Inside the traditional kitchen in the national museum of Curaçao we all got together from the mother country in 16 October 2001 called world nourishment day to remind us of a reason to use the wealth of food of our own soil. Small corn (maishi chiki), is actually a millet sort and is the raw material for “funchi”, agitated corn mash. That was for long decades the main part of the meal for the inhabitants of Curaçao. After threshing the whisks of grains are cooked and to a thick mash. Constantly agitated with the Funchiholz (palu di funchi), which is made of Karawaraholz (buchsbaum). Other wood sorts are not suitable for it, since they are too porous, splinter, or give a after-taste to the meal. Left over Funchi is gladly baked with dinner.

An age-old, very nutritious meal is ”mangusá”, made in a pot from corn, beans and peanuts, over which sugar is strewn. The peanuts cultivated here are not roasted, but are freshly processed in the meal. If one also adds Kuerbis, then the meal is called ”sambumbu”.

Particular preference is still “yambo” - Okra (Hibiscus esculentus) - as main part for a slimy soup. Further additions are “yorki”, gepoekeltes or sun dried meat and more gesalzener and/or on the hot stove plate dried fish. Usually it is named “masbango”, a mild Sardine, also added sometimes are sea-snails (kiwas) and land crabs.

In the past Yambo in small cooked called “Zùs di Marche Bieu” (sister of the old market) in Punda, which most well-known cook of the city center, with which the menu still offered daily on the bill of fare. It was a problem fast to probably agitate in “wea di the granite”, an enamel pot, because otherwise the soup burns fast on therein. But the color remains magnificently green at present if an aluminum pot is used for it, however thick-walled. Cheap thin aluminum pots are unsuitable therein the soup gets a grey color.

Added to the agricultural products such as corn, peanuts, Okra, Kuerbis, zuckerrohr are fruits, like wassermelone, coconut, Mango, Mispel and sour bag (Stachelanone) and also wild-increasing vegetables were prepared and for fruit places. Examples of it are “kadushi”, and “guyaba”.

By the feingemahlenen stacks of the Kadushi (Cereus repandus) a popular soup is still made. (note: An arm of the Saeulenkaktus Kadushi is actually reduced. The star shaped cross section permits to cut the incite-rising up points off in each case in a row. From the gaps a wax/leather-like skin is removed. The green meat lies open now with a spoon can be removed and one smashes the skin with a steak hammer. Of it the soup is made, not of the holzigen stacks!) The soup is eaten with Funchi, just as the soup estimated of the Fischern “awa di playa” (beach water). The main parts of it are a heap fresh fish and pepper, which say like the people believe, give strength and thins the blood. (note: One peppers here not with normal pepper, but with an extremely sharp Peperoniart “pika”, which also means sin. The schoten look like Miniaturpaprika, it give them in red, yellow and green, and they are cultivated also here.) The sea gives much edibles here to the people: Snails, calamari, shells, crabs and mollusks. If fishermen had at times no success, then they made “watapóti”: Soup from sea water and stones from the sea. During cooking the foam was spooned away, because in it was most of the salt Some “lamunchi” (lemon) and pepper in addition, and one had nevertheless something to meals. As delicate-eat applies still still the iguana soup (sòpi yuana). It tasres like chicken soup, but one says power-increasing effect to her after. On chamfering days one ate in former times much “sòpi di palu” from Tamarindefruechten one prepared. The fruits were gotten from the schoten and under constant agitating with the Quirl “palu di lèlè” thus are cooked enough until the hard cores sank on the soil. The water was poured off by a filter. The mash, which remained remaining, was eaten with zimt and sugar. Some Tamarindefruechte in the meal were also a good replacement for vinegar. A special meal was “pia stinki” or stinking foot. Pater Paul Brenneker tells in its book”Sambumbu”, Volkskunde of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire that a goat foot in charcoal ash was turned, wound into a cloth, and entrenched then, to it began to decay. Then it was only roasted and prepared. A well edible agave sort is “kuku”. One cuts the fleshy sheets off and lets her a few days lie. Dan dig one a kuhle, into which one puts dry Kadushiholz. This set one in fire and put on the hot glowing stones, on which one distributes then the agave sheets and also some crushed wild pumpkin. The whole is covered carefully with sheets and filled up then with sand. Two days later one smells that kuku is. The cookies then become called “kuku di indjan” after an unknown source of Pater Brenneker taste them after pineapple and one gets drunk, if one eats too much of it. It comes in many variations. “sunú”, “manteka” and “tutu di sebu” are called too hard mash the fladen with sugar and cattle cooked from Sorghummehl -, pig or goat fat and Spanish pepper. Still if beans are in it, it means”tutu di bonchi”. One delicate-eats was tripe with pigs feet “pia ku mondongo”, exactly the same, as “sopitu”, a soup from more feingeraspelter and then pressed out coconut, salt meat, drying fish and different spices. Geraspeltes coconut meat is an also important component of”arepa”, a cookie sort, those on the stove plate”kasuela” one baked. Corn flour and brown sugar are the remaining added. In kalkwasser eingeweichte corn grains become with coconut meat verzehrt (zjazjimein). The production of Naschwerk is still a popular pastime on Curaçao. In the household such are not only manufactured for the own need, but also for the sales consists of Kalebassenkernen, which are cooked with brown sugar to a firm mass from gemahlenen peanuts, sugars and is milk made ”kokada” from Kokosraspeln with sugar. Whole peanuts with sugar devoted ”djente di kachó”, Sasamsamen with sugar ”zjozjolí” and from milk and sugar one can do different t”kos di lèchi” make. This Leckereien, everything a sort hard cookies, gives it in the most adventurous colors.