Guyana @ 50 - Cook-Up Rice

Today is Guyana's 50th anniversary of Independence. I deliberately chose to showcase Cook-up Rice today because I think it is a dish that is truly representative of Guyana. In past writings, I have used this dish as a metaphor to describe us - people of various ethnicities, cultural practices and walks of life - coming together in a singularly unique, creative and cohesive way to create a nation of people called Guyanese.

Just as a pot of Cook-up Rice is made up of various ingredients, each with its own distinctive properties such as textures and flavours, so too are we; we're all different and each one of us brings something special to the table. Just as a pot of Cook-up with various "obstacles" needs to have the ingredients staggered in the cooking process, so too do we in getting people to come to see that in order to survive and live well with each other, that we need to come together. Just as a pot of Cook-up requires the knowledge of a skilful cook to marshal the diverse ingredients into a cohesive dish, one where each ingredient offers an inimitable contribution to the taste, so too do we need leaders to move our country forward while making all of us feel equally important to the process and the sharing of the benefits.

Cook-up Rice ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Pepperpot

Pepperpot is a famous Guyanese Christmas dish, though these days, some people make it all year round. It is a dish that originated with our Indigenous Peoples. The use of cassareep (a concentrated syrup made from the juice of grated cassava that has boiled for hours until it becomes very thick and black) is a key ingredient in the making of Pepperpot. The taste of cassareep is deliciously complex with hints of sweet, savoury and caramel. The preservative elements of cassareep is what facilitates Pepperpot being kept at room temperature for days and weeks without spoilage. Pepperpot is heated to a boil twice daily.

Read more about Pepperpot here.

Pepperpot ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Plantains

Plantains in all stages are used in Guyana and the Caribbean. Whether green, turning, ripe or over/very ripe, we use plantains to make side dishes, main dishes, appetizers and snacks. Oh and we can't forget porridge. A favourite way of many is to enjoy fried ripe plantains (choose plantains that are very ripe with the skins partially or fully blackened). The high sugar content at this stage of ripeness quickly browns and caramelizes; pan-fried in a little oil these become morsels of pleasure. I find that adding a light sprinkling of sea salt while they are still hot, melts and creates a sweet-salty combo that you can't get enough of.

Fried Ripe Plantains ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Markets

There are fresh markets all over Guyana. In many parts of the country you can find daily wet and dry markets. Some places have weekly and weekend market activities. Stabroek Market is located in the heart of the city.  It is also one of the city's iconic landmarks. The entire area around the market is always bustling with activity. In addition to fresh produce, meat and seafood, you can find shoes, clothing, jewellery and many household items. When you're done shopping refresh yourself with a snow cone, or depending on where you shop, shaved ice or fresh cane juice.

Snow Cone ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Bakes

Bakes - a category food taken very seriously in the Caribbean with deep roots in our history. In Guyana alone, there are over 3 dozen types of bakes and the naming of these bakes run the gamut from literal to emotive, to methodic to cultural and more. The bakes shown here today are called fry bakes (literal), floats, float bakes (methodic), Indian bakes (cultural) and this is just a sampling.

Bakes ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Gooseberry Syrup

Gooseberry Syrup is a childhood favourite. It is the transformation of tart green berries into soft, sweet berries in thick syrup, cooked with sugar and spices. The colour transformation from green to this rich, almost burgundy, always surprises and delights. While this berry-treat is mostly eaten as is, it is excellent over ice cream or topped on a cheesecake! Actually you can use it to top many desserts that can be served with a chunky berry sauce.

Gooseberry Syrup ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Coal Pot

There is great skill to be learnt from cooking with a coal pot. This is not cooking by numbers or by measurements of heat such as high, low, medium etc. Lighting the coals, knowing when they are hot, discerning the amount of coal required based on what is being cooked and how it is being cooked is not something that one can learn in any cookbook. You learn by seeing AND doing.

Coal Pot ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Fried Rice

In every country, there is a dish that comes to define and challenge a home cook. The ability to make the dish is not just a mark of accomplishment, it speaks directly to the skill of the cook, creativity, and efforts to put their stamp on the dish to make it their own. In Guyana, there are many such dishes - Cook-up Rice, Pepperpot, Garlic Pork, Pound Cake, Roti... the list is long and includes Fried Rice.

Ask a home cook and he/she will tell you of their special way of cooking the rice to make fried rice. The ingredients used to season the rice becomes their signature blend and the method of combining the rice with vegetables and meat (if using) is unique to each cook. Fried Rice is also one of those dishes that we are constantly working on to perfect. We want to replicate a particular taste and texture that we've enjoyed at our favourite restaurant or at the home of family and or friends. For us, Fried Rice is more than just tossing day-old rice with veggies.

Pork Fried Rice ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Condiments

We take our condiments as seriously as we take the food itself. Sour, pepper sauce and achar of various varieties are made at home and available widely for sale. Achar and Pepper sauce are always available at meal time. Jars, bottles and containers of these spicy, hot, tart, condiments have a place of prominence on kitchen counters and dining tables.

Condiments ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Mettagee

This one-pot meal of Ground Provisions (roots and tubers) cooked in fresh-squeezed coconut milk, onions, fragrant herbs, hot peppers, and sometimes seasoned with salt fish cooked IN the pot or salted pig-tail or beef, is what I call soul food. Mettagee, or Metem for short, fills and satisfies you in such a way that once eaten, you feel like all will be well.

As with most one-pot dishes there is a certain skill and technique to staggering some of the ingredients so that everything finishes cooking at the same time without one ingredient being overcooked or turning to mush.

Mettagee ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Pressure Cooker

Almost every home in Guyana has at least 1 pressure cooker, often there is more than one. And Hawkins is a household name in Guyana. We use these pots to make Pepperpot, Soups, Dhal, and Stews among other things. Many pots of Cook-up Rice are started in a pressure cooker with tripe, beef, salt meat and rehydrated beans and peas being tenderised and cooked before the other ingredients are added.

Many of the pressure cookers have been in households for ages and there are many stories to tell, even scary ones. These pots are indispensable in our kitchens.

Pressure Cooker ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Conkie

Conkie/Konkee is a sweet pudding steamed in banana leaves. Made primarily of cornmeal and pumpkin and flavoured with spices, Conkie gets is colour from the deep, rich, sweet, orange-flesh pumpkin (known as Calabaza or simply West Indian pumpkin). This is quite a treat; it takes hand-grating of the ingredients to give the desired smooth texture to the pudding when steamed.

Conkie ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Duck Curry

We Guyanese like we curry! We have this saying - as long as it moves, we can curry it. Ain't that the truth. Duck Curry or Curry Duck seems to have a special hold on us. We make this curry when we are sporting (liming), having family and friends over, on special occasions or when we feel like eating it. In many cooking competitions, Duck Curry is the number one or main item around which the competition is centered.

From the masala mix to the type of pot to the kind of heat for the cooking - fireside, stovetop, wood or coals - all factor in when it comes to cooking duck curry. Whenever we went to visit my maternal aunts and uncle in the country, they would abandoned their stoves and pressure cookers for the fireside and big karahi for the cooking of duck curry.

Duck Curry ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Liver & Onions

When you live in a multi-cultural society like Guyana, your meals are diverse. For example, you could eat an Indian dish for breakfast, Chinese for lunch and Indigenous for dinner. Each meal takes you on a journey around the country. Sunday morning breakfast for us was fried (sautéed) bolanger/baigan (eggplant) with bread. I hated it. Liver & Onions was a favourite in many households; now this is the kind of Sunday morning breakfast I could get behind.

Liver & Onions ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Stewed Fish

In Guyana we get an astounding array of fish. There is so much variety that you can eat a different type of fish each day for 3 weeks, and that is based on my conservative count and limited knowledge. We prepare fish in many ways - curried, fried, steamed, smoked, salted, choka, baked, roasted, fried as fritters and blackened. A popular way to cook fish is stewed. The fish is first seasoned, fried lightly and then cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, lots of onions, fresh Guyanese thyme, celery, hot peppers, garlic and whatever else a cook feels will elevate the stew.

Stewed Fish ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Baked Chicken

Each country in the Caribbean boasts of its baked chicken and while they are all tasty in their own right, I prefer my Guyanese style of baked chicken. Each household has its own way of seasoning and marinating the chicken. In our home, a fresh herb paste (green seasoning) would be made the same day to rub all over the pieces of chicken. Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, a little cassareep (just for colour, not too much), ubiquitous Chinese sauce, freshly grated ginger, garlic and hot pepper sauce would all be added to the chicken. The seasoned chicken would be stored in an airtight container and be refrigerated overnight for a nice long marination. I think that that is one of the 'secrets' to our baked chicken tasting so good.

The next day, everything - chicken and marinade - would get put into a large oven proof dish and be baked until cooked, appealingly browned, with its own sauce.

Baked Chicken ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Sour

Sour ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Butterflaps

Guyana has a very rich baking tradition of breads, rolls, cakes, pastries, and biscuits, among other things. Butterflaps are a type of bread roll. The dough is smeared with butter and folded twice (hence the flap) and baked. As soon as the rolls are removed from the oven, they are lovingly brushed with melted butter and left to cool. Butterflaps are best enjoyed warm.

Butterflaps ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - White-belly Shrimp

White-belly shrimp is a variety of small shrimp that we get in Guyana. It is an everyday seafood that is mostly sautéed with vegetables. They can be made into Guyanese-style fish cakes and fritters. A favourite way to enjoy them is in the style of curry we call bunjal (dry curry); when cooked this way, we eat it with dhal and rice. Yum!

Bunjal Shrimp ©Cynthia Nelson

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Guyana @ 50 - Roti

In Guyana we make several types of roti(s), and though the influence is from India, we have definitely put our stamp on this favourite flat bread with the use of leavening agents such as powder and yeast, depending on the type of roti made. We also mostly use all-purpose flour for our roti(s) even though wholewheat roti(s), especially sada are increasingly popular.

Our roti(s) are plain such as our Paratha or Dosti roti or they can be stuffed as is the case with our Dhal Puri and Aloo (potato) roti. Potato roti is one of those roti(s) that is meant to be eaten on its own due to the savoury spiced filling of mashed potatoes.

The photograph of this the 31st day of the Guyana @ 50 Food Photo Project shows potato roti being cooked on a tawah.

Potato Roti Cooking ©Cynthia Nelson

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