Pudding debate splits island nation

This is not a cricket or politician that causes the most ardent discussion to Antigua and Barbud.

These are the ingredients of your favorite national dish.

The question of whether “Dukon” is worth the sweet potatoes and coconut dumplings – should or should not contain raisins, divided the locals for decades.

Spicy pudding is one of the many products that are widely eaten in the Caribbean country, which comes from Africa and survived to this day.

And its inclusion in the national inventory of the cultural heritage, which is currently being created, looks like to bring back a joking dispute.

Traditional Antigua and Barbuda food is just one of the aspects of the work to preserve different features of Twin Asles for offspring.

Inventory will also include its unique dialect, a bush of medicine, games, crafts, architecture and boats.

Mammoth products, funded by the Cultural Organization of the United Nations UNESCO, are concerned that the key elements of the country’s cultural identity are lost, explains the project leader D -R Hazra Medik.

“There is no longer a traditional transfer of knowledge from older to young people,” she says the BBC.

“Without this, we begin to lose the meaning of the one we are. External influence can dilute the indigenous culture, and people are afraid that what will be lost will be lost.”

More than two dozen specially prepared data collections were tasked with interviewing residents from each parish, collecting stories, photos and information. The results will be carefully included in the public database.

The local author of the joy of Lawren took little encouragement to take part.

The books of the former school teacher are largely focused on the Creole/English dialect of the country, which weaves in many African words from the ancestors of Antigan.

English can be the main language, but it is, which speaks at an accelerated speed, ubiquitous and commonly used to demonstrate kinship and society.

“When the British brought the Africans here, they couldn’t speak in English, and the British couldn’t speak African. Since Africans came from all over and speak different languages, they couldn’t even speak for the most part,” says Ms. Lawrence.

“In order to communicate, the Africans borrowed some vocabulary from the British and included their own pronunciation and syntax to form a case with Pidgin. During the generations, it became improved and developed a structure and grammar.”

A couple of generations ago, the anti -Guuana dialect was squeezed out, and children were usually forbidden to speak at school. There are some who look at the nose today, Mrs. Lawrence mocked.

“Our predecessors worked to make coins in this language,” she claims. “This is our first language; how can we not preserve what ours? This is not a written language, and we write it old, but it has a rhythm and I am proud of it.”

The dialect is characterized by the “economy of words” and rare pronouns, she continues.

“We don’t spend time say” not “; we just say” Tarl. “Instead of” Come here “we say” cumyah.

In places such as school and church, dialect is used for “accent, clarity and reinforcement”. “Because we think in this,” adds Ms. Lawrence.

D -R Medica suggests that differences about the “right” way to do something is one of the reasons for the decline of some cultural practices.

Different methods of stirring “fungus”, corn paste, which also comes from the mother’s continent, and exactly what add to it is another subject of a friendly quarrel.

“There is such an idea that this is done and always needed to do. Sometimes young people shut off without doing it” right “.

“In the seminars we saw the” Mushroom War. “Anti -Guuanans say that it should have a tank, while Barbudans adds peas that signs,” smiles Dr.

Novel Payne-which produces a number of tea, sauces and seasonings under her brand “Granma Aki”-she found out everything she knows from her mother and grandmother, but adds her with her own turning recipes.

“Seasoning is what distinguishes anti -Guang foods – garlic, onions, thyme and seasoning,” she explains.

In many creations, Ms Payne presents local medicinal plants that have long been used to treat everything, cough and fever to rashes and nausea. SOURSOP, LEMONTRASS, Noni and Moringa regularly appear in their syrup and juices.

“Our food is delicious, nutritious and should be stored because it is part of our culture and heritage,” she adds.

Recently, the project began on Antigua’s sister on the island, Barbuda, where Dwight Benjamin seeks to preserve the art of traditional origin.

Mr. Benjamin uses palm leaves to dry for two days to create a bristle before weaving them on a gulf.

The methods were handed over to him by his grandfather, and Mr. Benjamin, an accountant by profession, is one of the few people who are still doing and selling brooms.

He says they remain in high demand among Barbud residents.

“I can be biased, but I find them more effective than the brooms purchased in the store – you feel the difference when using them. They also close more of the earth,” he says.

“This is already widely practiced, but we must protect and document. I hope my son will pick it up.”

For Dr. Medica, the project still has a deeper value.

“When we talk about culture in the Caribbean, we tend to forget about interaction with our colonial past and influence this. We are told that our story began when Africans were brought here, predicting that we came as empty courts No memory, ”she says.

“The most wonderful thing about this work is a great testimony to the content of African culture. As the people we can say,” this is us. “

“In the dialect, if anyone refers to you unfairly, we say” I and anyone), “she adds.” And that’s what this project is; This is a claim to the individual. “