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I know the header would attract non-Jamaicans who might feel that the Dukester is posting porn on a Sunday morning but Jamaicans would know that this African meal which we from Guyana call CONKEY and usually eat on Emancipation Day on August 1st is cornmeal based food wrapped in a banana leaf. Yes I was in Aeolus Valley in St. Thomas yesterday having a fantastic meal consisting of the above mentioned delicacy along with green banana ,ackee,callaloo,yam,sweet potato and the coup de grace ROAST BREADFRUIT!!!. GJFA visited our adopted school, the Aeolus Valley All-Age School where we witnessed some wonderful performances by the children of the school including the singing of their school song.We are unaware of any other primary school in Jamaica with a school song.

On Friday we took part in the launch ceremony for the adoption of the Rollington Town Health Center in Kingston.

BTW JAMAICA SWEET BAAAAD!!!!!!




OOPS
BACKROOM PLEASE

In reply to Dukes
That food had to be great for you to drive on those bad roads in St. Thomas. By the way, my conkies (blue drawers) not bad at all

In reply to Walco

Roads were terrible but hopefully will soon get significantly better.I forgot to mention,June Plum Drink which Guyanese call Golden Apple drink.

In reply to Dukes

It's called PAYMEE in Tittieland.

I believe when meat is added its called Pastelle

While you there, scout for a young country speedster to make WI team.

In reply to Dukes
I swear Guyana and Barbados are connected at the hip. We call it golden apple also I’m heading back to St Thomas this morning and then back to Florida tomorrow

In reply to Narper

Meat with Cookie?

In reply to Dukes

Also known in my neck of the woods as bumfurrow (sp), and tie-a-leaf.

In reply to Walco

You have to know that Guyana was a Bim outpost. I would bet you have relatives there

In reply to Narper

Hold on

Is Paymee??? That is wat Dukes and culpepper does make so much noise about??
Paymee??!!

Hahahahahahaha! I expected better

Hot Tamales in Venezuela

I’ve seen boiled eggs, meat...amongst slight variations as stuffing.

Delicious!!!

In reply to Narper

That is what it is known as in Puerto Rico.

Ducuna anyone?

In reply to Dukes

I had roast breadfruit for breakfast this morning along with brown stew chicken with pacchoy and of course avocado.

Enjoy di good food.
And yes tangerines and ortaniques are back.
By the way mi ave mi own Gleaner fi dat lovely story

In reply to Walco
Of course - my paternal grandma was Bajan and my maternal grandfather was Bajan.
Di old folks who used to refer to demselves as the 13 families in New Amsterdam were mostly Bajans or at least one partner was from Bim. A few were Vincey Black Caribs or from Antigua.

In reply to Dukes

June plum now bears in September and October

In reply to Maispwi

Absolutely! Or almost absolutely anyway. LOL. Our name in my neck of the woods is 'docunu/dokunu' (that's from the original Twi 'dokono'). 'Banana tie-a-leaf' is also an alternative name in my area.

In reply to Drapsey
Boss, "bumfurrow"?? Yuh mean the 3 miles or so made that much difference? I never heard that at all.

--Æ.

primary school lunch!

The Ghanain Name is Duckunu also used in JA. Blue Drawers, Tie-a-Leaf...never heard Drapsey's name. Dukes has reminded me of my maternal Grandma who would add a dash of rum or port, raisins and 'coc'nut milk' to hers. SWEET SUH, woooieeeee.

Weston Haughton always told this joke. He had set up the decorations for a buffet at Kings House and trying to be 'stush' and proper he invited Sir Florizel to try the (er, clean throat) 'Duckuunu' Sir?' Glasspole very loudly 'Oh you mean BLUE DRAWERS, WHE IT DEH?'

In reply to Brerzerk

In reply to Dukes

Never heard of Blue Drawers. Drawers sound a little too sanitary. The proper pronunciation is DRAAS strong emphasis on the A. Children were forbidden to say blue draas. Tie-a-leaf was more acceptable. Dukunu or Duff was a different meal. This was made from cassava ... bitter cassava grated and properly dried so as to extract the poisonous juice, then mixed with coconut milk and the grated dried coconut, add sugar etc. Best cooked in a Dutch pot.

In reply to Brerzerk

Tie a leaf, blue drawers and dukunu are all known but the most popular name in Eastern St Thomas when I was a boy was boyo. My investigation says boyo is corrupted Spanish for a verb to wrap.

Boyo can 'have in' pumpkin, sweet potato even plantain in addition to the cornmeal. Raisins are a source of contention for 50 % of the consumers.

I met a chick from Panama some years ago in Florida. I was very excited when she offered to bring me dukunu. It turned out it was a delicacy filled with meat (sure about chicken) cooked in cornmeal and steamed in banana leaves.

In reply to DonD
I kind a had my misgivings about the “DRAWERS” spelling, I thing your spelling captured the phonetic essence of the spoken word

In reply to Maispwi

Ducuna? Ducuna? All the time the man talking conkie conkie conkie i think is some kinna confectionary...
Ducuna? Man, steeeeuuuupppss to high heaven.
Ducuna?
Yuck.
And worse yet, without meat?

And they doh have the decency to explain what they talking bout in honor of the diversity in the region.

Thanks for the clarification finally.

Ducuna? Please.

My Ghanaian neighbour was shocked when I called it Dukunoo they called it by the same name and it looked exactly like ours except ours is sweet and theirs is not
It was more like boiled dumplings wrapped in banana leaf, incidentally, they use the same word for an Owl as we do in Jamaica.
In Jamaica we call an owl a Patoo

This is a fake Conkie thread!!!

In reply to Dukes

Bajan Conkies Recipe
•4 cups corn flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups grated coconut
•1 ½ pound grated pumpkin
• 1 pound grated sweet potato
• 12 ozs. melted butter or margarine
•2 cups water
•1 ½ pounds brown sugar
•8 ozs. raisins
• 2 tsps. allspice
• 2 tsps. almond essence
• 2 tsps. grated nutmeg
• Fresh Banana leaves
Mix the coconut, pumpkin, sweet potato, sugar, spices,
raisins, flour, corn flour, and salt together in a large bowl.

Add the beaten egg, melted butter/margarine, and milk.
Mix thoroughly by hand to combine. You should have a
thick mixture that drops slowly from a spoon. Add more
flour if the mixture is not thick enough; add a bit more
milk if it is too thick.

Fresh green Banana leaves are traditionally used to wrap
the conkie mixture. If you have these, strip leaves from
stalk with a sharp knife then briefly singe them over an
open flame to make them more pliable. Cut the leaves
into individual 8" squares.

Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the mixture into the centre of
the banana leaf. Fold the leaf around the mixture, taking
care not to rip the leaf.

Steam the conkies on a rack over boiling water in a large
saucepan for 1 hour or until they are firm

Duplicate

In reply to Walco

Yes.You should always duplicate conkie production.

In reply to culpepperboy

In reply to Walco

Haven’t had conkie in ages, however I don’t remember my mother adding any flour to her recipe!

In reply to StumpCam

Bajans put flour in everything. Even cassava pone

In reply to Walco

flour is the bonding agent!

In reply to camos
seems like my boy camos knows his way around the kitchen The sweet potato is also a bonding agent, but the white sweet potato, not the yellow. I learned that lesson the hard way

In reply to DonD

You got that right, my Don. No Blue Drawers, Blue Draas.

However, it seems to me that it could be a derivation of drawers.

As we know the banana leaf is green. But after the delicacy is cooked, the leaf presents a bluish hue. So it is a matter of the meal drawing a blue hue from the previously green leaf.

Or so it seems to me.


But.... Aeolus Valley, Dukes? That is deep country, boy. Congratulations!


//

In reply to Walco

...and sugar

Blue Kinckers !!!

In reply to Ewart

ALL CHILDREN can excel and thrive and DESERVE a top class opportunity and we feel strongly about that.Our school in Guyana is similarly situated and we have absolutely transformed the village!!

In reply to DonD
hahahaha Right Sir Don, I think mere OR mere mortals like me n the others lacked the erudition of the great 'Patwah langwich' to have spelt it correctly. Yes Sah! I have never heard of Boyo before! And when CulP wrote of CONKIE I always thought he was talking about Conch. You live and learn. Starting tertiary education in JA was when I first realized there were at least 4 different JA accents and even at least 3 versions of patois. Never heard 'Mi deh guh' before. Having grown up beside Jamaican-Indians (great neighbors and friends) I never knew the hurt nor real history of the C-word until I heard a lil Trini guy say 'Its 1980's and R... H... 'macians still talking 'bout R... H... C... I was so ashamed that I didn't know.

In reply to Dukes

Indeed!

And that is why I proffered congratulations.



//

In reply to Dukes
Hope you gave a shout out to Mr. Paul Bogle for I.

In reply to Walco


I brought the last 2 conkies from Culpepper last Saturday. They have a small supply every week.

In reply to Ewart

Thank you Sir.Check your e-mail.

In reply to Brerzerk

Exactly!!! I always thought conch!

In reply to BrerzerkJust last week we had a discussion about the C word in a Fed Ex office. Jamaicans use it without giving a thought to its origin.

In reply to Wally-1

The School has all the National Heroes on the Walls.

In reply to Narper

Philistines!

In reply to Chrissy

would love to hear more about the 13 families in NA

In reply to Dukes

I had to say " Tie A Leaf" at home that other name was reserved for when with peers.


My mother, bless her soul, was so strict that that one day I heard Bob's song, "I'm gonna put it on", on the radio and was singing it in the yard. She grabbed me and spanked my asset and kept saying, "put on what, what you gonna put on, poor me had no clue what the song meant.

In reply to Wally-1

Mothers eeh?
My father never beat me.When I did something that required a spanking,he called on my mother to do it.She had a way of spanking me and then talking to me about what I had done wrong and why she spanked me.

In reply to Wally-1
One of my brothers on a dare pretended to be just out of earshot of Grandma tried to sing
Kitchie's Doctor Kitch 'Ah put it een' With fire in her eyes said 'Bwoy come here!' After my brother
sheepishly went to her Grandma said 'As long as there is life in your body never et me or anyone else
hear you sing that' The embarrassment and teasing was worse than any beating, it lasted for years.