October 26, 2016 at 10:50 pm

 Guyana was founded by the Amerindians before Columbus “discovered” this little gem. Since the Amerindians were the first people who made Guyana their home one of our main dishes is Pepperpot.

Pepperpot is a stewed meat dish mainly beef, pork and mutton even chicken. This dish is strongly perfumed with cinnamon, cassareep (which is what gives it the notable color) and other basic ingredients including hot peppers. It is popularly served with a Guyanese-style bread, rice or roti.

This dish is traditionally served at Christmas and any other special events; because it needs to cook for several hours to intensify the flavors. Like the original Amerindian version it is made in a large pot and can be reheated over and over for several days, mainly over the Christmas holiday season  since the Cassareep preserves the meat.

I just love having this any time of the day; it’s truly one recipe to get right.

October 27, 2016 at 12:09 am

I’m just curious, I have never heard of the term Amerindians. What exactly is it?  I did look on Google to see exactly what it is. I just never heard this term before. I’m in the United States and quite frankly I’m not sure what is the national dish from here is since our food comes from all over. I am in Louisiana and we have many different types of foods that we like to consider out own. For example, gumbo and jambalaya.

October 27, 2016 at 12:23 am

@evilelf well Amerindians are like the Native Americans to America. The Amerindian tribes that are still living in Guyana journeyed about 12000 years ago from Asia through the Americas on an ice bridge called the Bering Strait in search of food. The tribes travelled south until they reached Mexico and Florida, then kept going south following herds of animals until they hit South America.

I love Louisiana the rich cultural background and the food packed with tons of flavor.

December 18, 2016 at 1:12 am

WHOA! That was a great history lesson! Glad EvilElf asked the question. I’ve never heard of the Amerindians either.

Not sure if it’s a national dish but if in The Bahamas, where my father and husband are from, pigeon peas and rice (recipe) is a common side dish served with almost any meal.  Dishes made with conch are very popular: conch salad, conch fritters, cracked conch, stewed conch, etc.

Here is some further reading you might find interesting.

Five Favorite Foods Of The Bahamas

December 18, 2016 at 2:39 am

In Jamaica, we know about Pepperpot…the Amerindians, in our case, the Tainu, did it.   Our national dish is ackee and saltfish.

Ackee comes from West Africa, saltfish was the preserved fish from Britain.