Funchi

Funchi is the cornmeal staple at the heart of Curaçaoan cooking, the island's answer to polenta and the side that turns up beside almost every stew and fish plate. Cornmeal is whisked into salted water (and sometimes a little butter) and stirred hard over the heat until it thickens and pulls away from the pot, then shaped into a firm block or mound. Plain funchi is mild and slightly nutty, a neutral base whose job is to soak up the sauce of whatever it accompanies.

There is also a beloved second life for it. Once the funchi has set firm, it can be sliced and pan-fried or grilled into crisp golden sticks, sometimes called funchi fries, which are eaten as a snack or a side in their own right. The contrast of a crunchy exterior and a soft centre makes fried funchi a favourite, and it shows up everywhere from home kitchens to casual eateries.

What it goes with

Funchi is the classic partner to stoba, kabritu stoba, and fried snapper, and it is the cornmeal scoop traditionally eaten with guiambo soup. Where there is a saucy Krioyo dish, there is usually funchi alongside.

• Plain funchi is naturally vegetarian and gluten-free, made from just cornmeal, water, and salt.
• Ask for it pan-fried if you want the crisp version as a snack.

You will meet funchi on nearly every Krioyo plate in Willemstad, so think of it as the foundation the rest of the meal is built on.