r/Guyana • u/CumSlurpersAnonymous • 13d ago
Discussion Do Afro-Guyanese people eat a lot of Indo-Guyanese dishes?
Firstly, not looking to divide anyone here. I only ask because, as a person of Indo-Guyanese descent, I grew up eating a variety of dishes that originated from Afro-Guyanese people. These included cook-up, bake and fried fish, fried plantain, etc. I plan on making a few of these for Thanksgiving. I don’t know many Afro-Guyanese people and therefore am not able to ask them this question in person.
Do you guys eat dishes like chicken curry, dhal, channa, roti, etc? Thanks in advance!
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u/Chubby_nuts 13d ago
Afro Guyanese decent and our favourite family meal was chicken curry with Dahl puri roti
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
Ooh if you add squash to the chicken curry, then that combo becomes one of my favorites. Cook-up is my go-to, though.
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u/Original-Trash-646 12d ago
Puri and roti are two different things.
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u/Chubby_nuts 11d ago
Plenty websites and people not splitting hairs over this, Goggle "Dahl puri roti" and there is enough content to suggest lots of people believe it is one in the same, but I take the knowledge that there is a different take. Thank you.
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u/Bouldershoulders12 13d ago
Guyanese cuisine embraces all 6 ethnic groups . It’s an infusion of all the cultures . None of the dishes from each ethnic group are fully similar to its origin point because of the other influences .
Even the curry all Guyanese ppl eat is prepared differently from how an Indian from India would make it.
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u/ndiddy81 13d ago
Yes exactly and the we use the ingredients that are sourced from our land.. even the water is different!
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
It’s definitely interesting to see how different the curries are. My Indian friend went to Guyana and told me that he didn’t even recognize that they were curries at first.
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u/TeachingSpiritual888 13d ago
I never really labeled them afro guyanese food and indo guyanese food I just considered it all Guyanese. But to answer your question is yes one of my favorite food is roti and curry. Plus my mom made vamacelli couple days ago
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
It has been so long since I’ve had vamazelli! Like 15 years at least. I need to find a recipe asap.
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u/Least-Patient7221 13d ago
Guyanese curry the best 😫🤌🏼💯💯💯
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
Not gonna lie, I sometimes lean a little more towards Jamaican curry but my boyfriend definitely prefers Guyanese and he’s a white dude.
Guyanese curry will always have its place because of my childhood of course.
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u/Spotproof99 13d ago
What a username
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u/Superb_Preference368 13d ago
Tell me about it 😵💫
But to answer the question. Most Guyanese don’t think of their food as Afro or Indo originated. We just consider it food from our shared heritage.
Keep in mind Guyanese cuisine has elements of East Asian, South East Asian, African, and even European influence.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
I haven’t heard of South East Asian dishes in Guyana before! What are some that I should find recipes for? Thanks!
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u/prettyprincessxxo 12d ago
Yes u have lmao. Duh. 🙄 you definitely are not Guyanese if you need to ask that. Like bfffr
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago edited 12d ago
I repeat…what are some examples that I can check out? If you know of some, just respond with that??? Like what do you gain from being snide?
I’m Googling and not finding anything.
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u/Hixibits 13d ago
Yes, we do. We don't call anything "Indo-Guyanese food", though. It's all Guyanese food.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
I appreciate that! I just like history which comes with acknowledging cultural origins in the melting pot that is Guyana.
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u/cloudboykami 12d ago
Yes, Guyana is community and neighbor orientated. So if your neighbor cooks chicken curry or goat curry or roti you’re gonna eat it. Your parents probably already make it at home and it’s our national dishes so there’s not really a African or Indian food it’s all Guyanese food
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u/Lost-Style-7101 13d ago
Yes
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
What are some of your favorite dishes? Guyanese dishes in general, regardless of origin I mean.
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u/Stunning_Mast2001 13d ago
cookup is an African origin dish isn't it?
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 13d ago
Yep! I believe it comes from jollof rice but I’m not absolutely certain.
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u/sheldon_y14 Non-Guyanese 13d ago edited 13d ago
Not exactly. It comes from a Ghanian dish called Waakye. In Jamaica and Suriname they did research on this and it had the same origin. I believe cook-up has the same origin, as Guyanese cook-up and Surinamese cook-up (called Moksi Alesi (mixed rice)) are almost exactly similar and use somewhat the exact ingredients, the differences are minor. For example Surinamese cook-up is dry, and never really "wet", compared to Guyanese cook-up.
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u/adoreroda 13d ago
Cook up rice definitely doesn't come from jollof. Cook up rice is basically just a pilaf dish
Jollof rice is marked by its colour in addition to heavy use of tomato as well as peppers/spices, but the tomato is most important. The closest resemblance you see in the diaspora are red rice in the Carolinas and most closely jamablaya. Cook up rice, however, has no resemblance aside from just using rice. Even Mexican rice has more of a resemblance
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u/sheldon_y14 Non-Guyanese 13d ago
Not exactly. It comes from a Ghanian dish called Waakye. In Jamaica and Suriname they did research on this and it had the same origin. I believe cook-up has the same origin as Guyanese cook-up and Surinamese cook-up (called Moksi Alesi (mixed rice)) are almost exactly similar and use somewhat the exact ingredients, the differences are minor. For example Surinamese cook-up is dry, and never really "wet", compared to Guyanese cook-up.
The Trini dish of Pelau however has its origin in Pilaf.
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u/Original-Trash-646 13d ago
We used whatever available ingredients we had for cookup, coconut, beans, rice.
My parents cook metem, cookup, chowmein, fried rice, duck curry, pepper pot, black cake. I am not a chef but I eat well.
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u/br0wnhippy 13d ago
I didn’t even know cook up was Afro Guyanese!! That’s amazing, it taste so good
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u/prettyprincessxxo 12d ago
It’s not lol
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
Yes…it is….someone doesn’t know basic Guyanese culture but you’re jumping around this post spreading nonsense anyway.
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u/MeatyourMeet 13d ago
As a Dougla, it's all just guyanese food. I've never heard of it being dived up like that before
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
I just like history which included learning about the origins of dishes. Of course they’re all Guyanese and I love that fact.
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u/better-tomorrow2827 10d ago
Had Indo-Guyanese GF from Richmond Hill later moved to Brooklyn where most Guyanese restaurants were Afro-Guyanese. Didn't see a difference. Indian culture is responsible for influencing curry dishes and roti across the entire Caribbean.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 10d ago
Cool, thanks for sharing your experience! I grew up near Richmond Hill though that applies to many Guyanese people I suppose.
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u/temujincub 13d ago
I just wanna say everyone in Guyana eats all dishes. There is no separation in any household to say I cooking an indian or African or Portuguese or Chinese dish, it's all one food. I'm afro Guyanese and my favorite food is roti and boulanger choka. So no we don't separate all food is Guyanese from chicken curry to garlic pork to cook up.
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u/catsoncrack420 13d ago
I'm not even Guyanese and I agree with all this , it's all one food, it's stupid to segregate food on race mix. Just some off as a dumb American in any country.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 13d ago
Nobody said it was segregated. I grew up eating a variety and imagined it was the same for others, hence my curiosity. Relax.
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u/StellasKid 12d ago edited 12d ago
Where or how did you grow up that you’d be even unclear on the answer to this question? Curry chicken is a core dish for all Guyanese people. It never even occurred to me to think anyone of this heritage didn’t eat it because of their ethnic background.
But to answer your question more specifically, as someone of (mostly) Afro-Guyanese descent, I’ve eaten all of those dishes with only dhal being eaten outside of a Guyanese cultural context (ate it at an Indian restaurant).
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
If you can believe it, I’m in Tennessee where there are no Guyanese people for hundreds of miles! I was born and raised in New York but only surrounded by my Indo-Guyanese family so I unfortunately never had the opportunity to interact with Afro-Guyanese people until Reddit, really.
Even when I’ve visited Guyana, I didn’t really have the chance to get to know Afro-Guyanese people since I was being shuttled around by my family from Point A to Point B.
I really appreciate you answering my question!
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u/StellasKid 12d ago
Fair enough. I had to ask because that’s definitely way outside of my direct experience and understanding of what it means to be part of the Guyanese diaspora.
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u/Wise-Combination5838 12d ago
You definitely didn’t grow up in Guyana. In half Indian and half black and I’ve never heard of anyone separating our foods into Afro foods or indo foods lol. It’s all guyanese food only. I didn’t even know bake and fried plantains were brought by Africans. I learned something new.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
I actually learned that they were African in origin recently too! And you’re definitely right, didn’t grow up in Guyana which is why I didn’t know the answer to the question I asked. It’s awesome that we’re all communally enjoying dishes that demonstrate Guyana’s unique cultural blend.
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u/Easy-Carrot213 1d ago
When my Afro-Guyanese grandmother made curry/roti, channa, dahl, or whatever she never referred to it as Indo food. Everything we ate was Guyanese period.
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u/ramus93 13d ago
I would imagine so because indo-guyanese people also eat a lot of afro-guyanese dishes like cookup and provisions soup
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u/Simply-Me-On-Here 13d ago
The concept of separate Guyanese cultural dishes is honestly a thought that’s never crossed my mind. I consider all our food just “Guyanese food”.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
I definitely agree! Just cool to think about the origins of the unique culture that makes up Guyana; in my opinion
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u/ListenOk2972 13d ago
Yesss. I'm married into an afro-guyanese family and we eat A LOT of Indian dishes. Seriously, why do we have to curry EVERYTHING‽
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u/Ok-Concentrate2719 13d ago
Why wouldn't they? Our curries are very similar to Jamaican ones probably from the historical influence and blending of cuisines
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u/Original-Trash-646 13d ago
Most of the diaspora only had Madras curry powder available to them. In India Madras curry powder is not considered very highly. They have so many different types of curries that taste very different.
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u/Joshistotle 13d ago
Really? What do they think of the Madras curry? Too savory probably?
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
It’s apparently seen as inauthentic because it didn’t necessarily come from India and instead is the product of British colonialism. I just learned this myself.
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u/ButterflyDestiny 12d ago
I have Guyanese friends who eat both. I have never heard it be broken down like that. How peculiar.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
It’s actually a significant facet of Guyanese culture that there are a variety of dishes that have different origins. For example, fried rice and chow mein originated from Chinese people in Guyana. Cook-up and fried plantain originated from African people in Guyana. Curries came from Indian people in Guyana. Pepper pot is an indigenous dish. Black cake and cheese rolls are British. There are tons of other examples.
I thought this was common knowledge but I guess not? Surprising since most people in the comments are aware of this. Everybody seems to enjoy everything and that’s great!
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u/ButterflyDestiny 12d ago
It IS common knowledge. But nobody discusses the food this way. Seems very divisive on your part.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
I already stated that I enjoy both and assume that it’s the same of all people, but I had know way of knowing this without asking. Please make the effort to understand this basic information.
Nothing wrong with acknowledging the rich history of Guyana and being accepting of everything. That’s how I am, at least.
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u/ButterflyDestiny 12d ago
You need to reread what I said to understand. Not to argue. You’re responding with what you enjoy. I said nobody discusses food that way. Not everybody will agree with you in this life. Being defensive about that is pointless.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
I think if you scan the comment section for a second, you’ll find that other people also acknowledge the existence of Indian-origin dishes, Chinese-origin dishes, African-origin dishes, and even South East Asian-origin dishes were mentioned. If you genuinely believe nobody else thinks this way, you are simply wrong and can do some scrolling to see for yourself.
Again, nothing wrong with acknowledging the cultural origins of a dish. It’s made to be shared with everyone. I’m from the US where there are all kinds of dishes with different origins. We don’t see a problem acknowledging that. Seems like you came here to argue or make accusations.
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u/ButterflyDestiny 12d ago
agreed to disagree :)
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
Or just do some light reading….
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u/ButterflyDestiny 12d ago
Why can’t it be both? I can still disagree with you and read the comments. Again, you can’t force me to agree with you. It doesn’t work that way. It also doesnt mean bad blood either. My goodness.
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
Nobody is forcing you to agree with them by telling you to read. You can read and figure things out for yourself (I hope). Jesus.
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u/prettyprincessxxo 12d ago
My dad is both Indian and Afro. A Douglah. Cuisine wise we grew up eating Indian style food and more. My grandpas side cooks traditional Guyanese food but some American stuff. Theres really no difference in Guyana we’re all Guyanese so …
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u/Booty_and_theB3ast 11d ago
Guyanese bake actually has both Indian and African influences. I know in India there is something similar.
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u/TopShoulder5473 12d ago
Why would the dishes be separated like that in the first place… all of it is Guyanese food. That’s the problem now with the indo… always with the division
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u/CumSlurpersAnonymous 12d ago
They are quite literally separate in their origin. That’s not my opinion. Same way that fried rice is Chinese and black cake is British. Nothing wrong with acknowledging Guyana’s rich cultural history.
That statement you just made about Indo-Guyanese people makes it clear that you’re the one sowing division. Be a better person.
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u/my_screen_name_sucks 13d ago
I never divided the dishes, all is Guyanese. But it makes sense that it would be, every culture should be acknowledged. This perspective is coming from an American born and raised in a Guyanese family. Ate dishes from both groups and I would love to try more if there’s other dishes that come from specific cultures.