Sweet Potato Pudding

Anglo-African in origin, settled into its current form in 19th-century Jamaican kitchens that combined British steamed-pudding technique with West African one-pot starch cookery and Caribbean sweet potato (the orange-fleshed variety, batata, not the yam). "Hell a top, hell a bottom, hallelujah in the middle" is the old saying — describing the Dutch-pot method of cooking with coals piled on the lid as well as underneath.

「Hell a top, hell a bottom, hallelujah in the middle」— the Dutch-pot method piles coals on the lid and underneath. Grated raw sweet potato (batata, not yam) is what makes it dense.

A dense dark slab, cool from sitting overnight, sliced like a brownie. Texture is between custard and steamed pudding — yields under the fork, no crumb. Coconut and grated sweet potato lead, then nutmeg, then a slow molasses bitterness from the dark sugar. The crust on top, called the "hell", is chewy and slightly burnt; the center, the "heaven", is soft.

The grated raw sweet potato, not pre-cooked, is what makes the pudding dense rather than fluffy — the starch granules swell slowly in the bake and trap the coconut milk into a custard. Modern oven versions miss the dual-heat coal cook, which is why the top "hell" crust is harder to get right at home; broiling the last 5 minutes is the workaround.