Antigua + Barbuda: 2 Islands, 1 Dish 2 Ways.
This week we travel to the beautiful Caribbean country of Antigua + Barbuda. These two islands are situated in the West Indies near neighboring countries like St. Kitts, Anguilla, + Montserrat.
I’ve got a recipe this week (yeah, I know...you came for the restaurants. I promise I have several restaurants to finish out the A’s!) and it’s super simple. This recipe goes by many different names: cou-cou (coo-coo) or fungi/fungee (foon-jee). For the sake of this recipe let’s call this dish fungee.
It’s an easy no-effort recipe with only 4 ingredients: cornmeal, okra, butter, + water. It comes together very similarly like polenta + is just as creamy too.
So to be completely honest I haven’t really had okra before. I had it once as a kid and the texture/gooeyness threw me off so I never tried it again. This time around I went in with an open mind and was willing to give it another go.
Okra is a bit fuzzy outside with a heavily seeded gooey inside. It’s used in a lot of Southern American cooking and African diasporic cooking. To me, it has a very similar taste to the jalapeño without any of the heat. Not gonna lie, I kinda dig okra now!
Fungee is prepared as a side dish in different countries in the West Indies and is usually accompanied by salted fish or some sort of stew. I had my fungee two different ways. I had it straight out of the pot while it was piping hot and sliced + cooked in a pat of butter the next day for breakfast. I prefer the way I prepared it for breakfast as opposed to the creamier version out of the pot. The fungee may taste more on the bland side if your water is not well-salted. I definitely will be adding freshly grated cheddar cheese to the pot the next time I make this because I have a feeling it’s going to taste pretty bangin’ the next morning fried up with an egg. Actually, excuse me as I go right now and attempt to make this again with cheese!
Fungee
1 cup fine cornmeal
½ cup okra, finely sliced
3 ¼ cups of water
2 teaspoons salt
¼ cup butter (½ stick)
In a medium-sized bowl stir and combine cornmeal with 1 cup of cold water and set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat let 2 ¼ cups of water come to a rolling boil then pour okra in boiling water with salt. Let okra cook for 5-6 minutes until nicely softened.
Once okra has softened add the cornmeal paste + butter to the saucepan and stir vigorously. Make sure there are no lumps or clumps in the mixture. The fungee should be relatively smooth + creamy. If you want your fungee to be thinner/runnier, you can add a bit of room temp water to the mixture as you continue to stir to desired consistency.
Feel free to season your fungee anyway you see fit + adapt this recipe any way you like. It’s a veggie friendly side dish that I personally think has endless possibilities. Let me know if you try this one out!
P.S. I have SOOOO many goodies in store for this newsletter in the next coming month. More restaurants/eateries for Eating A-Z in NYC, giveaways! and some news about my cookbook writing journey. I thank EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. who reads my newsletter + has subscribed in recent weeks. Seriously, THANK YOU! 💗✨☺️
Cook. Eat. Repeat.
Natalie
Hi Natalie, Just writing to say I'm really enjoying your writing. Very informative and as a food lover it really opens up my world. Makes me also look into these countries and ingredients more. Keep up the great writing^^ Looking forward to further editions.
Okra's a lot better (like a number of vegetables) if you harvest them small. The bigger they get, the more fibrous and more gooey they get. Still taste pretty good but the texture at that point is more liable to put people off.