Mud cookie

{{Short description|Haitian food}}

{{Infobox food

| name = Mud cookie

| name_lang =

| image = Haitian Dirt Biscuits.jpg

| caption = Mud cookies being prepared

| place_of_origin = Haiti

| main_ingredient = {{Plainlist|

• Dirt
• Fat

}}

| minor_ingredient = {{Plainlist|

• Vegetables
• Salt

}}

| no_recipes = false

| alternate_name = {{native name|ht|bonbon tè}}

}}

File:Mud cookies.jpg

A mud cookie ({{langx|ht|bonbon tè|lit=earth cookie}}, {{IPA|ht|bɔ̃bɔ̃ tɛ|pron}}) is a famine food that is eaten in Haiti by children or expectant mothers.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3337cj4sJQ |title=Haitians eat dirt cookies to survive |date=19 Feb 2009 |type=Television production |language=en |publisher=WNET |series=Worldfocus |access-date=2021-10-14 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/s3337cj4sJQ |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}} They can be found in slums like Cité Soleil. Dirt is collected from the nation's central plateau, near the town of Hinche, and trucked over to the market (e.g. La Saline market) where women purchase it.{{cite book | last=Clammer | first=P. | title=Haiti | publisher=Bradt Travel Guides | series=Bradt Travel Guides | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-84162-923-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6AyDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA71 | language=fr | access-date=2019-12-21 | page=71}}{{cite book |last1=Agamben |first1=G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jQY7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 |title=Democracy in What State? |last2=Badiou |first2=A. |last3=Bensaid |first3=D. |last4=Brown |first4=W. |last5=Nancy |first5=J.L. |last6=Rancière |first6=J. |last7=Ross |first7=K. |last8=Žižek |first8=S. |last9=McCuaig |first9=W. |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-231-52708-8 |series=New Directions in Critical Theory |page=109 |author-link8=Slavoj Žižek |access-date=2019-12-21}}{{cite web | title=Poor Haitians on a mud diet | website=Los Angeles Times | date=2008-02-03 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-feb-03-adfg-haiti3-story.html | access-date=2019-12-21}} It is processed into cookies in shanty towns such as Fort Dimanche. First, the dirt is strained to remove rocks and clumps. Then, the dirt is mixed with salt (and/or rarely sugar) and vegetable shortening or other fat.{{cite book | last=Nevins | first=D. | title=Haiti: Third Edition | publisher=Cavendish Square | series=Cultures of the World (Third Edition) Â | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-5026-0802-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipFmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 | access-date=2019-12-21 | page=123}} Next, it is formed into flat discs, and dried in the sun. The finished product is finally transported in buckets and sold in the market or on the streets.

Due to their mineral content, mud cookies were traditionally used as a dietary supplement for pregnant women and children. Many Haitians believe they contain calcium which could be used as an antacid and for nutrition, but this is disputed by doctors who warn of tooth decay, constipation, and other complications.{{Which|date=November 2024}} The production cost is cheap; the dirt to make one hundred cookies was five US dollars in 2008 (about 5 cents apiece), even after increasing by $1.50 since 2007. It is also seen as a way to stave off starvation. This is especially true in times where there is a rise in global food prices such as during the 2007–08 world food price crisis.{{cite book | title=Feeding Frenzy: Land Grabs, Price Spikes, and the World Food Crisis | publisher=Greystone Books | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-77164-014-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7fhfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 | access-date=2019-12-21 | page=47}}{{Update needed|date=December 2023}}

The taste has been described as having a smooth consistency that immediately dries the mouth, with a pungent aftertaste of dirt that lingers for hours.