What kind of food do they eat in Guyana?
Guyanese enjoy a variety of dishes on a regular basis, and like in many countries, the food speaks to the country’s past, present and future. Guyana is the only English-speaking country in South America and is home to Kaieteur Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the world. There is no shortage of friendly people in this country and it is also rich in natural beauty. Some of the foods eaten here are as follows.
pepper pot
Pepper Pot is the national dish of the country and is a dish that came from the Amerindians or indigenous people of the land. This meal is usually prepared on Christmas Eve or in the early hours of Christmas morning. It is then served for breakfast on Christmas morning. It is served with bread, preferably homemade bread, and steaming or warm chocolate “tea”. You would dip a piece of bread in the Pepper Shaker and eat and when you have the last piece of bread in your hand, you would use it to absorb every drop of this delicious and special dish.
Some of the ingredients of this dish are oxtail, beef, pork, seasoning and casareep. Cassareep is made from cassava root and is a black liquid that is also used in many other dishes here.
metégee
Metegee is an all-in-one dish, made with ground provisions and “meat”. Cassava, plantain, eddoes, and potatoes are some of the ground provisions used, and for meat, choose eggs, beef, pork, chicken, or fish. After the meat is cooked, the ground provision is gradually added to the pot, then a little coconut milk, which helps to thicken the “sauce” in this meal. Of course, if the egg is the only “meat” used, it’s usually added last.
fruit
In this land of many waters, parents do not usually have to fight with their children to eat its fruits. In fact, it is the other way around. They have to tell them to stop eating so much. There are many houses that have at least one fruit tree growing in their yards. It can be a mango, a cherry tree, a pear or a tamarind, the Guyanese also eat guineps, pineapple, banana and the list goes on.
For more information on this topic and to find many recipes, the book What’s Cooking in Guyana from the Carnegie School of Home Economics is a good place to look.