@VishMahabir

This "serious question" thread has drilled up some interesting information. Thanks.

Sure did!

Tola posted:

s.

 

Since our knowledge today  indicate that Scotland don't have a great relationship with England, why were there so many people of Scottish heritage in Guyana ?      

The "British" who came to the Caribbean were from the peripheral areas and were disproportionately Scottish, Irish, Welch or from the deeply rural parts of England.  They weren't properly treated in the UK so they left for the colonies.

Mars posted:

.

Black pudding is European. They call it blood sausage. There are variations of blood sausage in many European countries. I think we got the Scottish version in Guyana. Not sure where souse originated.

As with the language Afro Caribbean people took this dish and adjusted it to their tastes, adding seasoning and using rice.   I had a black pudding in Barbados which was closer to what the Scottish would have introduced and it tasted terrible.

Leonora posted:

Hey Gil, I heard some Irish people conversing, then turned around to give them a second look because it sounded like Guyanese Creole.

Yes the "English" who the enslaved people encountered were Irish, and from parts of England where the dialect is similar.  So we didn't learn English from the English, but from other British people who were also learning English.  "Ting," "dem" and waak (walk) comes from the Irish. Jamaicans and people from the Leeward Islands have high Irish influences in their speech.

Based on the names of the plantations Guyana had a high Scottish involvement as some one mentioned.  For some reason we sound a bit like people from the Virgin Islands, St Maarten and Belize.

Iguana posted:

Leonora posted:

I remember Dad long ago mixing the ingredients into a paste, putting it in banana leaves, wrapping the leaves into 2"x2" squares and tying them with twine, then boiling them in a large pot. Delicious!  

Konkee. I think the Amerindians used to put the banana leaf squares into a hole in the ground with coals around it. That is real old fashioned Guyanese stuff. Spanish people also make it. They call it Pasteles. Ricans boil it. Dominicans fry it.

Konke is from Ghana.  They have a savory version which they call kenke.

Our creole cultures are blended so that origins of much of it is diverse so we often cannot say where they are from. Its often combining various influences from different origins, or taking something from a culture and adjusting it.  And its a continuously evolving culture.

Dah reminds me of the time I tried my hand at makin tennis rolls...seems I used cement instead of flour...dam thing went from a food to a heavy object.

Mi amigo fram St. Kitts does mek kankee wid sweet potatoes, and as for the origin of black cake, rum cake or fruit cake, I was told that it is of British origin, the names of some foods may differ from region to region for eg. cookup is also called all in one.  Guyana is rather a complex place rich with diversity too bad the people, do not embrace the rich and diverse cultures with an open mind.  A sad state of affairs... <((><    

ball posted:

Mi amigo fram St. Kitts does mek kankee wid sweet potatoes, and as for the origin of black cake, rum cake or fruit cake, I was told that it is of British origin, the names of some foods may differ from region to region for eg. cookup is also called all in one.  Guyana is rather a complex place rich with diversity too bad the people, do not embrace the rich and diverse cultures with an open mind.  A sad state of affairs... <((><    

Is funny you say that.  My son had some Guyanese food and asked how come it’s not more international. He thought it was some in the best.

There is so much positive aspects but people (like Caribj☹️) just dwell of the negatives. 

Baseman posted:

There is so much positive aspects but people (like Caribj☹️) just dwell of the negatives. 

Suh people like Yugli, Skelly, KP, "Dave", Nehru, Drugb and other Indian RACISTS dwelling pon "positives" hay????? Some of dese people know NOTHING about Guyana outside of their Indian existence and Indian food. 

Carib is a true Guyanese. Notice the man's wide knowledge about we language, history, culture, foods, and suh on. Yuh friends above care only about things INDIAN! Nothing wrong with that, but they have ZERO interest or appreciation for those around them. These idiots and their supremacist ideology believe that Indian is best and everything and everyone else is shit. Dat ain't "positive" where I come from.

Y'all doan like Carib because he points out the racist, Hindutva supremacist shit.

Iguana posted:

Baseman posted:

There is so much positive aspects but people (like Caribj☹️) just dwell of the negatives. 

Suh people like Yugli, Skelly, KP, "Dave", Nehru, Drugb and other Indian RACISTS dwelling pon "positives" hay????? Some of dese people know NOTHING about Guyana outside of their Indian existence and Indian food. 

Carib is a true Guyanese. Notice the man's wide knowledge about we language, history, culture, foods, and suh on. Yuh friends above care only about things INDIAN! Nothing wrong with that, but they have ZERO interest or appreciation for those around them. These idiots and their supremacist ideology believe that Indian is best and everything and everyone else is shit. Dat ain't "positive" where I come from.

Y'all doan like Carib because he points out the racist, Hindutva supremacist shit.

Reptile you finally found your idol  as usual you have low standards.  

caribny posted:

A Guyanese function isnt Guyanese if there isnt chow mien, fry rice, cook up rice, black pudding, pepper pot, roti/dhal puri, and an assorted variety of curried meats.

I am curious about these people who live within an ethnic bubble. Where do they live? The Corentyne?

Sounds like a few of them here are from Corentyne. I never met Indian folks who didn't know what souse or black pudding was so doan know where these creatures hay come from.

Add unfamiliarity with each other as another reason for our racial tension. From the exchanges, clearly several of the Indians hay grew up in they lil racist enclave where they were told black people were some evil savages without any culture, class or education and the Indian was superior.

Iguana posted:

Baseman posted:

There is so much positive aspects but people (like Caribj☹️) just dwell of the negatives. 

Suh people like Yugli, Skelly, KP, "Dave", Nehru, Drugb and other Indian RACISTS dwelling pon "positives" hay????? Some of dese people know NOTHING about Guyana outside of their Indian existence and Indian food. 

Carib is a true Guyanese. Notice the man's wide knowledge about we language, history, culture, foods, and suh on. Yuh friends above care only about things INDIAN! Nothing wrong with that, but they have ZERO interest or appreciation for those around them. These idiots and their supremacist ideology believe that Indian is best and everything and everyone else is shit. Dat ain't "positive" where I come from.

Y'all doan like Carib because he points out the racist, Hindutva supremacist shit.

Nah, me like Cribby.  He’s a good banna!

ball posted:

Mi amigo fram St. Kitts does mek kankee wid sweet potatoes, and as for the origin of black cake, rum cake or fruit cake, I was told that it is of British origin, the names of some foods may differ from region to region for eg. cookup is also called all in one.  Guyana is rather a complex place rich with diversity too bad the people, do not embrace the rich and diverse cultures with an open mind.  A sad state of affairs... <((><    

Black cake is another example of British culture being adjusted to suit creole tastes.  In fact much of Southern (American) cooking is the same as the cooks were slaves so shifted cooking styles to suit their own purposes.

Sorrel is African (called bissap in Senegal) , ginger beer is both British and African and mauby comes from the Amerindians.

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Yuji, if you look at the method used as teenagers for us to bush-cook, cook-up or all-in-one, it might give some clue how it might have started.

I believe just like making 'do-say' roti, with few ingredients like flour, sugar and water  to make a breakfast meal, cook-up might have started due to poverty, where everyone is asked to bring an ingredient for the pot.

I can now understand when homeless 'beggars'  ask for help from house to house and  are given some uncooked rice or a potato.  This can be used to prepare a simple meal, with veggys they can find in most kitchen gardens.

Often the meat for cook-up is a chicken, we usually 'borrow' from the neighbour's chicken coop. But we always invite a boy from that family to enjoy the meal and bunjal chicken chesa, so if we are even discovered, he will be just as guilty as we are and declared innocent of the fact.[Simple teenage logic] 

That method worked well, until after we kill the chicken and cannot find a boy from that family to enjoy the meal. Den our kok  duk to explain the chicken in our cook-up.   Hiding the feathers don't seem to help much.

My father prepared and enjoyed 'dry-food', maybe originated by Africans, but I don't know how it started ?     It was large pieces of vegetables and meat, with no gravy.    

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

The original is a black speciality!

caribny posted:

ball posted:

Mi amigo fram St. Kitts does mek kankee wid sweet potatoes, and as for the origin of black cake, rum cake or fruit cake, I was told that it is of British origin, the names of some foods may differ from region to region for eg. cookup is also called all in one.  Guyana is rather a complex place rich with diversity too bad the people, do not embrace the rich and diverse cultures with an open mind.  A sad state of affairs... <((><    

Black cake is another example of British culture being adjusted to suit creole tastes.  In fact much of Southern (American) cooking is the same as the cooks were slaves so shifted cooking styles to suit their own purposes.

Sorrel is African (called bissap in Senegal) , ginger beer is both British and African and mauby comes from the Amerindians.

Yes, black cake is from the British rum cake. However, we Guyanese being the likka dogs that we are, added mo likka and different assortment of fruits. There was also "five finger drink" which I think also came from the Amerindians. Soak the "5 finger fruit" in water for a few days and then use the water with sugar of course.

GTAngler posted:

Tried making souse with chicken feet the other day. Must have missed a step. Friggin thing came out tasteless. Then again was a Trini recipe. Back to meh Guyanese Cook Book.

Yes, you missed a step. Yuh gaffo TEEF de chicken from yuh neighba. Den de souse duz come out nice and sweet.

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Stop pretendin' yuh give a shit about anything Guyanese. You are KNOWN! Guh eat yuh vegetable and ress yuhself. Cookup iz "black man food" as yuh cousin Skeleton man would say, suh stop feignin' interest like how yuh feign dat yuh like Marley.

Tola posted:

My father prepared and enjoyed 'dry-food', maybe originated by Africans, but I don't know how it started ?     It was large pieces of vegetables and meat, with no gravy.    

Yes, African and possibly Amerindian. Yams, cassava, plantain, etc with meat and/or fish (fried). Also a nicely made dough sometimes stuffed with ham (I'm sure that was a late addition). That piece of dough used to be called "duff" (from the word dough). Some folks added a lil gravy, especially if fish was used. Also seen Indians eat this.

Iguana posted:

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Stop pretendin' yuh give a shit about anything Guyanese. You are KNOWN! Guh eat yuh vegetable and ress yuhself. Cookup iz "black man food" as yuh cousin Skeleton man would say, suh stop feignin' interest like how yuh feign dat yuh like Marley.

Who tell you that? Best cook-up I ever ate was cooked on a wood fire in the back yard home. My father loved to play dominoes and that was a weekend thing. He would wake up early, walk along the train line when he knew people had gardens, buy fresh vegetables including fresh pidgeon peas and freshly grated/squeezed coconut milk and throw on a pot of cook-up and he and the boys would drink and play dominoes. Cook-up had many variations but always had salted beef unless there was someone who didn't eat beef.

Iguana posted:

Tola posted:

My father prepared and enjoyed 'dry-food', maybe originated by Africans, but I don't know how it started ?     It was large pieces of vegetables and meat, with no gravy.    

Yes, African and possibly Amerindian. Yams, cassava, plantain, etc with meat and/or fish (fried). Also a nicely made dough sometimes stuffed with ham (I'm sure that was a late addition). That piece of dough used to be called "duff" (from the word dough). Some folks added a lil gravy, especially if fish was used. Also seen Indians eat this.

Thanks Iguana, that makes sense.

There was also a soup with DUMPLINGS that I enjoyed. It had lots of veggys, but I am not sure if it had any meat. The dumplings were added on top after the soup is finished and just allowed to steam.

I like butter fish, fried or cooked in tomato sauce.   

Tola posted:

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Yuji, if you look at the method used as teenagers for us to bush-cook, cook-up or all-in-one, it might give some clue how it might have started.

I believe just like making 'do-say' roti, with few ingredients like flour, sugar and water  to make a breakfast meal, cook-up might have started due to poverty, where everyone is asked to bring an ingredient for the pot.

I can now understand when homeless 'beggars'  ask for help from house to house and  are given some uncooked rice or a potato.  This can be used to prepare a simple meal, with veggys they can find in most kitchen gardens.

Often the meat for cook-up is a chicken, we usually 'borrow' from the neighbour's chicken coop. But we always invite a boy from that family to enjoy the meal and bunjal chicken chesa, so if we are even discovered, he will be just as guilty as we are and declared innocent of the fact.[Simple teenage logic] 

That method worked well, until after we kill the chicken and cannot find a boy from that family to enjoy the meal. Den our kok  duk to explain the chicken in our cook-up.   Hiding the feathers don't seem to help much.

My father prepared and enjoyed 'dry-food', maybe originated by Africans, but I don't know how it started ?     It was large pieces of vegetables and meat, with no gravy.    

Your father made Metemgee.

KP, I Google Metemgee and it shows as a Guyanese recipe. Thanks.

Iguana, the 'duff' is also shows added to Metemgee, as you mentioned.

This is quite a learning thread.     

How about "Kechree" boiled rice,split peas, salt ,onions , bhagee and coconut milk, no meats. In India is called  "Khichdi"

kp posted:

Tola posted:

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Yuji, if you look at the method used as teenagers for us to bush-cook, cook-up or all-in-one, it might give some clue how it might have started.

I believe just like making 'do-say' roti, with few ingredients like flour, sugar and water  to make a breakfast meal, cook-up might have started due to poverty, where everyone is asked to bring an ingredient for the pot.

I can now understand when homeless 'beggars'  ask for help from house to house and  are given some uncooked rice or a potato.  This can be used to prepare a simple meal, with veggys they can find in most kitchen gardens.

Often the meat for cook-up is a chicken, we usually 'borrow' from the neighbour's chicken coop. But we always invite a boy from that family to enjoy the meal and bunjal chicken chesa, so if we are even discovered, he will be just as guilty as we are and declared innocent of the fact.[Simple teenage logic] 

That method worked well, until after we kill the chicken and cannot find a boy from that family to enjoy the meal. Den our kok  duk to explain the chicken in our cook-up.   Hiding the feathers don't seem to help much.

My father prepared and enjoyed 'dry-food', maybe originated by Africans, but I don't know how it started ?     It was large pieces of vegetables and meat, with no gravy.    

Your father made Metemgee.

Growing up I always knew that as Methem or Metagee.

Django posted:

How about "Kechree" boiled rice,split peas, salt ,onions , bhagee and coconut milk, no meats. In India is called  "Khichdi"

Me rememba dis meal. But did not remember its name. Thanks.  

Django, you rememba 'do-say' roti. Made from flour, sugar and water or milk ?

In GT, I was staying with a friend whose wife is from Mumbai. She made a small 'do-say' roti, but it had salt and pepper.

Tola posted:

Django posted:

How about "Kechree" boiled rice,split peas, salt ,onions , bhagee and coconut milk, no meats. In India is called  "Khichdi"

Me rememba dis meal. But did not remember its name. Thanks.  

Django, you rememba 'do-say' roti. Made from flour, sugar and water or milk ?

In GT, I was staying with a friend whose wife is from Mumbai. She made a small 'do-say' roti, but it had salt and pepper.

Is that like pancakes ??

Django posted:

Tola posted:

Django posted:

How about "Kechree" boiled rice,split peas, salt ,onions , bhagee and coconut milk, no meats. In India is called  "Khichdi"

Me rememba dis meal. But did not remember its name. Thanks.  

Django, you rememba 'do-say' roti. Made from flour, sugar and water or milk ?

In GT, I was staying with a friend whose wife is from Mumbai. She made a small 'do-say' roti, but it had salt and pepper.

Is that like pancakes ??

sounds more like masala dosa. By the way, "pancake"??? Yuh mean chota???

GTAngler posted:

Django posted:

Tola posted:

Django posted:

How about "Kechree" boiled rice,split peas, salt ,onions , bhagee and coconut milk, no meats. In India is called  "Khichdi"

Me rememba dis meal. But did not remember its name. Thanks.  

Django, you rememba 'do-say' roti. Made from flour, sugar and water or milk ?

In GT, I was staying with a friend whose wife is from Mumbai. She made a small 'do-say' roti, but it had salt and pepper.

Is that like pancakes ??

sounds more like masala dosa. By the way, "pancake"??? Yuh mean chota???

Yep

Django posted:

GTAngler posted:

Django posted:

Tola posted:

Django posted:

How about "Kechree" boiled rice,split peas, salt ,onions , bhagee and coconut milk, no meats. In India is called  "Khichdi"

Me rememba dis meal. But did not remember its name. Thanks.  

Django, you rememba 'do-say' roti. Made from flour, sugar and water or milk ?

In GT, I was staying with a friend whose wife is from Mumbai. She made a small 'do-say' roti, but it had salt and pepper.

Is that like pancakes ??

sounds more like masala dosa. By the way, "pancake"??? Yuh mean chota???

Yep

YEA...CHOTA...[also masala dosa.] It been decades since I had any chota,  I will try to make some, in my cast-iron frying pan.

This experience is taking me back to my boyhood days, when I waited in our logie kitchen for my late sister Elaine to finish make a chota, so I can eat it hot. Fighting smoke in my eyes by the fireside with a plate in my hands.

I have a burn mark about the size of quarter on my right back. It got there when I constantly begged for some sugar cake, but told it was still hot. I insisted, so the same sister put some hot sugar cake in my hand and as I shook it off, it landed at the back of my right shoulder, leaving a lasting mark.  

What do you call those cups and plates that would flake off a piece, if it dropped or hit on hard surface ?   

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Cook up rice evolved from the one pot dishes that are prevalent throughout all of the cultures that evolved out of plantation societies in the Americas.  It is related to the Joloff rice of West Africa and some also attribute influences from Spain.  Cooking with coconut milk was brought to the Americas by the Africans though these cooking styles are also prevalent in Asia.  I guess wherever coconut trees exist.

Tola posted:

What do you call those cups and plates that would flake off a piece, if it dropped or hit on hard surface ?   

They were enameled plates and cups.

Iguana posted:

GTAngler posted:

Tried making souse with chicken feet the other day. Must have missed a step. Friggin thing came out tasteless. Then again was a Trini recipe. Back to meh Guyanese Cook Book.

Yes, you missed a step. Yuh gaffo TEEF de chicken from yuh neighba. Den de souse duz come out nice and sweet.

Never associated souse with Trinis.  I think it was brought to Guyana by the Bajans, another British to creole adaptation.

Iguana posted:

Tola posted:

My father prepared and enjoyed 'dry-food', maybe originated by Africans, but I don't know how it started ?     It was large pieces of vegetables and meat, with no gravy.    

Yes, African and possibly Amerindian. Yams, cassava, plantain, etc with meat and/or fish (fried). Also a nicely made dough sometimes stuffed with ham (I'm sure that was a late addition). That piece of dough used to be called "duff" (from the word dough). Some folks added a lil gravy, especially if fish was used. Also seen Indians eat this.

Another West African dish.  I was describing "unique" Guyanese food to a Ghanaian and was talking about metem.  He stopped me right there and told me that they have the same dish in Ghana and call it by the same name.  It exists in various forms throughout the Caribbean.

GTAngler posted:

Iguana posted:

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Stop pretendin' yuh give a shit about anything Guyanese. You are KNOWN! Guh eat yuh vegetable and ress yuhself. Cookup iz "black man food" as yuh cousin Skeleton man would say, suh stop feignin' interest like how yuh feign dat yuh like Marley.

Who tell you that? Best cook-up I ever ate was cooked on a wood fire in the back yard home.

It is black man food though just as blacks learned how to cook curry chicken and some even roti some Indians also learned creole and Chinese Guyanese dishes.

Bottom line is that despite the low key tribal warfare that we have in Guyana there is much cultural interchange and adaptation in our foods, language, etc.  To the point where we often don't even know the origins of some of this.

For instance the word "jook" which every Caribbean person knows.  Some attribute it to English origins and others to West African.  One thing though is I don't think that English people use that word anymore.  The word "deh" has connections to one of the Nigerian languages, I think Igbo.  That is in some one saying " he deh over dere". 

Also when you want to emphasize a word we repeat it as in "he too stupidee, stupidee".  Again West African grammar using English connected words, though how many of us know this.  Its a Ghanaian who told me the West African origins when I used it once.  He laughed and told me that he knew fully well that I didn't know how African it was.

caribny posted:

It is black man food though just as blacks learned how to cook curry chicken and some even roti some Indians also learned creole and Chinese Guyanese dishes.

This is questionable, as rice is traditionally an Asian food. Unless you are referring to cookup minus the rice. 

GTAngler posted:

Iguana posted:

yuji22 posted:

Does anyone know the origin of Cook up or All in One as it is called in Berbice ? 

Stop pretendin' yuh give a shit about anything Guyanese. You are KNOWN! Guh eat yuh vegetable and ress yuhself. Cookup iz "black man food" as yuh cousin Skeleton man would say, suh stop feignin' interest like how yuh feign dat yuh like Marley.

Who tell you that? Best cook-up I ever ate was cooked on a wood fire in the back yard home. My father loved to play dominoes and that was a weekend thing. He would wake up early, walk along the train line when he knew people had gardens, buy fresh vegetables including fresh pidgeon peas and freshly grated/squeezed coconut milk and throw on a pot of cook-up and he and the boys would drink and play dominoes. Cook-up had many variations but always had salted beef unless there was someone who didn't eat beef.

....was saying that Skeleton Man would say it's black man food. I don't think of it that way. To me it's Guyanese. And yes, I've seen Indian and portugese folks make a good cook up. To me, salt beef cookup was de best.