This week we asked the man and woman in the street about the eating habits of Guyanese.

Lisa Mangru, Pharmacy student:
‘Well I love and enjoy chicken. It could be curried, fried, pot roast – I love chicken. When it comes to “in” foods, I think cook-up is the going thing. It was popular a while ago but had gone out of style but it is coming back again. People are cooking it a lot.
With Diwali around the corner people are probably going to cook traditional Indian dishes. I like seven curry and the sweet meats. Of course Guyanese over do it on the carbohydrates. We eat a bulk of rice and with everything, compared to other places that would balance their meals. And it’s ingrained into the lifestyle; even if we tried to change we probably won’t feel filled because we’re so accustomed to a lot of carbohydrates.
Another thing is I believe that prices in Guyana do not really affect what people eat when. With the price of chicken soaring people still ate a lot of it. And at Christmas and other holidays they say things hard but the heavy shopping is still done for the popular food items.’

Sherwin Bart, Student:
‘I love variety, the wider the choices the better for me. And lately I’ve noticed that Guyanese are experimenting with their foods. I think it’s because they watch a lot of television and are exposed to foreign recipes and are putting them into practice. When you visit a food stall or restaurant you have a wider variety which is good. You have soups and different pastries available. I think that exposure to different cuisines and food cultures may also encourage people to eat healthy. I am also a great fan of Chinese food. I think that once you taste a GT Chinese food you are hooked.’

Denise Paul, Food Vendor:
‘I’ve been a food vendor for years and I cook most of the same foods now that I did a few years ago. I have not noticed any great changes in choices or demands, except that a lot of people are buying vegetarian foods and a lot of salad now. What I notice too is that there are a lot of diabetic people who would not buy the red meats and chicken too often, but would prefer vegetarian food. People are watching their cholesterol and so on now more than they did in the past and so there are some changes in what I would cook but nothing major.’

Leroy Rocke, Mechanic:
‘Fried rice and baked chicken is my favourite food. I don’t eat beef and pork. What I found is that they are a bit rough on the digestive system and so I stopped eating them. I like curried duck too but I eat it every now and again. I make sure that I get my fruits every day especially oranges; If not I supplement with a juice. There is the tradition that has been holding in most homes to cook greens every week day and something fancy on weekends. Well on Sundays it’s a nice soup with chicken foot some split peas and barley.’

Campion Chichester, Press Operator:
‘I enjoy eating cook-up. I like my greens too – a little pumpkin or cabbage. We cook greens mostly during the week and on Saturday provision or cook-up or some soup. On Sundays we would eat out – you know it’s a relaxing day so we won’t cook. I think also that the fast food culture is catching on more and more. A lot of people now eat out a lot.’
Sheikh Mohamed, Private Sector Employee:
‘In my opinion persons do not cook defined things at certain times of the week anymore, for example greens all week and then something different weekends. I think it’s because more women work and so they cook whatever is the quickest thing. Cooking patterns aren’t followed anymore, since social roles are changing. A while ago I remember cooking soup every Sunday but that is not the case anymore.
Another thing is traditional Indian foods have become popular for the other races also.’

Inderdat Mahadeo, Private Sector Employee:
‘I enjoy fish but it must be prepared at home. I am not a fan of the fish shops that are popping up all over. Maybe once in a while I would visit one of them. I like a variety of different foods. Macaroni; stewed beans, fried rice and Chicken. And I love pizza with lots of corn on the topping. I notice too that Guyanese are now getting into the fast food culture, which is not very economical or healthy.’

Suresh Charles, Teacher:
‘Sometimes I eat junk food but not a lot. Things like biscuit, pizza, chocolates and stuff like that get to my taste buds. I eat most of my pizza from Pizza Hut because that’s like the going hang out spot for people my age. Besides their pizza tastes really good and a lot better than the Creole versions available in food shops. I’ve noticed that fish and chips have become a popular food. I think that has to do with the fact that recently there have been many fish shops being established. However, fish is something I only eat at home because every place has their own method of seasoning fish and I am allergic to some of the seasonings.  I don’t trust what I don’t see. Generally, I think that portions are getting smaller and prices higher. Guyanese are okay with whatever foods have been available to them over the years. Whatever food is available to us today has been there all the time. I think we have the same dishes.’

Lucille Sampson, Private Sector Employee:
‘Chowmein, fried rice and cook-up are some of my regular dishes I cook and love to eat. I like to cook my cook-up with lots of different meats like pork, salted beef, chicken foot, neck and wings and salted fish. During the week I cook a lot of greens. Things like boulanger, ochro, caraila and pumpkin are some of the vegetables I would mix with fish or some kind of meat and eat it on top of rice. Something special with chicken in it is what I have on weekends. I like Indian foods as well. I can cook dhall puri and chicken curry, I learnt from my mother. However, the Indian sweet foods are something I don’t like. Sponge cake is definitely the cake for me; I’m not so fond of the other fancy ones you find in restaurants. I think that there is no longer cultural food, it’s all Guyanese now. An African can cook roti now and you find many Indian cooking cook-up and making foo-foo.’

Mowella Forde, Private
Sector Employee:
‘I definitely love creole food and I’ve been to different places and tried the cuisine, but it’s always the home food that I love. Metem and soup is the Sunday food. I love metem with fried fish.  Now and then I would eat at fast food restaurants but I prefer home cooked foods really. On Monday to Friday we would cook greens but weekends it something different.
And food is not a race thing anymore everybody cooks anything as long as they like it.’