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Duckanoo
Alternative names Ducana (in Antigua and Barbuda)
Type sweet main starch
Place of origin West Indies
Created by African people who were brought to Antigua and Barbuda, French Guiana as well as other Caribbean Islands in the slave trade
Serving temperature hot or warm
Main ingredients Sweet potato
Ingredients generally used Batata (a sweet potato), coconut, spices, and brown sugar
Variations Some islanders use pumpkin

Duckunoo or duckanoo, also referred to as tie-a-leaf, blue drawers (draws), dokonon (in French Guiana), and dukunou (in Haiti) is a dessert in Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, French Guiana and some other Lesser Antilles. It is a variation on the dish ducana which originated in Africa. The Caribbean cuisine dish is made from batata, sweet potato, coconut, spices and brown sugar, all tied up in a banana leaf. It is then cooked in boiling water.

Duckanoo is a relatively new name for some that was added to the name "tie a leaf". However, the names vary depending on location in various islands. "Ducana" is the Antiguan/Barbudan as well as some of the smaller Caribbean islands name of this dumpling or dessert.

History

Similar to the Meso American 'dulce de tamale', this was a highly popular indigenous dessert in the Americas. Adapted by the Afro-Caribbean people (who were brought to Antigua and Barbuda as well as other Caribbean Islands in the slave trade), ingredients such as eddoes, okra, dasheen, eggplant, and the bonavista bean are used.

In Ghana, ducana is dokono, and in the Twi language, Odokono.

Variations

Dukuna is a small pudding made of varying mixtures of grated sweet potatoes, coconut, cornmeal and plantain-flour. (From Akan: doko na sweeten mouth Twi: boiled maize Ga: Adangme dokona).

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