Kenkey

The tradition & historical record

Kenkey (also known as kɔmi, otim, kooboo or dorkunu, dokunu) is a staple swallow food similar to sourdough dumplings from the Ga and Fante-inhabited regions of West Africa, usually served with pepper crudaiola and fried fish, soup or stew. ¹

Kenkey is produced by steeping grains of maize in water for about one week, then milling them and kneading them with water into a dough. The dough is allowed to ferment for four days to a week before part of the dough is cooked. ¹

Areas where kenkey is eaten include Ghana, eastern Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and western Benin. It is usually made from ground corn (maize), like sadza and ugali. It is popularly known as kɔmi (pronounced kormi) by the Gas or dokono by the Akans in Ghana. In the Caribbean, there are variations of an indigenous dessert of Mesoamerican origin, i.e. sweet tamale, which was adopted by Africans brought to the region during slavery and indentureship. As such, African influence can be found in the names of the variations like: ducana (in Antigua and Barbuda), duckunoo, duckanoo (also blue drawers or tie-a-leaf in Jamaica), doukounou (in Haiti), ducunu/ dukunu (also tamalito in Belize), and dokonon (in French Guiana). In Guyana, it is called conkie (pronounced /kankee/). In Trinidad and Tobago it is called paime (pronounced /pay-me/), and differs in that it does not contain plantain, but may include coconut, pumpkin and/or raisins. The dish is usually associated with Christmas time. In Latin America, it is made with cornmeal, masa or yuca, while in the Caribbean, it is typically made with cornmeal, plantain or sweet potato. Maize and sweet potato were staples of the indigenous Amerindians of the Americas, hence Jamaicans and other Antilleans typically add sweet potato and grated green bananas to cornmeal or flour with coconut, sugar, spices and vanilla. The mixture is wrapped in banana leaves, then steamed. ¹

Unlike ugali, making kenkey involves letting the maize ferment before cooking. Therefore, preparation takes a few days in order to let the dough ferment. Corn meal is mixed with cornstarch and water is added until a smooth and consistent dough is obtained. It is covered and left in a warm place for the fermentation to take place. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Kenkey”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Kenkey is Kenkey is a traditional Ghanaian fermented maize dish made from ground corn dough., according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²