Time for Conkies

"According to the A-Z of Barbadian Heritage, the Ghanaian “kenkey” is probably the origin of the local word, conkie. In Ghana, Kenkey refers to similarly prepared corn meal dishes." That excerpt is taken from this week's column that looks at this dish that is made throughout the Caribbean.

On Friday, November 30th, Barbados will be celebrating 41 years of Independence from British rule and one of the foods often made and eaten around this time is conkie! Prior to its independence, the eating of conkies in Barbados was associated with November 5th – Guy Fawkes night.

The primary ingredients are pumpkin, cornmeal, sweet potatoes and coconut along with spices etc. It's a sweet dish and can be eaten at any meal or as a snack. Labour intensive because of the grating, the gift of a conkie is highly prized.

Conkie mixture

I enjoy making the foods of my adopted home and learning about them. So for this Independence I made conkies for the first time. Feedback from my Bajan friends has been very positive.

Conkie before steaming

Cooked conkie

Here is a step-by-step slide demo how to make conkies. If you cannot get banana leaves where you are this mixture can be placed in ramekins and steamed. This is also my entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle, the theme being, Traditional Feasts.
Happy Independence Barbados!