From time to time I've gotten comments on my write ups about the different cuisines I have explored. Mostly they are complimentary, but sometimes people are very offended at what I've written and want to set me straight. For example, I got a lot of hate mail regarding my write up of Appalachian cuisine - apparently a newspaper columnist there organized a letter writing campaign to let me know how offended they were at my thoughts. My Assyrian menu has also generated some mail from Assyrians who tell me that I did it all wrong. They've promised to send me recipes so I can cook a real Assyrian meal, but so far I haven't gotten any.
But no individual recipe has received more comments than my recipe for coucou, a cornmeal dish eaten throghout the Caribbean. Apparently I did it all wrong. Here is the last e-mail I've gotten on the subject.
"Of course you, probably a white woman, would find the dish bland but if you were a native you would understand that cou-cou is not a stand alone dish. The national dish of Barbados is "cou-cou and flying fish" and like mash potatoes and gravy, the flavor of the cou-cou comes from the gravy of the fish. If you do not have flying fish, you could use any other steamed fish, liver, etc. anything that makes a good gravy.
If the picture on your website is the result of what you made no wonder it was bland cause it looks like poop which means you probably made it wrong.
Happy recipe hunting but next time maybe you should stick to hamburgers and french fries."
Comments (12)
I was wondering what that stuff in the bowl was..it looks nothing like cou-cou
Posted by sharon | July 23, 2005 7:34 PM
Posted on July 23, 2005 19:34
I am a Barbadian who was searching online for a picture of Cou-Cou to help explain the dish to a friend. I am sorry, but the commentors are right in saying that the picture does not resemble Cou-Cou as I know it. I also know why you could not recommend placing the result into a buttered bowl and then unmolding it into a serving dish. You could not possibly achieve a mould with the consistency that is evident from the picture.
However, I must commend you for your obvious love of food recipes from around the world. Many people cannot open their minds to such pleasures. I don't care what color, shape or size you are, I love that you have embraced Cou-Cou and had such wonderful things to say about it. The fact that it was bland and tasteless was NOT your fault. As you explained, the recipes that you were able to find were all bland and did not do it justice.
Posted by Cherrie | August 5, 2005 4:31 AM
Posted on August 5, 2005 04:31
What does a cou-cou stick look like? Do you have a photo or know where I can find one.
Posted by K Brown | October 5, 2006 10:54 AM
Posted on October 5, 2006 10:54
I understand were the last person was comeing from But ... wow what a bitch!
Posted by Rob | October 31, 2006 8:45 AM
Posted on October 31, 2006 08:45
I just had to add...there is no one in the Caribbean that can make Cou-cou like Barbadians. It is a Barbadian dish.
Posted by L-FB | December 1, 2006 10:11 PM
Posted on December 1, 2006 22:11
Well I am Antiguan and the Bajan cou-cou is similar to what we refer to as Fungee. Umm..but what you made really went wrong somewhere, the consistency is all wrong and it looks pretty nasty. In Antigua the dish is not served alone, it is served with saltfish and is not bland at all! Practice makes perfect, try it again and this time try to achieve the consistency and put it in the buttered bowl and unmould it. You will see how nice it looks...what you did there looks inedible!
Posted by Anonymous | January 5, 2007 2:17 PM
Posted on January 5, 2007 14:17
well like Cherrie said that pic looking nothing like cou cou but u tried and it is good to see people from other races trying bajan dishes
Posted by neil | January 27, 2007 3:49 AM
Posted on January 27, 2007 03:49
It is totally incorrect for Barbadians to refer to cou-cou as a Bajan dish. This is a dish made with cornmeal and it is done all over the Caribbean, and called by different names. Cou-cou is primarily a Leeward Island dish being most widely used in those islands
Posted by Souse | March 12, 2007 4:57 PM
Posted on March 12, 2007 16:57
Souse, your right that cou cou is used by the Leeward islands but it is bajans national dish and that makes it a bajan dish, so please get it correct.
Posted by 100%bajan | March 13, 2007 8:42 AM
Posted on March 13, 2007 08:42
i have to agree with many of the previous posts. the photo looks nothing like cou-cou. if you had the opportunity to try it before you prepared it, you would have known that something went wrong.
Posted by bajanyankee | May 16, 2007 7:29 AM
Posted on May 16, 2007 07:29
It would be good if you can actually sample a traditional bajan dish of Cou-Cou & Flying Fish and then get some pointers on how it is prepared. Hey! Try agian and let us know how it went.
Posted by T | May 26, 2007 9:44 AM
Posted on May 26, 2007 09:44
An alternate recipe: I am a Bajan (didn't live there very long), but my Grandmother showed me the "new" method of making cou-cou, which turns out perfect and delicious every time:
In a blender, blend -
4 cups water
6 okra
1 tsp salt
Add 1 cup FINE yellow cornmeal and blend.
(The type is very important and hard to find in the States. Check Caribean stores. Sprouts also carries a fine, organic corn meal).
Pour in a buttered casserole dish and microwave 2 min. at a time, stirring each time, until thickened. It continues to thicken as it cools.
The posts are correct (from what I've learned) - is not a stand alone dish. To be served with what Bajan's call gravy which is usually made with a fish, tomoto, onions, and curry mixture. Just made this last night, as a matter of fact!!
Good luck!!
Posted by Lisa | June 4, 2007 2:33 PM
Posted on June 4, 2007 14:33