Jamaican Cornmeal and Cheese Cakes (recipe)

Most of the recipes that I post here have been made on a Friday for Shabbat dinner, however there is a significant amount of recipes that are also made around 7p.m. when I get the ‘munchies’. This recipe for Jamaican cornmeal and cheese cakes is just one of those. My mother said she’s never heard of them but she also only likes cornmeal in porridge so I have no idea if this recipe is ‘authentic’ or not. Either way it’s very delicious. The first time I tried this recipe I did not thicken the cornmeal enough so the ‘cakes’ spread too thinly to hold their shape. This time around I made sure to thicken the cornmeal until it wouldn’t even fall off the spoon 🙂 It made a -huge- difference 🙂 I don’t know if it was my stove but the cakes took much longer than I expected to develop a well-defined crust, about 10 minutes per side. This was the only drawback to the recipe, however. Bite-sized in shape, the outsides are crunchy and salty while the insides are smooth and creamy. If you have the time, do give it a whirl!

Jamaican Cornmeal and Cheese Cakes
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Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated cheese
fat for frying

Directions:

1. Bring 3 1/2 cups water to the boil
2. Moisten cornmeal with 1/2 cup cold water and add with salt to pot
3. Stir constantly until mixture gets -quite- thick

4. Add the cheese and let cool

5. Shape into round cakes, about 2.5 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick

6. Pan-fry and drain.