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Fungee and Pepperpot

Fungee and pepperpot is the national dish of Antigua and Barbuda, and although one may think that they are going to be served some kind of mushroom and pepper stew, the truth is far more interesting than the unusual name suggests. Fungee is a bread ball similar to polenta, consisting of cornmeal mixed with okra.


To make fungee, okra is boiled in salted water and mixed with wet cornmeal until the mixture becomes stiff. When the mixture does not stick to the pan, the fungee is ready to be consumed. The key ingredients in pepperpot are leafy vegetables, taro leaves, pumpkin, squash and other vegetables, while the stew is traditionally made with corned beef and offal.


Since this dish consists of two separate meals that are combined together, it can be traced back to the times of slave population in the region, when the combination of cheap meat and carbohydrates provided a balanced and nutritious diet for a day of hard labor, with the added benefit of complex and rich flavors of the stew.