how to cook

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cassava roots

  • 3 ripe plantains

  • 2 sweet potatoes

  • 500 g salted cod, desalted and drained

  • ½ onion, finely chopped

  • 2 tomatoes, diced

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • 2–3 sprigs celery leaves, finely chopped

  • ½ Madame Jeanette pepper (adjust to taste)

  • 100 ml coconut oil

Preparing the Root Vegetables

  1. Peel the cassava, remove the woody core, and cut into evenly sized pieces (about the size of thick-cut fries).

  2. Cut each plantain into four equal pieces, leaving the peel on while cooking. Remove any seed lines if necessary.

  3. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1 cm cubes.

  4. Boil the cassava, plantains, and sweet potatoes separately until tender.

Preparing the Salted Cod

  1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan.

  2. Add the onion, garlic, Madame Jeanette pepper, and tomatoes. Sauté for 2–3 minutes until softened.

  3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it turns a rich, deep red.

  4. Add the desalted salted cod and 100 ml of water. Stir well and cook until the fish is fully heated through and flakes easily.

  5. Stir in the chopped celery leaves just before serving, then remove the pan from the heat.

Serve the salted cod alongside the cassava, plantains, and sweet potatoes.

Enjoy!

Heri Heri with Chef Nikita Tjon-Affo

Every year, we share a Heri Heri recipe created by a different chef, each offering their own interpretation of this beloved Surinamese dish. This year, the recipe comes from Chef Nikita Tjon-Affo.

You could say that Chef Nikita's Heri Heri is a tribute to the Keti Koti celebrations of his childhood in Suriname. Going to the waterfront with his grandmother, just like the dish itself, was simple, yet deeply meaningful.

Born and raised in Suriname, Nikita Tjon-Affo originally studied Mechanical Engineering, but his passion for cooking always drew him to the kitchen. In 2012, he worked as Sous Chef to Ramon Beuk during the filming of Roti op de Kaart. Later that year, just before Suriname's Independence Day, he co-founded Souposo, a lunch café that eventually grew into a restaurant. Five years later, he moved to the Netherlands, where he co-founded Uitvlugt Amsterdam, which remained open until the second COVID-19 lockdown.

Having worked in many different kitchens over the past 22 years, Nikita has developed a culinary philosophy rooted in tradition while embracing contemporary techniques. He enjoys exploring how classic dishes can be transformed through new methods while staying true to their original ingredients and spirit.

Heri Heri has always held a special place in his life. He remembers celebrating Keti Koti with his grandmother at the waterfront, where boat races, swimming competitions, and women dressed in beautiful koto and angisa filled the streets with color and tradition. His mother often told him that when she was young, wearing an angisa during Keti Koti was even mandatory.

Every July 1st, his family gathered around Heri Heri, Moksi Alesi, and many other traditional Surinamese dishes. But Heri Heri was also served after harvests or whenever family came together, making it a dish forever connected to celebration, community, and home.

Today, Heri Heri remains one of Nikita's favorite dishes. He has created his own interpretation, experimenting with its preparation while remaining as faithful as possible to the original recipe and its enduring tradition.

Chef Nikita Tjon-Affo currently works as a freelance chef.

Follow him on Instagram: @nikita_tjon_affo