Metemgee

The Method for Metemgee

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1. Put the cassava, taro, onion, garlic, thyme, scotch bonnet, coconut milk, 600 ml water and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

   Mark done Start 20 min timer

2. Add the sweet potato and plantain and simmer for 15 minutes.

   Mark done Start 15 min timer

3. Mix the flour with 80 ml water to a firm dough. Roll small pieces between your palms into thin spinners.

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4. Drop in the spinners and spring onions and simmer for 15 minutes without stirring hard until the broth is thick. Remove the thyme stalks and scotch bonnet before serving.

   Mark done Start 15 min timer

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What Can Go Wrong

1. Cut the roots to a similar size so they cook at the same pace.
2. Add boiling water, not cold, if the pot needs more liquid.
3. Leave the chilli whole for flavour without fierce heat.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• If coconut is a problem, a cooking cream (dairy or plant-based) can stand in for the coconut milk in a sauce; the dish will lose the coconut flavour and taste noticeably different.
• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.

Good to Know About Metemgee

Add the vegetables in order of hardness, because that is the whole technique. Metemgee is a pot of provisions, the Guyanese word for starchy roots and plantain, cooked in coconut milk, and the pieces are different sizes and densities. Put them in together and some turn to mush while others stay chalky.

Start with the cassava and taro, which need the longest, then the sweet potato and plantain, then the spinners. Spinners are small dumplings of flour and water rolled between the palms; they thicken the broth as they cook.

Thyme, spring onions, garlic and one whole scotch bonnet flavour the coconut milk. Do not stir hard after the spinners go in, or they break up. The finished pot should be thick and creamy, with every root soft but still in its own shape. Salt the broth at the end, once the roots have soaked up some of the flavour, because it reduces as it cooks.

What to Serve It With

Fried fish · Salted fish · Pepper sauce · Steamed greens

Storing Leftovers

Keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat with a splash of water, as the roots absorb the broth.

What's in a Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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