Fish and Fungi

Fungi (pronounced foon-gee), the national dish of St. Croix, has nothing to do with mushrooms. It’s a variation on fufu, a pounded starch that’s a staple of many regional African cuisines. Enslaved people brought this filling side dish to the Caribbean and Latin America, where it’s often made with cornmeal instead of yams or cassava. Here, fried fish is paired with fungi, then doused in a flavorful sauce thickened with okra. It’s comforting—and tells a rich story of adaptation.