Metemgee: Guyanese Root Vegetables and Duff Simmered in Coconut Milk

Guyanese "Provisions" in One Pot

In Guyana, root vegetables such as cassava, sweet potato, eddoe (a relative of taro), and yam are collectively called "provisions." They are staples that support everyday meals, and metemgee is a dish that simmers those provisions soft in coconut milk. The English Wikipedia describes metemgee as a kind of thick soup made with provisions, coconut milk, and large dumplings called "duff," eaten with fried fish or chicken.

The New York Caribbean newspaper Caribbean Today introduces metem as "something like a Guyanese Creole soup." The contents are dumplings, cassava, yam, plantain, and okra, basically stewed in a chile-spiked coconut milk sauce. Salted beef or smoked meat and eggs boiled in their shells are added, and it is common to serve fried fish beside the plate.

Whether to include meat depends on the household. Clove Garden, an American cooking-resource site, introduces the meatless version as "a surprisingly flavorful vegetarian dish," adding that in the Caribbean it is still often topped with fried salted fish or meat. It is easiest to think of root vegetables and coconut milk as the stars, with the protein as a side you are free to choose.

Guyanese cooking is also famous for pepperpot, with its meat stewed black in cassareep, and for cook-up rice, cooked with beans and rice in coconut milk. Metemgee is different from both: it uses no rice, and fills the stomach with fluffy root vegetables and dumplings. Even with the same coconut milk, the impression when you eat it is quite different.

Ingredients (serves 4)

This is a home formulation based on the Caribbean Today recipe, converted to ingredients and amounts that are easy to find outside Guyana.

How to Make Metemgee

Allow about 40 minutes for prep and making the dumplings, and about 60 minutes to simmer the root vegetables and finish. The parboiling of the plantain goes on at the same time, in a pot beside the one where the root vegetables simmer.

Tips for Simmering Without Breaking the Dumplings

The Caribbean Today recipe also stresses placing the dumplings and okra gently on the root vegetables and not stirring the pot much. Think of the dumplings not as boiling submerged in the broth but as cooking in steam on top of the root vegetables. The layer of root vegetables serves as a platform, so it matters not to add too much liquid at this stage.

A guide for the broth is that it clings thickly to the root vegetables. The starch dissolved out of the cassava and sweet potato gives the coconut milk a natural body. If it feels too thin, don't add flour; removing the lid and reducing for about 5 minutes over low heat is enough.

A Vegetarian Version, and a Version with Added Meat

The vegetarian version, made with no meat and only root vegetables, plantain, dumplings, and okra, is the way that best conveys the sweetness of the coconut milk. Caribbean Today also writes that to make it vegan you simply leave out the meat, eggs, and fish. In that case, replace the butter in the dumplings with plant-based margarine and mix the dough with water, not milk.

In place of bacon, salted pork or smoked turkey gives a smoky aroma closer to local recipes. If you want something easy to buy, you can also parboil bone-in smoked ham or spare ribs and use them. As for the fish, instead of frying, you can serve flaked salt cod braised with tomato and onion, and its saltiness brings out the sweetness of the root vegetables.

How to Serve

Plate the root vegetables, plantain, dumplings, and okra together in a deep dish and spoon over plenty of broth. According to Caribbean Today, the style is to set the fried fish beside the plate and to serve the eggs in the shell. Each person peels their own eggs and eats them, breaking the yolk into the broth.

If you want to make another Guyanese dish cooked with coconut milk, try cook-up rice (in Japanese), with beans and chicken cooked together with rice. Set beside pepperpot, with its meat stewed black in cassareep, it shows well the breadth of the cooking of one country. A dish of root vegetables and dumplings simmered in coconut milk also connects to Grenada's oil down (in Japanese).

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I can't get cassava?

Increase the sweet potato and add potato or taro. You won't get the chewy texture of cassava, but it still works as a dish of root vegetables stewed in coconut milk. Taro is a close relative of Guyana's eddoe.

Can I use banana instead of plantain?

Dessert bananas melt easily when simmered and give off a strong sweetness. If you use them, choose firm ones that still have some green, do not parboil, and add them for the last 10 minutes. The result is different from plantain.

How can I reduce the heat?

Simmer without the Scotch bonnet and add a hot sauce of your choice at the table. Even if you put it in whole, the heat stays mild as long as it does not break. If the heat comes out too strong, take it out early.

Can I make it ahead?

When the stew cools, the root vegetables absorb liquid and set, and the dumplings tighten. If you refrigerate it and eat it the next day, add a little water and reheat over low heat until hot to the center. I can't give a clear figure for how many days it keeps, so finish it soon. Store the fried fish separately.

Which ingredients should I watch for allergies?

It uses wheat in the dumplings and the coating on the fish, egg in the stew, and dairy (butter and milk) in the dumplings. To avoid wheat, leave out the dumplings and increase the root vegetables; you can also leave out the egg and dairy.

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