​ You know you've hit the bakery jackpot when the counter is manned by old ladies in housedresses, as it is at this bombastically named Haitian bakery in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Puffy white breads, cookies, pastry, and cakes line the display case, and a pile of the Jehovah's Witness screed, The Watchtower, sits on top.

​ Next to a plate of cookies sit a few jars of mamba--the word for peanut butter in Haitian Creole. But this creamy homemade spread also contains a big dose of chile, so you taste sweet, salty peanuts, then the spicy burn sneaks up on you and stays a while. It's terrific.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and peanut butter has been hit on as a possible cure to childhood malnutrition--a group called Medika Mamba distributes fortified peanut butter to Haitian kids. You can read more about it and donate money at their website.

More delicious Haitian baked goods, right this way.