A modern day twist on an old classic infamous Jamaican dish made with coarse cornmeal, homemade saltfish, thyme, scallion, thyme, tomato and simmered in coconut milk. The most delicious fluffy turned style cornmeal you will ever taste!!
I’m so excited to share this recipe with you all. It’s fairly straight forward and equally as filling too, most of the ingredients are what you will find in a typical Caribbean household. Enjoy your turn cornmeal alone, or simply as a side dish.
What is turn cornmeal
Often referred to as turned cornmeal or tun cornmeal (in Jamaican patios) is a dish made primarily from cornmeal, coconut milk, water along some herb, spices and even vegetables of your choice.
The base of the recipe – herbs, spices and vegetables are cooked then the coconut milk is added and finally the cornmeal/water is mixed together and stirred into the saucepan until the mixture thickens up.
To Turn the cornmeal simply means to turn until a thick, mush texture is achieved. Jamaican cornmeal tends to be quite dense, not soft and can be scrambled especially as it cools down.
In terms of what it’s served with most people eat it with steamed fish, curry chicken or an assortment of vegetables if they are vegan.
The good, the bad and the ugly
As with most cultures, there are some foods that are embraced while others are frowned upon and stigmatized. For many Jamaicans, turn cornmeal has it’s negative connotations because it is considered poor mans food as well as what’s fed to the dogs.
There tends to be a divide among the people of Jamaica, those that embrace it and those who refuse to consume it. I guess the poor man’s dish comes from many generations ago where times were hard and food such as this was seen as a luxury.
My mother and grandmother raised me to eat turn cornmeal, although it wasn’t made very often.
My grandmother would usually make it if she wanted something different and/or she wasn’t in the mood to stay in the kitchen for too long. We would make two versions – sweet and the other being savoury.
Don’t be swayed by the negative association with this dish. I can promise you, stigma aside, it’s utterly delicious and extremely filling albeit it may not look very appetising on a plate.
Alternative names
There are various places within the Caribbean and throughout the world that eat this dish or similar but call it something else.
In Italy it is known as polenta, a type of mush consisting of boiled cornmeal.
In Barbados, it is known as cou cou and forms part of the national dish which is served with flying fish. Other islands such as Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada referred it as cou cou (coo coo).
Haitans refer to this as mayi moulen.
While Antigua and Barbuda, Virgin Islands, St Kitts and Nevis know it as fungi. The dutch islands such as Aruba call it funchi and in certain parts of Africa it is known as Ugali or maize meal.
How to cook turn cornmeal
- Pour the cornmeal in a bowl/jug and mix together with the water to form a liquid paste then set aside.
- On medium heat, use a medium sized pot and add olive oil then proceed to saute the onion, scallion and garlic until soft and translucent.
- Now add the tomato, saltfish, thyme, all purpose seasoning, black pepper and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and add the dairy free butter.
- Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let the coconut milk heat up for 2 minutes
- Slowly pour the cornmeal paste/mixture into the pot while stirring vigorously with the other hand until it starts to thicken (it should look like a milky/porridge consistency to begin with)
- Cover the pot with a lid and let it steam/cook for a total of 30 minutes, check and gently stir (3-4 turns) every 10 minutes. Around the 25 minute mark is where you want to really focus on increasing the heat to medium-high and stirring to bring the cornmeal together. Stir, fold and cut the turn cornmeal as it thickens. It should pull away from the sides of the pot with ease
- Serve accordingly. as the cornmeal cools down it separates and scrambles very easily.
Notes and tips
- I personally recommend using the coarse textured cornmeal to make this recipe.
- Make sure to follow the instructions to the TEE, especially it’s your first time making the recipe
- Do not increase the heat (unless stated) or try to hasten the cooking process or you run the risk of ruining the dish.
- Make sure the heat is reduced when pouring the cornmeal mixture to avoid lumps and the cornmeal from thickening too quickly. If it thickens too fast it won’t cook properly.
- The cornmeal should be dense and scrambles/breaks apart especially as it cools.
- Coarse cornmeal takes slightly longer then it’s finer counterpart to cook.
- It’s best to serve immediately or warm at best
- Add a splash of water if you intend to reheat first of all.
Useful Ingredients To Use In This Recipe
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Saltfish Turn Cornmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cups of coarse cornmeal 250g
- 1 can of full fat coconut milk 400ml/2 cups
- 2 cups of water 400ml
- 1 cup of cooked saltfish 90g (see post for homemade recipe)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 scallion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 4 sprigs of thyme stem removed or 1/1 tbsp dried
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp all purpose seasoning optional, see post for recipe
- 2 tbsp of dairy free butter
- 2 tbsp of olive oil or coconut oil
Instructions
- Pour the cornmeal in a bowl/jug and mix together with the water to form a liquid paste then set aside.
- On medium heat, use a medium sized pot and add olive oil then proceed to saute the onion, scallion and garlic until soft and translucent.
- Now add the tomato, saltfish, thyme, all purpose seasoning, black pepper and continue cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and add the dairy free butter.
- Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let the coconut milk heat up for 2 minutes
- Slowly pour the cornmeal paste/mixture into the pot while stirring vigorously with the other hand until it starts to thicken (it should look like a milky/porridge consistency to begin with)
- Cover the pot with a lid and let it steam/cook for a total of 30 minutes, check and gently stir (3-4 turns) every 10 minutes. Around the 25 minute mark is where you want to really focus on increasing the heat to medium-high and stirring to bring the cornmeal together. Stir, fold and cut the turn cornmeal as it thickens. It should pull away from the sides of the pot with ease
- Serve accordingly. as the cornmeal cools down it separates and scrambles very easily.
Notes
- I personally recommend using the coarse textured cornmeal to make this recipe.
- Make sure to follow the instructions to the TEE, especially it's your first time making the recipe, do not increase the heat (unless stated) or try to hasten the cooking process or you run the risk of ruining the dish.
- Make sure the heat is reduced when pouring the cornmeal mixture to avoid lumps and the cornmeal from thickening too quickly. If it thickens too fast it won't cook properly.
- Turn cornmeal should be dense and scrambles/breaks apart especially as it cools.
- Coarse cornmeal takes slightly longer then it's finer counterpart to cook.
- It's best to serve immediately or warm at best
- Add a splash of water if you intend to reheat first of all.
Nutrition
I have never heard of this recipe before, but it looks delicious. 🙂
Thank you Carrie
We love Caribbean food but I’ve never tried this. Will have to give it a go!
Thanks Helen. Enjoy!
I haven’t tried anything like this before. Your post of very informative and now I am excited to try it.
No problem Angela
Lobster was a “poor man’s” food at one time too… I can’t wait to try this!
Yes. It certainly was! Thanks Alisa.
What an interesting and tasty sounding dish. I love learning about the foods of cultures I’m unfamiliar with.
You are welcome Pam.