What are some Guyanese foods?

Question

What are some Guyanese foods?

Answer 1

Guyanese Coconut Buns

"My best friend gave me this recipe she was given while in British Guyana. You can substitute butter with margarine if the thought of a half pound of butter terrifies you :-) These are really delicious!"

  

INGREDIENTS

250 g all-purpose flour

200 g white sugar

5 g baking powder

3 g salt

225 g butter, cut into pieces

2 eggs

120 ml milk

5 ml vanilla extract

3 ml almond extract

70 g flaked coconut

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter, and cut in using a pastry blender or a fork until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients. Add coconut, and mix just enough to blend. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Answer 2

Guyanese foods have a distinct blend of influences from East Indian, African, Amerindian, Chinese, Caribbean, and European cultures. They are usually based on seafood, Creole cooking, and Amerindian dishes like pepperpot, a spicy stew that is cooked in cassava juice. East Indian dishes such as roti and curries are widely prevalent along with Chinese foods. Guyana is widely known for its Demerara sugar (named after a region in Guyana) and also its rum.

Guyanese cuisine has many similarities to that of the rest of the Caribbean. The food is diverse and includes dishes such as curry, roti and cookup rice (a one-pot meal of rice with different kinds of vegetables accompanied by chicken or fish). The food reflects the ethnic makeup of the country and its colonial history, and includes African and creole, East Indian, Amerindian, Chinese and Europeans (mostly British and Portuguese) dishes.

Dishes have been adapted to Guyanese tastes, often by the addition of spices. Unique preparations include Pepperpot, a stew of Amerindian origin made with Cassareep (a bitter extract of the cassava), hot pepper and seasoning. Other favourites are cassava bread, stews, and Metemgie, a thick rich soup with a coconut base and fluffy dumplings, eaten with fried fish or chicken. Homemade bread-making, an art in many villages, is a reflection of the British influence that includes pastries such as cheese roll, pine (pineapple) tart, and patties (sister to the Jamaican beef patty).

Caribbean and Latin American ground provisions are part of the staple diet and include cassava, sweet potato, edoes and others. Fresh fish and seafood are an integral part of the food of the rural areas and small villages along the coast. The crab soups and soups with okra from the Berbice coastal region resemble the Louisiana creole soups like gumbo. Chinese food, sold in restaurants in the bigger towns, includes Caribbean-style chow mein and Chicken in the ruff (fried rice with Chinese-style fried chicken).

There is an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood on the coast. Most people use fresh fruit to make their own beverages, which are called "local drink." Popular homemade drinks are mauby, made from the bark of a tree; sorrel drink, made from a leafy vegetable used in salads; and ginger beer, made from ginger root.