The ducunu that is made in Belize is Maya-African. It is essentially a savory corn tamal made from young sweet corn, flavored with cocoanut milk and other ingredients and then steamed in corn husks. The Maya were making their version of the dish long before the birth of Christ. The Maya- Belizean ducunu (tamal) uses corn but the Africans who settled in Belize introduced coconut milk and other flavoring to make it a unique Belizean dish. Africans were not totally unfamiliar with corn as a primary ingredient for ducunu but they used mostly cassava or yam as the primary ingredient in their version. Belizean cuisine or Creole Cuisine blend Maya-Mestizo, African, East Indian, Spanish and other ethic techniques and ingredients to bring together the distinct flavors of Belize. Anchiote paste (recardos) for instance is heavily used by the Maya to season some of their dishes but recardos is so commonplace in Belize that it is now regarded as totally Belizean. When you use Wikipedia as your primary research tool you sometimes fail to get a full and composite picture of things you need to see and understand. You cannot superimpose your Afrocentric ideals over the Belizean narrative. The fact is Belize is a muti-ethnic, multi-cultural society and many people of different ethnicities live together sidet by side, borrowing heavily from each other and in the process creating and recreating new spins on things..
I have been to Belize its culture is like Jamaica in many ways. Jamaica is really Taino, Spanish, English and African. I even thought I saw some East Indians in the sugar areas which we have. Caribbean foods are very similar and are melting pots. Only found in the Americas.
Ducunu is African but tamalito is Maya. Chef Kuylens recipe was a combination of both. Tamalitos that we make in the northern part of Belize do not have coconut milk. Thanks for making cooking fun and exciting.
I grew up in Jamaica saying dukunu and blue draws. I know our culture is a mixture of Africans, Indians, Chinese, Middle Easterners, and Europeans etc. No need to start world war three!
DUKUNU HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MAYA. It is not related to Tamales. Dukunu comes from WEST AFRICA. They call it "Blue Draws" in Jamaica, "Dukana" in Antigua, "Payme" in Trinidad & Tobago and "Conkies" in Barbados. Please correct this.
pgbk87 Why are you angry? You are misinformed. Corn is native to the Americas and was a staple to native civilizations like the Aztec and Maya, so this dish has EVERYTHING to do with indigenous people people like the Maya. The primary ingredient in dukunu which is corn makes this indigenous food. The corn husk it is cooked in and the manner in which it is cooked (steamed in corn husks) makes this indigenous food. None of this is of African origin. This IS related to tamales, especially "tamales de elote" which is the Mexican version of dukunu and has the exact same basic ingredients. Just because people of African descent in the Americas such as in Jamaica, Antigua and Barbados make this doesn't make it African. It means that the African peoples brought to the Americas learned from indigenous populations and adapted indigenous foods so it became part of their diet too. It also means they combined indigenous foods/methods/ingredients with African ones and European ones to create new dishes. You cannot eat indigenous food made with indigenous ingredients and prepared in an indigenous method and say "it has nothing to do with indigenous people, it is African". Stop erasing indigeneity through your ignorance. Whether you like it or not, Belizean, Caribbean and all food from the Americas has A LOT of indigenous influence. The cook in this very video looks indigenous. You are completely delusional and racist.
mayas make their dukunu better and taste better.because they uses the young corn and cuts fresh from the farm. and yes its has to do with the indeginious mayas .if you dont like the mayan people first go and see and live in their life .its a beautiful culture .
+Orquidea Feroz You are very uneducated. I will educate you now, so you don't sound stupid again. It's origins are from Africa. Brought to South American and made a little bit different. Most of South America culture comes form Africa and changed a little bit. Including food. You're welcome. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenkey
pgbk87 uh, I'm not Belizean, but American with Native American ancestry, and Ducunu is a VERY Indigenous cuisine! Here in the USA, Indigenous people call it kneel down bread. The only difference is that our kneel down bread is only young corn and nothing else, just the fresh corn. But I can even see the connection between my folks, and my Maya cousins. That's not to say it doesn't have ANY outside influence. All I'm saying is that the dish clearly originates in the Americas with Indigenous Americans with influence from West Africa and Spain.
