, Jacquemine (JL) one of our Account Executives (we needed to add at least one person from the "other" side), Richie (RM) our Producer, Keriko our friend from space (he comes in peace), and myself - Veronique (VC), our Digital Marketing Strategist. Ultimately, Bloggers' Block is a team effort and every single member of the PubliGestion team contributes in his or her way.

You may be wondering why we are suddenly introducing who is behind the blog. Well, this year, we're going to do things a little bit differently. Rather than posting every monday, we will post every wednesday. It's the middle of the week. You need a break from your reports, we need a break from our clients (we love you!), but we both need to share and consume knowledge. BTW, don't be surprised if we post twice in a week sporadically - life isn't about the walls and rules which constrain us ;). 

We promise you though that our voices won't change. Our blogs will be consistent as usual, but this year, note that there will be 6 distinct POVs sharing a common vibe of advertising, design, Haiti, inner peace, and all things net. En d'autres mots, a little something for everybody. We will be full of surprises, and it'll never be the same perspective - basically what you always loved about us. What we will keep on doing in the same way is that we will continue to jump in on topics together. At PG, we give out ideas for free because it's all about sharing the wealth that is le-savoir-faire. And on Bloggers' Block, you'll always get six for the price of free. 

PubliGestion, forever.