Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Duckanoo
Sweet spiced cornmeal and coconut tied in banana leaves and boiled, a West African legacy sweet of Saint Vincent.
Vincentian · medium · serves 8
prep 25 min · cook 45 min
~635 cal · 7g protein · 108g carbs · 23g fat · 12g fiber · 54g sugars · 20g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Duckanoo, also known as blue drawers or konkie, is a traditional sweet of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with roots that reach back to West Africa, where similar steamed cornmeal parcels are made. It travelled the Atlantic with enslaved people and took hold across the Caribbean.
The mixture is cornmeal and grated coconut, sweetened with sugar and warmed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, often with raisins folded through. Spoonfuls are tied up in squares of banana leaf and boiled, which steams them firm and lends a subtle green fragrance.
Unwrapped from its leaf, duckanoo is dense, sweet, and gently spiced, a treat tied to celebration and heritage. Making it is a small act of remembrance, keeping alive a food and a technique carried across generations and an ocean.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
2 cups fine cornmeal
1 cup sweet potato or , grated (optional)
1 1/2 cups grated coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp each grated nutmeg, cinnamon and a little ground anise
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 pieces banana leaves, softened
Hard to find? squares of parchment and foil, tied - holds and steams the parcels identically; you lose the faint tea-like scent of the leaf
Instructions
1
Mix the cornmeal, coconut, sugar, spices, vanilla, and raisins, then stir in the coconut milk and enough water to make a thick batter.
2
Warm the banana leaves over a flame until pliable, then spoon batter onto each and tie into sealed parcels.
✎ Chef’s note
Tie the parcels snugly but leave a little room. The cornmeal swells as it cooks and a too-tight parcel can burst.
3
Boil the parcels, fully submerged, until firm, about 45 minutes.
4
Cool slightly, then unwrap and serve.
✎ Chef’s note
The dish travels under a shelf of names across the Caribbean: tie-a-leaf and blue drawers in Jamaica, ducana in Antigua, doukounou in Haiti, dokun in Suriname. Blue drawers comes from the bluish-green the banana leaves turn once boiled, and from the tied parcel looking like old string-tied underwear. It is a Caribbean descendant of the Mesoamerican tamale, by way of Amerindian and African hands.
Vincentian West African heritage tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kingstown. The breadfruit is roasted whole over an open fire until the skin blackens and the flesh inside turns soft, then split and eaten hot. The jackfish is marinated in lime, floured and fried, usually with an onion, tomato and thyme sauce over it, and the plate is as much a lunch as a breakfast.
🗺️
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Breadfruit arrived here on purpose. Captain Bligh brought it from Tahiti to the Saint Vincent Botanical Garden, founded in 1765 and among the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, and the country now recognises more breadfruit cultivar names than anywhere else in the Caribbean, at least thirty-eight recorded.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Roast Breadfruit and Fried JackfishThe national dish of St. Vincent: fire-roasted breadfruit with seasoned fried jackfish and a tomato sauce.
Fried Bakes and SaltfishSautéed salt cod with onion, tomato, and pepper tucked into hot fried bakes, the everyday breakfast of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Tri-Tri CakesTiny river fish folded into a herbed batter and fried into crisp golden fritters, a seasonal Saint Vincent delicacy.
Browse all Saint Vincent and the Grenadines recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines meal
Vincentian Fish BlaffDinner
Peanut PunchDrink
Similar dishes from around the world
ConkiesBarbados
DucanaAntigua and Barbuda
Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream)Papua New Guinea
Uht Sukusuk (Pounded Banana with Coconut Cream)Micronesia
Guava DuffBahamas
Thayacha (Andean Frozen Oca)Bolivia
Cuisine
Diet
Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Vincentian Recipes
Vegan Desserts from Around the World
Vegetarian Desserts from Around the World
Gluten-Free Desserts from Around the World
Dairy-Free Desserts from Around the World
Egg-Free Desserts from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Duckanoo?
Sweet spiced cornmeal and coconut tied in banana leaves and boiled, a West African legacy sweet of Saint Vincent.
Where does Duckanoo come from?
Duckanoo is a Vincentian dish from Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Can Duckanoo be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Duckanoo recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Duckanoo safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Duckanoo take to make?
About 70 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 8.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.