It is not cricket or politics that triggers the most ardent debate in Antigua and Barbuda. It is the ingredients of a beloved national dish. The question of whether “ducana” – a sweet potato and coconut dumpling – should or should not contain raisins has divided local residents for decades. The piquant pudding is one of many foods widely eaten in the Caribbean country that has its origins in Africa and has survived to this day. And its inclusion in a national inventory of cultural heritage currently being created looks set to reignite the jocular dispute. Antigua and Barbuda’s traditional food is just one aspect of the work under way to preserve the twin isles’ distinct features for posterity. The inventory will also include its unique dialect, bush medicine, games, crafts, architecture and boat-building techniques. The mammoth venture, being funded by the United Nations cultural body, Unesco, follows concerns that key elements of the country’s cultural identity are being lost, explains project leader Dr Hazra Medica. There is no longer the traditional transmission of knowledge from older to younger people, she tells the BBC. Without that, we start to lose the sense of who we are. Outside influences can dilute indigenous culture and people fear that what is peculiarly Antiguan will be lost.
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