🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissauan Cuisine

Cuscus de Milho

Corn Couscous Cake

Prep Time 40 min
Servings 8
Difficulty Easy
Calories 302 kcal

A dense, sweet steamed cake made from corn flour and coconut, wrapped in banana leaves — a traditional snack found at every Guinea-Bissauan market.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Mix corn flour, grated coconut, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
  2. 2 Gradually add warm water, mixing until a thick, moldable dough forms.
  3. 3 Soften banana leaves over an open flame or in hot water.
  4. 4 Place portions of dough onto banana leaf squares. Fold and secure into parcels.
  5. 5 Steam parcels for 30 minutes until firm and cooked through.
  6. 6 Unwrap and serve warm or at room temperature.

Did You Know?

Cuscus vendors in Bissau markets stack their banana-leaf parcels into impressive pyramids — the bigger the pyramid, the better the cuscus, or so they say.