Discovering the Culture & Heritage of Amerindian Food In Guyana

The Amerindian Communities of the Guyana Rainforest

The Akawaio, Arekuna, Macushi, Patamona, Waiwaiand and Wapishana tribes largely inhabit the interior of the country. During our stay we met with people from the Macushi and Wapishana groups. Our Guyana itinerary ensured that we visited a number of villages, often staying in the local lodges.

These lodges are run by the Amerindian villagers and everyone from the group takes it in turns to work there on a rotational basis, ensuring that everybody has the opportunity to gain employment from tourism.

At the Rewa Amerindian Village, at the confluence of the Rewa and Rapununi rivers, our Macushi guide showed us around his village. The local people are experts in using the flora and fauna of the forest as a source of food and water but the villagers also cultivate foods.

Cassava – The Versatile Staple

Cassava is a staple food and we saw this crop growing in the fields surrounding the village. It is a strange foodstuff as it has to be processed because the bitter cassava root is toxic in its raw state. There is a surprising variety of foods that can be made from this crop.

The cassava root is harvested and then grated.

We loved the innovative ways that the villagers grated cassava. There’s the old-school hand grater, he improvised adapted bicycle wheel grater, and the high-tech motorised super-grater.

The grated cassava is placed in a woven bag called a matapee and hung over a pot while the juices run out.

The juice is then boiled and reduced to make cassareep, a dark, sticky liquid that is used in all sorts of dishes.

The grated cassava is then sieved and fried to make farine, a coarse flour. It is sprinkled over a meal. We managed to buy some farine when we were in Lethem, the town on the border with Brazil. However, farine wasn’t easily available in Guyana’s capital Georgetown.

Cassava can be processed further. Beiju is a bread made from ground cassava. It is grated into a pan, then baked to form a solid mass like a pancake or a wrap. It doesn’t have the softness of bread as we know it, it has a crunch like a biscuit or a rice cake.

Modern variations of beiju are accompanied with eggs, or cheese and jam. 

Hunting, Fishing and Farming

Protein is hunted or farmed and comes in the form of meat and fish. The local villagers showed us the bows and arrows used for hunting.

Sometimes poison darts are used – the skin of a particular frog species contains a poison. The frog doesn’t need to be killed, just rubbing an arrowhead on its skin will contain enough toxin to poison small animals.

Guyanaa is known as the ‘Land of Many Waters’ and the extensive local river systems provide many different varieties of fish. Large catches can be dried in the sun to preserve them.

While staying on the shores of the mighty Essequibo river, deep in the heart of the rainforest, we caught a red paku in the shallower waters while on a boat trip. Roasted for dinner, it was delicious.

The Tambaqui fish is a delicacy of the Amazon system and again is roasted for maximum flavour.

The sheer size and variety of species in the rivers is astonishing. Some of them are monsters! Local people know exactly where in the river specific species can be found, and whether they reside in deep or shallow sections.

In terms of land mammals, the agouti is a large rodent and a useful source of protein.

We ate more conventional meats on our journey – pork, chicken and mutton was the standard fare on offer. Meat cooked in cassareep, the sweet reduced cassava juice, was sticky and sumptuous.

The Origin of Pepperpot

Guyana’s national dish, pepperpot, is derived from Amerindian food. Pepperpot is a celebratory dish, a stew containing meats such a succulent pork and flavoursome mutton, cooked in a cassareep sauce and enhanced with cinnamon and hot chilli peppers. It is served with chunky white bread for dipping in and absorbing all those delicious flavours.

The original Amerindian dish is a stew that contains all sorts of ingredients including meat, fish and vegetables, as well as bones which add flavour to the stock. The dish is cooked with cassareep and farine. Beiju and choice cuts of meat would be dipped into the stew. Apparently the clay cooking pot was never cleaned, which ensured that it retained the juices of the stew.

Sadly we weren’t visiting Guyana during a time of celebration so never managed to try pepperpot but we did find some cassareep to take back with us, so will try to make it at home.

At one of the villages we asked our hosts whether it would be possible to enjoy local food. They couldn’t manage to rustle up a breakfast, but they delighted us with a lunch that comprised traditional ingredients – meat cooked in sweet and sticky cassareep, farine and vegetables

Fruits From The Forest

Fruit and vegetables are also important in the Amerindian diet. These include wild limes, mangoes and pineapples that grow in the forest.

Capsicum frutescens is a wild chili pepper – mega hot – that adds significant spice and heat to a meal.

From Toxic to Tasty – Roasting Cashew Nuts

It was fascinating to learn that so many essential foods in the rainforest are actually toxic. Like cassava, cashew nuts need to be processed before they can be eaten. The nuts grow on trees.

There are two parts to the cashew, the real fruit and the seed, the latter of which provides the nut. The actual fruit is not only toxic, it is corrosive.

The way to make the cashews edible is to bake them. They are put on a tray which is then placed over the fire. They start smoking gently at first and then go bam in a whoosh of flame! All the toxic vapours evaporate.

The burnt blackened shells are bashed open in order to remove the nut.

Roasted cashews, straight from the fire, are utterly delicious – absolutely the very best way to enjoy cashews. Unless, of course, you’re also enjoying them with local tipple – fresh lime juice and rum! (Which is a Caribbean enhancement.) 

Final Thoughts

Guyanese society is a blend of many different cultures and religions – from African, Indian and European backgrounds as well as the indigenous peoples. Guyanese cuisine reflects this rich cultural heritage with Caribbean cook-ups, Indian curries and rotis, and European fruit (black) cakes. But, importantly, the food of the Amerindian people has not only permeated the cuisine, it forms the basis of Guyana’s most celebrated dish.