Eating in Suriname

Suriname Economy

Economy

The economy of Suriname

Suriname’s economy has been growing over the past few years and is rated as having good prospects. Gold, oil and bauxite are particularly important to the economy. These three raw materials generate 80 percent of the income from exports, i.e. sales abroad. As a result, however, the economy is also heavily dependent on the prices on the world market for these raw materials. A third of the entire economy is generated by industry, more than half comes from services.

What is grown in Suriname?

Just under 12 percent of the gross domestic product comes from agriculture, in which only 11 percent of the population work. Rice, bananas and citrus fruits as well as palm kernel oil, coconuts and peanuts are mainly grown. The cultivation areas are in the fertile coastal plain.

Bauxite, gold and petroleum

Industry contributes 31.1 percent to the economy. Almost 20 percent work in this area, especially in mining. The most important are the mining of bauxite (an aluminum ore) and gold. The export of bauxite brings most of the foreign currency. After the construction of the large Brokopondo reservoir, it was possible to generate enough water energy to start aluminum production.

The largest gold mine is the Rosebel mine in the northeast of the country. A second major gold mine is set to be the Merian Gold Project, which was signed in 2013. The mining area is also in the northeast, near the city of Moengo. One problem is illegal (not allowed) mines in the rainforest, which destroy the environment. There are said to be around 20,000 such small illegal mines.

Oil is produced on the coast. The state-owned Surinamese oil company also owns the petrol stations in the country and has been selling its own petrol there since 2014. Bauxite is processed into aluminum in the country, and petroleum is refined. Factories also process wood and fish. All the goods mentioned are exported, including rice and bananas.

Services

57 percent generate the services. 69 percent of the population work here. The services include trade, gastronomy, energy, finance and tourism. In 2017, almost 278,000 visitors came to Suriname.

Eating in Suriname

Eating out in Suriname

What do you eat in Suriname? All the peoples living here brought something from their kitchen: the indigenous peoples, the Africans, the Dutch, the Indians, the Indonesians, the Chinese…

Rice is one of the staple foods. Cassava, asparagus beans, okra pods, and eggplant are commonly used. Roti, a thin flatbread from India, goes with many dishes. Hagelslag is Dutch: chocolate sprinkles on toast – mmh! Ginger lemonade is a popular drink. To get more information on Suriname and South America, check allunitconverters.

Rice dishes

A rice dish called nasi goreng comes from Indonesia. After cooking, the rice is fried with meat and vegetables, and egg is often also included. Spices like turmeric and curry powder turn the rice yellow. Moksi-alesi is rice with cured meat or fish. It can also be made with coconut milk. Rice with beans is typical of the entire Caribbean.

Pom

A typical holiday dish is pom. It is prepared in the oven. Ingredients are chicken, lemon juice and tannia. The tubers of these plants are eaten to replace potatoes that originally belonged in the dish but which do not grow in Suriname. The name Pom is derived from Pomme de terre (French for potato).

The tannia tubers are grated and mixed with lemon juice and a sauce made from oil, onions, tomatoes and nutmeg. The pieces of chicken are placed between two layers of tannia in an ovenproof dish. It’s ready after an hour. Pom is eaten with rice and vegetables. You can also use it cold as a sandwich topping.

Chicken

Not only pom, but also many other dishes are prepared with chicken. Chicken tikka masala (chicken in tomato sauce), which comes from India, is usually served with potatoes and roti. Pastei is a chicken pie with peas and carrots.

Fried noodles

Chinese-style fried noodles are called chow mein. In Indonesian, the dish becomes bami goreng. One likes to drink a ginger lemonade with it.

Eating in Suriname