Food

I would like to write about food in Guyana in general and my diet today, since some of you have asked me about it. I can say that I have been eating fairly well in Guyana.

My day starts as early as 6:45, because it is too hot to sleep in and there is too much noise outside, such as dogs barking and neighbors cooking. I leave for work around 8:15, and this give me enough time to have a nice breakfast, which I rarely did during my working days in Canada. I have tea, fruit juice, some fruits (banana, orange or mango) and toasts with peanut butter. I never really cared for peanut butter when I was in Canada, but now I love it. It’s funny, but I think familiarity gives some comfort… I do not own a toaster, so what I use instead is a roti pan. This makes much better toasts than some of toasters I had in Canada!! I also experimented French toast on this pan, and it turned out not bad at all.

I usually eat out for lunch. You can find very good food for about G$ 300 (equivalent of $2 CAD.) Typical dishes would be rice cook-up with fried fish or chicken, roti with curried chickpeas, Chinese noodle with fried veggie and so forth. Most restaurants have wonderful freshly squeezed fruit juice of all kinds. The food is not as spicy as expected. You can just add spicy chilly sauce as you wish.

I cook dinner at home. Some items that are easily available at home are either too expensive or not accessible, so I have to improvise a lot. Additionally, compromises need to be made between my Japanese/ Canadian cooking and Kenyan one with Penina’s dislikes. For example, she is not used to eating sea-fish, and she is allergic to eggs.

There is a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables in a market; you just have to figure out what they are and how to cook them.
Here are some of the things I have made:
- Italian Caponata (I am not sure about spelling but tomato based vegetable stew)
- Cream of Pumpkin Soup
- Calaloo (similar to spinach), onion bread-pizza on a frying pan
- Pasta
- Home made roast peanuts (the first time I tried this!!)
- Home made lemonade with lime

Penina has cooked some Kenyan food, such as Chapattis (flat round bread), plantain, vegetable pilaf, boiled beans, etc.

I am feeling hungry now….