NO matter how many Butterball turkeys we purchase, or how much eggnog and apple cider we drink, a Guyanese Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without our unique foods. Once you taste local treats such as pepperpot, black cake, and garlic pork served in some homes, you would agree that there’s nothing that can come close to traditional Guyanese Christmas foods.

Pepperpot is an Amerindian-derived, stewed meat dish made with spices, cassareep (a special sauce made from the cassava root) and other basic ingredients, including Caribbean hot peppers. Beef, pork and mutton are the most popular meats used. It is also Guyana’s national dish.
Pepperpot is popularly served with a dense, Guyanese-style homemade or home-style bread, although, like most foods, it can be eaten however one chooses — be it with rice, or cassava, or cassava bread.
Like the original Amerindian version, pepperpot is usually made in a large pot, and can be reheated and eaten over several days, because the cassareep preserves the meat.
Carne de Vinagre e Alhos, better known as garlic pork in Guyana, involves pickling a few pounds of pork chops for several days in vinegar spiced with salt, hot peppers, garlic and thyme, and then frying the meat on Christmas morning.
‘Christmas comes but once a year/And every man will have his share/Only poor Willy in de jail/Drinking sour ginger beer’ goes a popular rhyme.
Spicy ginger beer is traditionally a holiday staple in Guyana. America has eggnog and apple cider; but Guyana has ginger beer. As the name suggests, this beverage is flavoured with ginger, so it packs a considerable punch.
If you find it a bit too spicy for you, a great addition is pineapple juice, which cuts the heat just a tad, and gives the beverage a great fruity flavour. A little rum would also kick this up a notch.
The sorrel plant is an annual shrub that is normally planted in August, and reaches maturity in December. After flowering, the sorrel petals fall off, leaving the sepals (fruit), which become enlarged, and turn crimson as they mature.
The fruit of the sorrel plant makes a beverage when steeped in hot water with pimento and ginger for about 24 hours. It is then decanted, and sugar is added, and rum, if desired.

PEPPERPOT
If you want to prepare this dish for Christmas,
you will need:

– Beef chunks (any cheap cut will do)
– 3 cow-heels to make it gooey
– 3 or 4 chunks of oxtail (optional)
– 1 Cup Cassareep
– 1 scotch bonnet pepper
– A couple of cloves
– A few cloves of garlic
– 1 stick cinnamon spice
-Salt to taste
-Black pepper
-A dash of brown sugar

Method
– Wash your meat. Place the cow-heels into a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil.
– Once the scum rises to the top, skim and let it simmer for a while (an hour-and-a- half or so).
– Now, add all your other meats and hot water to cover.
– Once it boils, add your spices and seasoning, and cook gently for about two (2) hours, or until the meat is tender, and the sauce is quite thick.

Enjoy your Guyanese pepperpot with fresh white bread or rice. We also serve it with boiled cassava.
GARLIC PORK/LAMB/BEEF/CHICKEN
To make any of the above-named dishes, you will need:
– 3 lbs of pork, or choice of meat. The meat must be one (1) inch thick; tender cuts are preferred
– 12 large cloves garlic
– ½ cup of fresh thyme leaves (stem reserved) or
– 2 tbsp. of dried Thyme
– 8-10 wiri-wiri peppers
– 1 ½ tbsp. sea salt
– ½ tsp black pepper
– 2 cups of white distilled vinegar
– 2 cups of boiled water (brought to room temp.)
– 3-4 whole cloves
– 3 additional cloves of garlic, unpeeled
– 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme

Method
– Wipe the meat clean with a damp cloth or paper towel.
– Using a sharp knife, make little gashes into the meat on both sides. Grind the garlic, thyme, and wiri-wiri peppers in a food processor/mortar and pestle, then pour this seasoning rub in a small bowl.
– Using a butter knife or your fingers, spread a generous amount to fill the small gashes in the meat.
– Salt and pepper both sides, reserving ½ tsp salt.
– Rub any left-over seasoning mixture on meat slices.
– Using a wide-mouthed glass jar, start by layering pieces of seasoned meat, stacking until all meat has been placed in the jar.

– Combine vinegar and water, and pour cautiously into the jar of layered meat until meat is covered by two inches.
– Gently shake the jar to distribute meat evenly, and place thyme stems and cloves in the jar. Add three cloves of unpeeled garlic, as part of the garnish, and the peppercorns.
– Place additional sprigs of thyme on top of jar, or slide it down the sides.
– Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, and seal jar tightly.
– Store in a cool dark place (not refrigerator), and let it rest for 3-5 days.
– After curing period, drain meat on a rack, and discard liquid. Do not allow seasoning in the gashes to fall out.
– In a skillet, pour 3 tbsp. Canola oil.
– Pan-fry on medium heat, until nicely browned for about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove and serve with crusty bread and cold beer, or desired beverage.

GUYANA BLACK CAKE
You would need:
1 lb raisins
1 lb preserved carambola fruit
½ lb currants
½ lb prunes
1 cup brown rum
2 lbs brown sugar
1 lb butter
12 eggs, beaten
1 lb flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon mixed spices (nutmeg, cloves, all spice, and cinnamon)
¼ pound mixed peel
¼ pound chopped nuts
1 tsp vanilla flavouring

Method

1. For the cake: Wash and dry fruits. Grind fruits and soak with ¾ cup of rum. Store covered in a glass jar to steep for 2 weeks or longer.

2. To make caramel: Heat 1 lb of sugar in heavy bottom frying pan until melted. Simmer until dark brown.

3. Cream butter and 1 lb sugar well, add beaten eggs a little at a time, add soaked fruits and rum and enough caramel to make it as dark as desired

4. Add sifted flour with baking powder, mixed spice and vanilla flavouring. Fold in peel and chopped nuts.

5. Pour mixture in baking pan. Bake in slow oven at 375 for about 1 ½ hours, or until toothpick inserted to test comes out clean

6. Soak finished cake with more rum
GINGER BEER
1 lb. of ginger
10 cups of water
2 cups of dark brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
5 3 x 3-inch pieces of orange peel
1 4-inch piece of orange peel
Uncooked rice to help with fermentation

Method:

– Grate ginger with the fine side of the grater.
– In a large pot, combine all ingredients, except cinnamon and the (3×3) pieces of orange peel.
– Bring to a rapid boil for 10 minutes.
– Remove from heat and strain.
– Use a cheese cloth to remove ginger bits.
– Pour into a large glass jug.
– Break orange peel and cinnamon sticks into pieces; add to ginger beer, and bring to room temperature
– Place 12 uncooked rice grains in each glass jar; pour into glass jars and let rest.
– Ferment for 5-7 days.
– Discard cinnamon sticks and orange peel.
– Serve over crushed ice or ice cubes

SORREL DRINK
8 cups sorrel petals
2 ounces grated ginger
12 cups boiling water
Dried orange peel (optional)
Sugar for sweetening to taste

Method:
Place sorrel, crushed ginger and dried peel of orange into a pot of boiling water. Macerate for 12-16 hours. Strain, sweeten to taste, and bottle. For preservation, keep in refrigerator. Add an ounce of white rum to each quart bottle.
Written By Michelle Gonsalves