Cou-Cou and Flying Fish

Barbados (West African fufu and cornmeal tradition adapted to the Caribbean)

Cou-cou and flying fish is Barbados's national dish — a polenta-like cornmeal and okra pudding (cou-cou) served alongside steamed flying fish in a butter-tomato sauce seasoned with lime, onion, thyme, and scotch bonnet. The cou-cou is the more technically demanding preparation: fine cornmeal is whisked into salted water with sliced cooked okra, then stirred continuously with a 'cou-cou stick' (a long wooden paddle) until the mixture pulls cleanly from the pot sides, forming a smooth, glossy, firm but yielding mass that is shaped in an oiled bowl and inverted. The sticky okra mucilage is what gives cou-cou its characteristic smooth, silky texture. Flying fish (Cheilopogon melanurus) is endemic to Barbadian waters and their seasonal abundance made them the defining protein of the national cuisine.

• Cou-cou is directly related to West African kenkey, Nigerian eba, and Caribbean fungi (Antiguan version); all are starch-and-okra preparations cooked to a firm, smooth mass that is served alongside proteins; polenta with fish mirrors the northern Italian tradition.

The flying fish sauce (butter, tomato, lime, scotch bonnet) provides the seasoned counterpoint to the plain cou-cou; rum punch is the canonical beverage — Barbados's Mount Gay rum is one of the world's oldest rum brands and inseparable from Bajan food culture.