Off The Charts In Guyana - Thanksgiving 2016

Fresh pumpkin

11-24-16

I was up and had the pumpkin in the pressure cooker by 7:30AM.  Next came the crust for the Pumpkin Pie Dessert or Harvest Dessert as I have renamed it.  Then the steamed pumpkin was cooled and draining.  I have learned that fresh pumpkin has quite a bit of water in it.  This time I used the small, mesh basket I use to rinse quinoa to strain the water out.  However, straining through a cheese cloth would actually be best if you are trying to get the consistency of a can of pumpkin. 

Straining the cooked pumpkin

The propane tank promptly ran out.  Tom switched over to the other one.  It was overfilled which caused a slight scare of high pressure but it turned out ok.  Whew.  Harvest Dessert in the oven, next step was the béchamel sauce for the green bean casserole.  Then make the stuffing.  I used a box mix I found in town.  Big mistake.  It had been sitting on the shelf for quite some time.  The dehydrated breadcrumbs were stale.  I covered it with sautéed onions and callaloo, veggie broth and a generous amount of grated nutmeg.  The stuff was turned into stuffing muffins in the oven. 

Bodi beans

The green beans found in Guyana are similar to the bodi beans found in Trinidad.  They are about 12” long but these are very thin, thin enough to fit between the tines of a fork, SO….I bought a huge bunch.  The homemade béchamel sauce worked just fine as did the farina topping. 

Farina

Tom helped by digging out ingredients needed from their various hiding spots in the port settee, opening cans, lighting the oven, washing pots, mixing bowls and such as we went and finally holding the broiler button on twice to brown the tops of the Harvest Dessert and Green Bean Casserole.  Our broiler is acting up and won’t stay lit. 

Harvest dessert

13:00 I got dressed and we started gathering things up.  We missed the weather window by 3 mins.  A rain shower passed over, just enough to put 2” of water in the bottom of the dinghy and soak the dinghy chaps – aka wet butts and tote bags. 

The spread

Baganara Resort had agreed to let us use a couple of tables for our Thanksgiving.  The staff greeted us immediately “Good day.  Happy Thanksgiving to you.”  I brought appetizers of smoked eggplant and pineapple chow with crackers.  The Thanksgiving feast itself was a wonderful assortment of yummy food.  We shared with Cindy, Racquel and her kitchen staff, inviting them to take a plate to try. 

It was a good day.   

Off The Charts In Guyana - Thanksgiving Provisioning

11-23-16

There are four boats left in the anchorage off Baganara Resort – 5 Americans and two East German Canadians.  Perfect number for a Thanksgiving potluck.  We decided on a rough menu but we knew we would need to wing it a bit – cranberries don’t exist in the Caribbean, turkey- forget it.  However, I had brought a frozen turkey breast from Trinidad.  We would just have to see what else we could come up with.

Bruce volunteered to take sv Wild Matilda back down the river to Bartica so we could all go shopping.  After the morning SSB Coconut Net the tide had turned so we weighed anchor and headed out, towing two dinghies behind so we could all get ashore. 

First stop was a food stand for morning snacks – egg rolls (hard boiled eggs surrounded by mashed cassava and fried up golden – yum) and chicken balls (same but with minced chicken inside).  Then we headed to the halal meat shop to get chickens and check on our meat order.  This place has fantastic beef tenderloin for $600 a pound - $3US.  Last week I ordered 4 pounds cut into 1 pound pieces.  Then we headed to the bank and then across the street to the local grocery store – small, crowded shop with an ok selection of canned and dried goods.  We had to hurry a bit because this little shop and many others close between noon and three because of the heat of the day.

One of the grocery stores

Soon we split up to get whatever was needed for our specific dishes.  I couldn’t find yellow cake mix so I substituted with the one white cake mix I found.  There was NO Campbell’s cream if whatever available anywhere for green bean casserole…..as I suspected, so I ended up making a béchamel sauce from scratch.  Same was true for the French’s Crispy Onions used to top this casserole.  I decided to try Brazilian Farina.  It’s dried cassava that is the texture of course cornmeal.  It is used as a coating, topping or mixed with water or milk to make a porridge.  “It expands in your stomach and fills you up.” Said the guy at the grocery store when explaining to me what it was and how to use it. 

Farina or Fariha in Portuguese

When we got to the fresh market, one door was closed.   Hum?  We were able to get in the other door but many of the vendor booths were closed up.  Hum?  However, enough were open that we were able to get the fresh stuff we needed.  “What’s up?  Why are some of the booths closed down?” I asked the lady I was buying from.  “Every other Wednesday the market closes at noon.”  It was now 12:30 or so!  “But don’t worry, you will be able to get out.”  I am not sure how we have been in country this long and not know this but we were lucky to be able to get our ingredients.  It would have been a sad little Thanksgiving had we been shut out of the fresh market. 

We all met back up at Kenny Rogers.  Kathy and I enjoyed a cold beer and conversation with the locals while the guys took all the stuff out to the boat.  They came right back and we went in search of lunch.  The streets were pretty empty (except an odd cow wondering the main drag) in the heat of the day.  Tummies filled, we headed back to the boat.  Despite threatening skies, the guys did two fuel runs.  We had light sprinkles but managed to dodge two major deluges.  Back on our boats, we all collapsed from a busy and hot day of shopping.   

Off The Charts In Guyana - The Food

Plantains, pumpkin and beans, pepperpot and breadfruit salad

Guyana is considered part of the Caribbean.  It is one of the Caricom nations. 

The food is similar to typical Caribbean food with some additions.  Rice, peas, beans, lentils, ground provisions (minus breadfruit – I have seen very few of those trees and none in the market), pineapple, bananas, watermelon, ect….  

Typcial Caribbean produce

Pasties – like Jamaican meat pies with the standard minced beef and chicken but lighter like French pastries and filled with more choices like ham and cheese or straight cheese.

Ham and cheese, beef, egg roll and cheese 

Egg rolls are a popular street food.  These are literally a hard boiled egg surrounded by mashed cassava and then breaded and deep fat fried.  Think Scotch Egg without the sausage. 

One of our favorites for egg rolls

Another favorite

Cassava meatballs - seasoned minced meat surround by mashed cassava and then fried.  YUM!

Cassava meatballs and sour sauce

Minced chicken filled cassava meatballs and sour sauce

With sour sauce- green mangos, garlic, hot pepper, salt, water

Ingredients for sour sauce

My first attempt at sour sauce - not bad, in fact yummy

 Brazilian influence –

Our favorite Brazilian bakery

Mother and son - I think

Brazilian bakery also did killer pizza

Braziliana Farina - like cornmeal

A large percentage of Guyanese have Indian heritage.  As I mentioned before, their ancestors were brought over from India as indentured servants (another word for slave IMHO).  Therefore, Guyanese food has a strong Indian influence with a Caribbean twist much like Trinidad. Curries, Roti, channa, polourie, etc… 

A favorite lunch place - local food, cheap prices, big portions

Another lunch favorite

Pepperpot

Pepperpot is supposedly the national dish of Guyana but we didn't see it much.  We only ate it at Iwokrama.  I think it must be for special occasions and holidays.

We love street food.  In our humble opinions, some of the best food in the Caribbean is street food made by auntie whoever.  Or Uncle Rasta.  And good value as it is usually cheap and plentiful.

Rasta man cooking up lunch

Homemade juices served in plastic bags

All fresh from his garden and home

Yah mon - serious food

If packing take away containers was an olympic sport, no doubt the women of the Caribbean would take the gold.  OMG - they PACK the containers!  You get your $ worth.  What really cracks me up is no matter where you go in the Caribbean, food vendor always have a table that is just big enough to hold all the pots - NO room for working / filling the orders.  Thus they take the lid off this one and put it on top of that one and then scoop out the rice and peas.  Then they put the lid back on and take another lid off and set if over on top of the rice and peas and scoop out the potato salad and so on and so forth.  Occationally,  you are asked to help hold a lid or take away container but not often.  

Piled high - Gold Medal

We got our money's worth

Street food cart

Simple construction

Fresh Market 

Fruits, veg and much more

One of my favorite market ladies

Another favorite

My favorite market guy

He looks as happy as the fish

Street vendors with fresh fruits and veg could be found on the main street and a few sides streets as well.

Best garlic sauce we have had in the Caribbean - made in Guyana

Meat day – There are several butcher shops in Bartica but for some reason the cruisers that arrived before us decided one particular halal butcher was their butcher.  Okay.  Beef tenderloin was the choice cut.  We followed the rest and started ordering whole tenderlions.  They are as big as back in the USA ( about 4 lbs worth) but they were tender.  $5US a pound was hard to beat so we stocked the freezer.  The chicken were good too.  We often saw cow roaming around Bartica.     

Ice cream shop

Off The Charts In Guyana - The Cooking Lesson

My first attemp at coconut bake since the cooking lesson

While in Guyana, I and three other cruisers took a cooking lesson from Racquel - local and cook at Baganara Resort.  It was a wonderful experience.  Please see the full write up here.....Off The Charts In Guyana - The Cooking Lesson.