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.