Conkies

History

Wikipedia's kenkey page (citing Atlas Obscura) links conkies to kenkey

Sources

• DPopik transcribes from West Indian and Other Recipes (St. Michael, Barbados: Agricultural Reporter, 1911), pp. 72-73: 'Conkeys. (Mrs. Foderingham.) Beat 6 eggs lightly, and add to them 4 ozs. of sugar, 8 ozs. pumpkin, which has been previously boiled and mashed ...', with steaming instructions. (1911). ADS-L post 'Cou Cou, or Kouka (1911); Calalou (1837)', July 2003, Barry Popik, American Dialect Society mailing list (Linguist List archive)
• SConkies were once tied to Guy Fawkes Day (5 November) in Barbados and are now eaten around Independence Day (30 November); Ghanaian kenkey is 'thought to be the predecessor'. No dates for the dish.. Conkie (en.wikipedia), citing Atlas Obscura 'A Corn Cake That Celebrates Freedom', Wikipedia
• APrimary evidence for the Guy Fawkes link and the wrapper: 'For many people conkies are a "must" when Guy Fawkes Day comes around. From the beginning of November people hunt for the corn flour which is the chief ingredient, and then get in the spice, essence and other condiments. Last but not least they get the banana tree leaves with which the mixture is wrapped when it is put to cook in the pot or saucepan.' Headline: 'Conkies Will Follow Fireworks To-night'. (The newspaper columns are interleaved in the page text; the sentence order is my reconstruction.) Later issues (27 Oct 1951, 1 Nov 1951, 11 Oct 1952) repeat the association and name pumpkin, corn meal and coconut as the materials. (1950-11-04). Barbados Advocate, 4 November 1950, p. 5, Barbados Advocate; Digital Library of the Caribbean page text (UF00098964, vol. 02426)
• ANegative checks (OCR full text searched for conkie / conkey / conky / kankie / cankey): Ligon, A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbados, 1657 and 1673 editions (he describes cassava bread baked on a 'Pone', loblolly and potato drink, but no kenky/conkie); A Short History of Barbados (1768); Dickson, Letters on Slavery (1789); Pinckard, Notes on the West Indies (1806, 1816); Coleridge, Six Months in the West Indies (1826); Thome & Kimball, Emancipation in the West Indies (1838); Schomburgk, The History of Barbados (1848); Stark's History and Guide to Barbados (1903); Aspinall, Pocket Guide to the West Indies. The Digital Library of the Caribbean page-text search returns no Barbadian 'conkies' / 'conkeys' before 1950 (its Barbados Advocate run starts about then; its 1840s issues of The Barbadian have no hit). (1657-1907 (negative)). Internet Archive OCR texts, e.g. b30250717 (Ligon 1657); trueexacthistor00ligo (1673); historyofbarbado00scho_0; dLOC page-text search, R. Ligon; R. H. Schomburgk; others as listed
• ARelated, not the Barbadian dish: the Gold Coast word behind the name is attested as 'Kangues' (de Marees 1602) and 'Canky' (Atkins 1735); see kenkey-fante-dokono. (1602; 1735). see kenkey-fante-dokono evidence, cross-reference

Found by research in October 2026; awaiting editorial review.

Related

• kenkey
• ducana