To understand the Surinamese cuisine, you might have to know a little bit about the history of Suriname.
In 1975, Suriname officially became an independent country, after being a Dutch colony. Upon the abolishment of slavery in 1863, the Dutch had to find additional ways to find workers to work at the different plantations. The first groups of migrant workers came from India (1873) and Indonesia (1890). The Chinese had also started migrating to Suriname. Some for cheap labor, other to start businesses. This mixture of the local indigenous (Amerindian), African, Hindu (Indian), Javanese (Indonesian) and Chinese has created a very diverse local cuisine.
I had originally planned and already taken pictures of two local dishes, but this weekend I visited one of the districts and had an even better culinary experience. While staying at The Green House, we visited a local Warung Chaz, where I had Berkat, probably the most exciting dish of the Javanese cuisine. Berkat exists of Nasi/Bami goreng, with extra Javanase snacks and vegetables. It is served in a banana leaf to preserve the flavor and is topped of with a coconut mixture and local spices.
Note: We often refer to Javanese instead of Indonesian, as earlier migrant workers from Indonesia came from Java.