Conkies

Ingredients

Mixture

• 300 gfine cornmeal
• 100 gplain flour
• 200 ggrated fresh coconut
• 250 gpumpkin, grated
• 150 gsweet potato, grated
• 200 gdark brown sugar
• 100 graisins
• 100 gbutter, melted
• 250 mlcoconut milk
• 1 tspgrated nutmeg
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• ½ tspalmond essence
• ½ tspsalt

Wrapping

• banana leaves, cut into 20 cm squares
• kitchen string

Directions

1. Pass the banana leaf squares over a flame, or dip them in boiling water, until they turn glossy and pliable, then wipe them clean.
2. Grate the coconut, pumpkin and sweet potato finely, which lets them cook through in the hour of steaming.
3. Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, spices and salt, then stir in the grated vegetables, coconut and raisins.
4. Add the melted butter and coconut milk and mix to a thick dropping consistency.
5. It should hold its shape on the spoon rather than run off it. Too loose and it leaks out of the parcel and dissolves into the steamer water.
6. Put about 3 tbsp of the mixture in the centre of a leaf, fold the sides over it, fold both ends underneath, and tie with string.
7. Stack the parcels in a steamer, seam side down, and steam for 1 hour.
8. Steam them rather than boiling them. Conkies are a steamed parcel, unlike their boiled Jamaican relative, and sitting in water makes them sodden.
9. Let them cool in the leaves for 15 minutes before opening, which lets them set.
10. Eat warm, in November, for Independence Day, which is when Barbados makes them in quantity.

Technique

• They descend from West African kenkey, carried across and remade with the ingredients of the island.
• The banana leaf gives a green, faintly grassy scent that is a real part of the flavour rather than only a wrapper.
• They freeze well in their leaves and reheat by steaming for 15 minutes.

Substitutions

• Baking parchment inside foil if no banana leaves are available, at the cost of the scent.
• Desiccated coconut soaked in the coconut milk, if fresh coconut is out of reach.

Variations

• Without raisins, which some households prefer.
• With a splash of rum in the mixture.
• Made larger, as a single steamed pudding cut into squares.

History

Cornmeal, coconut and pumpkin parcels steamed in banana leaf, eaten for Independence Day in November and descended from West African kenkey.

Frequently asked questions

What is Conkies?

Conkies is a dessert from Barbados: steamed cornmeal-coconut-pumpkin parcels in banana leaf, Independence treat. Cornmeal, coconut and pumpkin parcels steamed in banana leaf, eaten for Independence Day in November and descended from West African kenkey.

How long does Conkies take to make?

Conkies takes 45 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 16 parcels. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Conkies?

Yes, within limits. Baking parchment inside foil if no banana leaves are available, at the cost of the scent. Desiccated coconut soaked in the coconut milk, if fresh coconut is out of reach.

What is the most important thing to get right in Conkies?

It should hold its shape on the spoon rather than run off it. Too loose and it leaks out of the parcel and dissolves into the steamer water.