Guyanese Food

Guyanese people love food. Our flavor is diverse. Our food is a stamp of our heritage.

Our Food reflects the range of influences on our society. From India came curries - especially mutton, prawn or chicken - and Africa contributed dishes such as foo-foo (plantains made into cakes) and metamgee (dumplings made from cornflour, eddoes, yams, cassava and plantains cooked in coconut milk and grated coconut). Portuguese garlic pork and Amerindian pepperpot are specialties. On our menus you will often find fresh vegetable, fruits chicken, pork and steak and shrimp dishes.

Those with an appitite for spices or those with an adventourous spirit will love the bold flavor of our PepperSauces and Achars made from Mangoes, tamerinds, Golden- apples and one-finger. These are served with most of our dishes as condiments.

Make our Cuisine a part of your Guyanese experience. Learn to make our spicy Curries or how to  make a "leafy roti" using a tawa , learning to correctly "clap the  roti" is a must, people have said it can be a very relaxing experience. Take with you the amazing art of  Dhal and Dhal puri preparation. Better yet grind your own peas to make the Dhal. Partake of   "seven curry"  , served at most Hindu functions, it consists of seven different curries (pumpkin, channa/ patato, catahar, Achar/ chunkayed dhal, Balanger better known as eggplant and  Eddo). This is usually eaten in a Purine or lotus leaf  with one's fingers. Trust me this is an unforgettable experience. ...

Cook an exotic Guyanese Dinner Tonight

Adapted from (http://guyanaoutpost.com)

This weeks recipe is Curried Hassar (This is a black catfish about 6 to 8 inches in length, which lives in muddy freshwater and which has a very tough armour-plated shell. Hassars (casadura in Trinidad) live for a very long time out of water and are bought live at the market and killed just prior to cooking.)

Ingredients

Preparation

• Wash, clean and salt the hassars, and set aside for about one hour. Do not remove the shells. Afterwards, rinse and dry the hassars.
• Prepare the curry sauce as follows: heat 2 teaspoons of oil, and cook the onion and garlic lightly (do not brown). Add curry powder blended with 3 - 4 tablespoons of water. Add 1 cup water or coconut milk and stir.
• Put the hassars into the curry sauce.
• Add the lime juice and leave to cook for 15 - 20 minutes until the sauce is thick, adding more water if necessary.
• When finished, put the hassars onto a dish and pour the curry sauce over.
• The shells may be removed before serving.

This dish is served hot with White or Brown rice. 

•  If you prefer another Guyanese Dish Click for recipes
• Check out our Dining page for more information on where to have some of our cuisine  when in Guyana