Jewish-Portuguese / Creole
Pom: the celebration dish of Suriname
Pom is a Surinamese baked dish of grated pomtayer, a taro-like root, with chicken, onion, tomato and citrus juice. It is Jewish-Portuguese in origin and counts as the celebration dish of Suriname: no birthday happens without it.
Pomtayer is the tuber of an arum-family plant related to taro. Grated and baked it turns soft, faintly sour and slightly sticky, that texture is the whole point of pom, and the reason nothing else substitutes exactly.
The origin lies with the Jewish-Portuguese community that settled in Suriname from the seventeenth century onwards, including at Jodensavanne on the Suriname River. What began as a version of a European baked dish became wholly Surinamese once it was made with a Surinamese root, and today it is above all a Creole dish.
You eat pom with rice, or in a bread roll as a "pom broodje", which is what gets handed round at birthdays and funerals. In the Netherlands pomtayer is sold frozen and pre-grated in virtually every Surinamese grocer.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is pom?
Pom is a Surinamese baked dish of grated pomtayer (a root vegetable related to taro), chicken, onion, tomato and the juice of sour orange or lemon, baked until the top is golden brown.
Why is it called a celebration dish?
Pom is laborious, the tayer has to be grated by hand, so it has always been made for a crowd. In Suriname and in the Surinamese community in the Netherlands it appears at practically every birthday, wedding and funeral.
Can you make pom outside Suriname?
Yes. Pomtayer is sold frozen and grated in Surinamese and Asian grocers across the Netherlands and Belgium. Sour orange is harder to find; a mix of orange and lime juice gets close.