Curry and Cassava, The Surprising and Delicious Cuisine of Guyana by Kathy Kloster
I was exhausted after a 24-hour flight that took me from a bitterly cold winter in Alaska to the tropical city of Georgetown in the little-known country of Guyana. But sleep eluded me as I thought about the days ahead. This adventure was nothing like anything I’d ever done. I had no idea that I was about to venture into a country of incredible, unspoiled natural beauty; a land of diverse cultures and some of the most varied, interesting and delicious cuisines I’d ever experienced.
The next morning breakfast came early, and I was famished after an airplane diet of tiny bags of nondescript; crunchy things. I glanced through the menu and was amused to find baked beans as a side for almost all the breakfast items. The British influence remains strong as Guyana only gained its independence from Britain in 1966. My American palate wasn’t quite ready for baked beans, eggs and toast so I chose eggs scrambled with onions and tomatoes, and fried plantains. What appeared before me was a delicious fresh vegetable egg scramble, a plate of fresh watermelon, papaya, and pineapple and something that looked like french fries. I eyed the dish doubtfully for a moment, trying to get past the image of scrambled eggs and french fries, but after the first taste I was hooked on the crunchy fried salty sweetness of the plantain fruit. The next morning, I ordered the same breakfast so I could savor more of the delicious plantain fries. We ate plantains throughout our travels in Guyana, sometimes they appeared as fried chips served with a drink in the afternoon; sometimes stewed in a delicious curry and sometimes baked as a side dish, but always fresh and always delicious.
As we traveled by skiffs into the remote interior jungles of Guyana our guides and hosts were exclusively the local Amerindian people. Rewa Eco-Lodge was our first stop. The lodge is owned and operated by the local Amerindian people, with all proceeds going to their local village. Here we were introduced to Cassava, which is a starchy staple root vegetable eaten in several different ways. The villagers grate the root, then place it in a tubular woven basket so they can then pound and squeeze all the juice out of the plant. The juice contains a high level of cyanide, which of course is poisonous. I later learned that the cassava root can be boiled which also neutralizes the cyanide. Cassava has a mild nutty flavor and was often prepared for us stir fried with garlic, onions, and carrots. It is also ground into flour, sunbaked into crackers, and served dried. It has the consistency of grape nut cereal, as a mild nutty flavored condiment.
One afternoon our Rewa Eco-Lodge hosts treated us to a traditional cook-out on one of the sandbars on the Rupununi river. Using forked sticks stuck in the sand to hold the wooden grill, they placed chicken and peacock bass over hot coals above the fire. I didn’t have much hope the barbecue would be anything but dry and tasteless, however I couldn’t have been more wrong. The wood used to cook the fish and chicken flavored the meats with a rich hardwood smoke flavor. We ate a feast on that jungle river sandbar of delicate, moist fish, juicy flavorful chicken, rice, and pasta, along with fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. I suppose I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the sudden rainforest downpour that drenched us as we finished our meal, which only added to the whole experience of eating delicious freshly caught fish, on a river sandbar, in the middle of the Guyana jungle.
After leaving Rewa Eco Lodge, our next stop was Atta Rainforest Lodge. Again, the nine of us were loaded into two skiffs for our journey on the Rupununi River. After a marvelous day viewing beautiful birds, spider monkeys, and other jungle creatures on the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway we headed in for dinner. Before we sat for dinner, we were introduced to a local wine made with fermented small wild potatoes harvested by the Amerindians. Apparently, my palate was not sophisticated enough to appreciate the complex, earthy, nuances of the wine, so I felt obligated to discreetly return it to the earth.
Dinners in our eco-lodges usually started with a fresh pumpkin or squash soup, often prepared with coconut milk and spiced with turmeric, cardamom and/or cumin. Chicken and fresh fish were plentiful and served grilled, roasted, fried, or baked in delicious sauces, many times a mild curry. Fresh organic vegetables such as Chinese long bean beans, eddo leaf, cabbage, carrots, squash, pumpkin, okra, tomatoes, and cucumbers were plentiful. Pumpkin was often served as a squash-like side dish, wonderfully rich and delicious. Again, I noticed the British influence, mixed with those of Amerindian and Indian food cultures. A proper British supper has a yellow, white and green vegetable to go along with a protein. Amerindian cassava in one or more of its many different forms was often present. The influence of the Indian curries and coconut milk brought the flavors and preparation of these foods from tasty to extraordinarily delicious.
I’ve never particularly enjoyed fruit, I think partly because I grew up in an area where fresh fruit was scarce; and when available, it had taken a long, hard journey to get to the local market. By then the fruit was well past its prime, tasteless and grainy. The fruits of Guyana completely upended my long-held biases. At Rockview Lodge, the mangos, juicy and sweet, were so plentiful they littered the ground. Papayas, pineapple, kiwi fruit, passion fruit, small sweet bananas, and any number of different types of delicious fruit I have no name for, were plentiful and readily available. At Karanambu Lodge the rum was mixed with fruit, making the most delightful rum punch that was used as a dressing for our fruit cocktails, but was also offered as a delicious cocktail that rejuvenated us on long bird-watching trips. Sadly, the Karanambu fruit punch recipe is a family secret, and although we did try to pry the secret out it was to no avail.
When we returned to the City of Georgetown after our days in the interior of the country, we were treated to a day learning to cook some of the cuisines of Guyana, specifically street foods and Indian 7 curry dishes. Our chef was none other than The Singing Chef of Guyana, Eon John, who had his own cooking show on Guyanese T.V. We followed Chef Eon through the frenetic markets in Georgetown, which are a kaleidoscope of colorful fruits, vegetables and medicinal potions. We wove our way around and through the stands of fruits,
vegetables and spices feasting on the many fragrances of the market’s bounty.
As our Chef examined and gathered the ingredients for cooking lessons of street food and the 7 curry dishes, he introduced us to the many unusual fresh fruits and vegetables, explaining their use. Eventually we made our way back to “The Secret Garden” for our cooking
class, carrying eggplant, edo, pumpkin, coconut milk, and spices. But first, we harvested our own fresh wild lotus leaf plates from one of the many canals that line the city.
If the interior of Guyana is an untouched quiet beauty, her offspring, the city of Georgetown, feels like a wayward teenager, disheveled and full of bravado. The city streets are full of colorful homes, mosques, churches and businesses all side by side, some a bit frayed by weather and time Chef Eon introduced us to the street food of Guyana which reflects the irreverent spirit of the city. One such dish, edo, a spinach-like vegetable, is mixed with chickpea flour and coconut milk and dropped by spoonful into hot coconut oil and fried until golden and served with hot sauce, really hot sauce, or a spicy mango chutney. Another street food dish we sampled was hard-boiled eggs, carefully covered with a dough made of cassava flour and coconut milk, and yes, deep-fried. It was delicious and filling.
My favorite street food dish was salted fish sauteed in onions, garlic and spices wrapped in a chickpea flour flatbread. These stuffed roti are sold throughout the city of Guyana via ancient bicycles, providing a fast, delicious lunch for those lucky enough to acquire the delicacy.
It has been almost two months since I returned from Guyana, and in some ways, I feel I left a part of me there. I find myself watching YouTube videos of Gayanese cuisine preparation, river trips on one of the many rivers, and busy street scenes in Georgetown. I long to recreate the tastes I experienced there, but somehow always fall short. Perhaps what I’m missing is the character, the total ambiance of a country that has forever changed me. I miss so many things about Lady Guyana, her people, her food, her incredible beautiful birds, unspoiled rain forests, and river rides at dawn. My hope is that one day I will have the opportunity to meet her again.